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Category: Blog

Back in the Studio with an #Electro #Synthpop #EBM Mixtape

  • March 31, 2016
  • by Cosmic Armchair
  • · 2015 · 2016 · Blog · Past

We’re back in the studio after a long hiatus and our first recording of 2016 is this mixtape of our favourite synthpop / electro / EBM tracks from the Matrix Downloaded 4 compilation by Alfa Matrix, the top international alternative electro / synthpop / EBM label.

Yes we had our hands full with other matters in 2015 – new addition to family, new full time job, new live Peranakan electropop show – and we’re very sorry to our label mates whom we were unable to remix in time for your great EP and album releases (they sound great!) – but we’re back in action producing and remixing and ready to go!

You’ll find our favourite synthpop / electropop / alternative tracks from the Matrix Downloaded 4 (available at http://alfa-matrix-store.com/ ) featuring PSY’AVIAH feat. MARI KATTMAN, AYRIA, COSMIC ARMCHAIR (ourselves!), ESSENCE OF MIND, UNTER NULL, METROLAND, DIFFUZION, ENTRZELLE, SUICIDAL ROMANCE, AESTHETISCHE, STUDIO-X vs. SIMON CARTER, DREAM RECALL, and AVARICE IN AUDIO.

 

 

The making of Digital Dondang Sayang #Peranakan #Electropop (Continued)

  • March 27, 2016
  • by Cosmic Armchair
  • · 2016 · Blog · Past

This is a series of video interviews that the NUS Centre of the  Arts team recorded during our photo shoot for the show.  Over the next few weeks we’ll be  sharing more of our adventure, in creating our first Digital Dondang Sayang show, with you.

What is Cosmic Armchair?

What is Digital Dondang Sayang about?

Why do you enjoy working with the NUS Electronic Music Lab?

How is it performing at the NUS Baba House?

 

 

How to get tickets for Digital Dondang Sayang

  • March 13, 2016
  • by Cosmic Armchair
  • · 2016 · Blog · Past

Fri & Sat 18 & 19 March 2016
Time: 8pm (doors open at 6pm if you would like to tour the Baba House
Venue: NUS Baba House, 157 Neil Road (click on link for map)
Tickets at $12 – Discounts & concessions available at bit.ly/CFATIX

Facebook event page
https://www.facebook.com/events/1847086882184695/?active_tab=highlights

E-mail us cosmicarmchair@gmail.com if you need any info or have difficulty with the ticket system

Traditional Peranakan poetry meets electronic pop at our Digital Dondang Sayang

  • March 4, 2016
  • by Cosmic Armchair
  • · 2016 · Blog · Past

For the first time ever, on 18 and 19 March we’re presenting Digital Dondang Sayang, the first performance of its kind combining traditional Dondang Sayang performers from the Gunong Sayang Association,  electronic pop from us {Cosmic Armchair), and experimental electronica from the NUS Electronic Music Lab, in the NUS Baba House, a heritage house recreating the ancestral home of a 1920s Straits Chinese family.

Event: Benjamin Ang and Cosmic Armchair present Digital Dondang Sayang
Date/Time: Friday 18 March and Saturday 19 March, 8 pm
Venue: NUS Baba House, 157 Neil Road

The songs are based on a selection of traditional Peranakan pantun (poems written in the Baba Malay language) written by Ang Kay Teong in the early 20th century, and handed down to his great grandson, our very own Cosmic Ben.

The show begins with a classic Dondang Sayang rendition of the poems by the Gunong Sayang Association, in the traditional style. This is followed by our Cosmic Armchair electronic pop interpretation and original new songs inspired by the poems. The show concludes with new experimental electronic works created and performed by the NUS Electronic Music Lab, that take the words of the poems into the next century.

All of this takes place in the most appropriate setting for a Dondang Sayang house party – the NUS Baba House, a restored Peranakan family home from the era of the poems.

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In addition to being an artistic adventure of old and new music for all ages, Digital Dondang Sayang also follows Ben’s exploration of his musical roots, as he tries to discover who his mysterious ancestor was, and what inspired him to write more than 500 poems. Watch this space over the coming days as we follow him through that journey.

ABOUT GUNONG SAYANG ASSOCIATION

Gunong Sayang Association is the Peranakan social club that has been performing dondang sayang (traditional Peranakan song form) regularly in Singapore.

ABOUT NUS ELECTRONIC MUSIC LAB

NUS EML is a performing group based at the NUS Centre for the Arts, which creates, records, performs and promotes original electronic music of all genres.

ABOUT NUS BABA HOUSE

National University of Singapore restored the traditional family home of a wealthy Peranakan (Straits Chinese) family in Singapore, recreating what it was like in the early 20th century, and now this heritage house is open to visitors to explore the history and culture of this ethnic group that is unique to this region of Asia.

Meeeting the next generation of electronic musicians in Singapore

  • March 4, 2016
  • by Cosmic Armchair
  • · 2016 · Blog · Past

NUS Electronic Music Lab (at the National University of Singapore Centre for the Arts) is a special place for us, because we first started collaborating on music there. To this day, Ben continues to teach there on weekends, and recently he conducted a two day workshop on Ableton Live for beginners. Participants came from all over campus and even beyond, and the most unique participant was Dr Pete Kellock, a veteran electronic musician who had been our tutor! He had decided to make the move from Logic to Ableton, and in the spirit of learning, chose to go back to school again! Very inspiring for EML students, to see that learning never stops, and making electronic music never stops either.

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A few weeks after the workshop, participants and current EML members met at NUS CFA for a barbeque and EML PLUGIN session – EML’s regular electronic music open mic where we present our new works and tracks that are work in progress. Everyone had a great time with the food, music and good company

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The best part of keeping in touch with this community is that we are constantly meeting new electronic musicians, and hearing the work of up and coming artists is inspiring and sparks off new ideas. For the upcoming album, you’ll also hear some of our tracks being remixed by these new artists, so watch this space.

A Happy New Year for Electronic Music from Singapore

  • January 4, 2016
  • by Cosmic Armchair
  • · 2016 · Blog · Past

Club E, Singapore’s pioneering electronic pop music act of the 1990s, are reuniting for a new release in 2016. This is great news for the electronic pop scene here and especially for us, because members of Club E have been instrumental in supporting and helping our own music. Leonard Tan featured our Cosmic Armchair songs in several EQMusic compilations, and Geoffrey Low will mixing the songs for our upcoming 2016 Cosmic Armchair album CONTACT. We’re very glad to see them back together and making Club E music again – happy, catchy, upbeat, dance-able electronic pop.

So we’re looking forward to having more made-in-Singapore electronic music in the air and on the air in 2016. You can read the full interview here on TODAY Online 

In the meantime, enjoy this new song from Club E as a preview of their upcoming album!

 

We listen to @Lush995FM #ilistentolush

  • August 27, 2015
  • by Cosmic Armchair
  • · 2015 · 2016 · Blog · Past

When we released our first EP in 2009, it was Lush 99.5 FM that first played our song Marching of the Days on air, and it was the lovely DJ Kate Reyes who interviewed us and played our songs for a full half hour.

Since then, we’ve been grateful to hear our songs Marching of the Days, Just One Look, and our current single I Don’t Belong Here, not only being played on Lush 99.5 FM, but also tweeted with the hashtag #lushloveslocal (see https://twitter.com/hashtag/lushloveslocal?src=hash).

And that – besides their awesome playlist that is a rich source of discovering new and interesting music especially electronic – is a key reason why so many of us in the Singapore music scene love Lush. Because Lush loves us and helps us spread our music.

So we too want to show our support for this excellent radio station by posting with the hashtag #ilistentolush – and if you enjoy good music, we hope you will do the same too.

Our Take You Home is in Deezer’s #SG50 Playlist

  • August 8, 2015
  • by Cosmic Armchair
  • · 2015 · 2016 · Blog · Past

When we were living overseas, we wrote this synthpop song about coming home, and we later published it on our 2nd local EP. This year we’re honoured that Deezer has included it in their SG50 Past and Present Playlist to “Celebrate the nation’s Jubilee year with the best local tunes from the 60’s till today”. So we hope you enjoy your National Day celebration with our lyric video for Take You Home

We’re celebrating #SG50 #Singapore National Day on this new #popmusic compilation

  • August 6, 2015
  • by Cosmic Armchair
  • · 2015 · 2016 · Blog · Past
STATE OF ROCK

We’re on a new compilation of Singapore pop music! Together with “an eclectic blend of original music” from Monster Cat, Sheikh Haikel, Caracal, TheLionCityBoy, ShiGGa Shay, Gentle Bones, Jack & Rai, The Pinholes, Seyra, Mark Bonafide, Octover, Obedient Wives Club, Pleasantry, Gareth Fernandez, Giants Must Fall, Typewriter, Steve McQueens, Bear Culture, Nicholas Chim, Cheating Sons, Joie Tan, Stopgap, DEON, Cosmic Armchair, Lost Weekend, Esther Lowless, Jaime Wong, Debra Khng, Celina Kimble, Leslie Low …

” State of Rock …showcases the originality and creativity of 30 Singapore-based independent artistes where their vocal prowess effortlessly complements their instrumental beats.” – Press Release


Music reviews have been positive:

“There has been a surprising rise in high-quality local music in recent years and record label S2S has taken good advantage of this phenomenon, which has proven our country’s own promising talent in the arts.” – Spin or Bin Music
“… we’re certainly happy with the current output of releases” – Bandwagon
“…the result is State of Rock, a compilation of local music celebrating all Singapore music has to offer, and boy does it look promising….There is something for fans of any and all genres of music.” – moshinmag.sg
“IF anybody needs proof that the local music scene is overflowing with talent, just listen to State of Rock, a double-disc compilation featuring a mix of 30 veteran and upcoming homegrown indie acts.”- Business Times

Our favourite is from the moshinmag.sg review 🙂

“The compilation album closes with a selection of spaced-out, electronic ambient tracks by bands such as Giants Must Fall and Cosmic Armchair to show the new and innovative ways that music could be made.”

Many thanks to top Singapore pop and rock writer and music curator Kevin Mathews for inviting us to be part of this compilation.

Check out the CD and HMV and CD Rama and let us know which songs/ artists you like!

Our song’s on the Matrix Downloaded 4 electronic alternative compilation album

  • July 14, 2015
  • by Cosmic Armchair
  • · 2015 · 2016 · Blog · Past
Matrix Downloaded 4 Album

While we’ve had our hands full (in a good way) over the past few months, our dear partners at the ALFA MATRIX record label have been hard at work and now our song I DON’T BELONG HERE is on the 4th edition of the “Matrix Downloaded” label digital compilation, the “perfect eclectic alternative music soundtrack for your well-deserved Summer holiday”!
This FREE (or pay as you wish) compilation is downloadable in MP3/FLAC quality via the label’s Bandcamp page – click below to get to it the 57 (no kidding) songs that reflect the ALFA MATRIX music repertoire in the full-force of its diversity. Eclectic is too mild a word.

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