Showing 1 - 10 of 11
The Art of Growing Old
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 03/02/2019
» "Attending an unplanned party/ Never ready, didn't really wanna come/ Saying 'hello' to acquaintances/ Gotta be careful not to smile too much/ It just wouldn't be appropriate," without knowing the track's title, the opening verse of The Charapaabs' debut single, Sala Kon Sao (Funeral Party), reads like something of a typical introvert's diary. As the second verse arrives, it becomes clear that the aforementioned "party" is actually a funeral where "the host refrains from making an appearance" (worth noting a clever wordplay here -- ook long, literally "out of coffin", is used instead of ook rong, which is a Thai expression meaning to make an appearance).
The sharpest tool in the shade
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 27/01/2019
» We're not even a full month into 2019 and it seems like the Thai indie music scene is already readying itself for another year of solid offerings. Leading the pack is none other than The Dumbs, a Winai Kitcharoenjiranont solo project. If that name doesn't ring a bell, Winai is one of the co-founding members of The Charapaabs, an elderly-themed concept band who's bestowed upon us a series of memento mori-inspired cuts like Funeral Party, Annual Check Up and Hello Monday. (Side note: keep an eye out for a review of their long-awaited debut LP, Maha Moradok, coming next Sunday.) He's also the brain behind TypeThai, a popular Facebook page and a YouTube channel that celebrates-slash-satirises Thai idiosyncrasies in all their glory.
The Pleasure's All Hers
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 19/07/2020
» It might be nearly a decade ago, but the year 2012 would still go down in history as one of the most vital years for pop music.
Real women rock
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 05/07/2020
» "Los Angeles, give me a miracle/ I just want out from this," Este, Danielle and Alana Haim waste no time getting down to the (ugly) business of their hometown on the ska-infused opening track of their latest album Women In Music Pt. III.
In Plain Language
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 07/06/2020
» "And that's fine/ I'm wasting away," vocalist Ian Devaney announces over nervy guitars on Tournament, the opening track to Nation of Language's debut album, Introduction, Presence. "I took the long road home/ And it never paid off for me."
Indie rock done right
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 09/02/2020
» "When I was 18/ Someone got stabbed in a church/ But I got used to it/ And forgave all the ways and the names/ It was so long ago, anyways," vocalist Jeremy Gaudet recounts on Murder In The Cathedral, the opening track to Kiwi Jr.'s debut album, Football Money. The vivid songwriting, buoyed by his bandmates' jangly instrumentation, is delivered with the kind of drawl that would have you thinking fondly of Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and The Strokes as well as the Modern Lovers' Jonathan Richman and Parquet Courts' Andrew Savage.
From the highway all the way to church
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 22/03/2020
» This year's first unlikely collaboration has officially arrived courtesy of Houston trio Khruangbin and their fellow Texans, Leon Bridges.
From Belize with love
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 26/05/2019
» Ariel Zetina may be best known as one of Chicago's fiercest DJs (the Mother of the Windy City Club Scene, as some have suitably appointed her), but she's more than meets the eye. Having come from a theatre and poetry background, the American-Belizean artist is well-versed in cutting-edge performance art. In fact, her first foray into music-making was born out of necessity, simply because she couldn't find a piece of music that would fit a show she was working on as part of collaborative performance art group Witch Hazel. After relocating to Chicago some years later, she finally found her place and essentially herself in the city's thriving queer/trans club scene, which provided her with the impetus to fuse house and techno sounds with her own multicultural flavours.
Setting it off
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 14/07/2019
» From its humble start lurking in the shadows of J-pop to partially dominating the globe, the unstoppable power of K-pop has been fascinating to witness. Today, in the hazy wake of the Gangnam Style craze, the genre has grown to have its own annual convention, KCON, which is aimed to celebrate South Korean culture at various locations around the world. In North America, K-pop boy bands and girl bands are being received with open arms. Groups like seven-member boyband BTS have even gone so far as to win 2017's Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist, beating pop royalty like Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande.