Showing 1 - 8 of 8
Primed for pillow talk
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 25/06/2017
» Moving at a glacial pace, Cigarettes After Sex's eponymous debut album is subdued but deeply evocative in its lust and lingering sense of infatuation.
From Homeless to Heroic
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 01/10/2017
» On his sophomore record, Benjamin Clementine plays up his penchant for theatricality while continuing to push the ever-shifting experimental dimensions to his sound.
Sometimes transcendental, always relevant
Life, Kong Rithdee, Published on 25/05/2018
» The American films were on short supply this year at Cannes -- which in turn deprived the assembly line of red carpet material -- but nobody seemed to mind that except, well, some American media and fashion bloggers. That superfluous caveat aside, the recently wrapped 71st Cannes Film Festival was nearly unanimously praised as one of the best editions in recent memory, with a string of good, sometimes very good, titles playing night after night -- and even the bad films weren't so offensively bad, as was often the case. In the midst of soul-searching following the question of relevance (the world wants Avengers), the rise of streaming (the world watches films on phones), the decline of arthouse popularity, Cannes insists on the sacredness of cinema, on the future of the art, and this year it paid off solidly.
No offence
Life, Gary Boyle, Published on 22/01/2019
» You'll be familiar with Jim Jefferies' schtick. He's the archetypal Aussie bloke, unconcerned with politically correct ways to address hot-button topics. His rants wrong-foot you with boozy observations that crystallise into astute commentary on modern society, like he's some kind of pub savant.
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.
Footloose and fancy-free
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 17/03/2019
» Over the past decade, Beirut's Zach Condon has been a go-to guy for what I like to refer to as "speciality indie rock". This is just a fancy way of saying that the music is unlike your typical indie sound. Beirut are masters when it comes to injecting world music elements into their repertoire, which has accumulated into a sizeable discography since their 2006 debut Gulag Orkestar. And although the boys may have faltered somewhat with previous effort No No No, they're back stronger than ever with their latest, Gallipoli.
In for the kill
B Magazine, Chanun Poomsawai, Published on 28/04/2019
» From debuting on CBS's The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to being the first K-pop group to perform at this year's Coachella, BLACKPINK are unstoppable in their quest for global pop domination, which is the ultimate goal that lies at the heart of South Korea's ongoing cultural export scheme. Like their label mates Big Bang and 2NE1, the Seoul-based quartet is meticulously designed by industry behemoth YG Entertainment. But what really sets BLACKPINK apart from their peers is their collective cosmopolitan edge -- Jisoo representing Korea, Lisa bringing the spicy Thai flavours and New Zealand-born, Australia-raised Rosé and New Zealand-raised Jennie completing the picture with their multicultural upbringing. Singing and rapping in Korean, Japanese and English, they're probably the first all-female idol group to have amassed an army of fans, endearingly known as "blinks", not only from Asia, but also North America and elsewhere, in just a few years.