Over at Great Music Singapore, our team was actually scheduled to featured her performance at Esplanade with Clarence earlier this year but other commitments came up and unfortunately didn’t get the chance. A little quick search on Kewei and I realised she has been in the music scene since 2006, personally I’m not digging too much on chinese songs or media programmes so pardon my ignorance here. I was pleasantly impressed with the covers on her Youtube channel and er-hu performance on David Tao’s concert? Wow, that honestly to me is simply priceless and original.

I could go on and on here with Kewei’s many achievements and entreprenuership but I leave it to you to explore and support her talent to greater heights. And if you like to know more about Kewei, be sure to head on down to Cineleisure this Sunday at 2pm!

Download Kewei’s biography here.

Event Details:
What? - KEEP! Singapore Launch + Mini Concert
Where? – K-Box K-Union, Cathay Cineleisure Level 8
When? – 2 May 2010, Sunday 3PM
Admission is Free

Some Youtube videos:

Singer, song-writer, entrepreneur, erhu-player, are just a few words to describe Tay Kewei, a young Singaporean singing sensation.  Set to dazzle Asia with her smooth and captivating vocals, Kewei has come a long way since her Project Superstar days in 2006.  Then 22, this talented and sweet girl-next-door who is also adept with the violin, piano and guitar has garnered a sizable following from her Youtube videos, blogs and website.

Kewei is no stranger to the international scene, touring as background vocalist for Wang Leehom, David Tao, Amei and JJ Lin Junjie, and has performed at their world tours – in more than 50 shows at over 18 cities.

Einein, a fulltime keyboardist and songwriter, is actively performing in musicals, events, weddings and in her free time, she shares her onstage experiences with students. She has written songs for Fish Leung, Joi Chua, Kelly Poon and Jocie Guo.

Something about JON CHONG

Having written songs for over a decade to capture and express his thoughts and experiences, Jon Chong views music as a natural extension of who he is. In his songs, Jon delves honestly into the themes of life and love and why, and stirs us to consider our unique place in the world.

Coming from the laidback, East Malaysian city of Kuching, he grew up living the peaceful and simple life, travelling up the rivers of Sarawak and putting up in boarding schools near mountains. However, carrying with him an innate curiosity to see how far he is able to go with all his pursuits, Jon has represented his school, university, division, state and country in athletics, football, swimming, exchange programmes and art among others. A recipient of three tertiary level scholarships, he completed his engineering PhD with the Singapore-MIT Alliance in 2006/2007, a period he attributes as the “most trying but rewarding time of his life”. Through this journey, Jon has experienced the vibrancy, hustle and bustle of cities he has travelled to and lived in such as New York, Boston, Tokyo, Moscow and Singapore. His diverse travels have provided a rich palette of life experiences, which have undoubtedly coloured his songs.

Harbouring ambitions of bringing a fresh and accessible brand of music to the airwaves, Jon has completed his much-anticipated debut album “State of My Mind” with producer/arranger, Joshua Wan. Expect his original compositions to be an eclectic mix of genres—pop, rock, blues, jazz, funk, and soul—all commonly linked by his distinctive, original interpretations on the acoustic guitar.

Jon strongly believes in the power of music to influence lives for the better. He strives to create music that reaches deep into the soul, leaving an indelible impression. Ultimately, Jon hopes to inspire people, as a fellow traveller, to pursue their passions and dreams by carving out their own opportunities and breaking stereotypes if necessary, and have as much fun as possible along the journey!     – Jonchong.com

I brought this album at Starbucks – City Link Mall.
On a whole, the album are pleasant to the ear but some of the songs’ almost like from the same arrangement template. There are tracks like “The Brightest Star” and “State of my Mind” do sound a little more difference. They came out top on my recommended lists.

Below are a few songs from his album – performed “live” :
1) State of Mind
2) Undeniably Yours
3) The Brightest Star
4) Cover song -  ” Man in the mirror”

To this all-rounded Artist, titles like these don’t really matter. Because what she really wants to do is touch the audience with her heartfelt music.
And produce classic songs that’ll have our generation humming along for… generations.     – www.ruthling.net

After graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2002, Ruth Ling has been active in various arenas of pop music performance and production.
She have toured with artists such as Stefanie Sun and Sally Yeh and many others to USA, Taipei, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Thailand etc as a pianist. She had written song that can be found on the album of artist like Sandy Lam, Edison Chan and Denise Ho. Her arranging credits can also be found including A-mei, S.H.E, Edison Chan, Jordan Chan and Project Lumeni. In her own all-female band, Walking on Water, Ruth is also their singer, songwriter, keyboardist, producer.
She is an all round talent singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger, producer.

Some of her performance :
1) Make my wonder – Cover version
2) Eric Clapton medley – by Ruth Ling n Friends
3) At this Moment
4) Do I Cry

For more information about Ruth Ling, go to her myspacemusic

“Postbox possesses sufficient musical acumen to make some edgier adjustments where appropriate.”
- Junk Magazine (Malaysia)

“The EP is a collection of 6 insanely catchy and cheerful tunes released in February this year. With Samantha’s dreamy pipes brimming with optimism, the jangling guitars, catchy riffs and infectious rhythms, the band’s sound is an indie-pop thoroughbred – dreamy, wistful and cute.”
- Audioreload (Singapore)

“Their debut EP does hint at a promise of musicality and melodicism, with singer Samantha an accomplished performer.”
- Power Of Pop (Singapore)

THIS IS POSTBOX – A young 5-piece band that combines pleasant sounding rhythmic pop-alicious melodies that leaves you tapping your feets in admiration for their songs that you can consider properly picturesque. After finalizing their line-up early 2007, the band tried out numerous outfits of music and found out that playing alternative pop rock was their true calling. Combining melancholy and cheery lyrics with fruity guitar tunes, Postbox hopes to make you smile, cry and laugh. Let their music be your best friend!

They are have been featured in the album “+65 indie underground”, and they have make it to Baybeats 2010 2nd round of auditions….. the top 8. Congratulation!!!!

Some of their works of emotion:
1) Clouds
2) Raindrop
3) Friends

Their music at mySpace

Mathews initially burst onto the Singapore music scene in 1993 when he recorded the #1 rated native Singaporean hit, My One and Only, for his wife, Angela, with the band Watchmen.  – Wikipedia

Kevin Mathews is an name that perhaps only my father would know. Back in the ninety, this song “My One and Only” was a number 1 hit in Perfect 10 chart, the ironic thing is that this song was in my dad CD collection box, and i never played the CD before. To compare the two difference version is a understatement, as they are make during their time line, I let my Dad listened to the 15th anniversary version, and he say he still like his CD better, he said the older version bring back the memory. For me, the 15th anniversary arrangement appeal to me more.

This is also found in the 3CD album “+65 indie underground”

Uncanny Sounds consists of vocalist Juliet Pang and guitarist Clarence Yeo from Singapore. They’re fluid, often indulging in the search for an unfamiliar but brewing chemistry of a lovely old song. Clarence’s choice of rhythmic finger-picking style often reveals strong groovy influences of R&B, Funk and Jazz. He has performed for numerous corporate and private events locally and abroad, including the opening for Soler in Singapore. Juliet seeks to express herself through the arts, and has dabbled in musical theatre, playing ensemble roles for SRT musicals such as Forbidden City, co-written “被风吹过的夏天” with JJ.Lin and sung the theme song for movie “Eating Air (吃风)” – Esplanade

 

and a video as well:

“Its about time someone comes around and brings the Singapore music to a whole new exciting level, and Flybar does just that!”  – Leonard Soosay (renowned recording producer)

If alternative folk rock mixed with a touch of blues is your thing, then Flybar are your guys. Hailed by renowned producer Leonard Soosay as the band that brings Singaporean music to a whole new level, Flybar has represented Singapore in Hong Kong’s World Battle of the Bands and even shared the stage with Aussie rockers Jet. – Esplanade

If what Leonard quoted were true then Flybar’s unique mix of genres music does have a special attraction. Listening to a few studio recorded songs like “She So Lazy“, “Unforgiven” and “Mystery Train” at their MySpace, although the arrangement favors us quite a bit we are still keen to check out their live performances.

FLYBAR will be performing at the MOSAIC event at Esplanade:
Date     :  18 Mar 2010 (Thu)
Time    :  Session 1      8.00pm-8.40pm
Session 2     10.00pm-10.40pm
Vence  :  Outdoor Theatre
Admission is Free

More of FLYBAR’s official site and music:
FLYBAR’s MySpace
FLYBAR – She’s So Lazy

Bursting onto the local scene with his melodic folk-rock originals, Nick Tan is a young Singaporean singer/songwriter currently studying at the National University of Singapore. Inspired by the songs he listened to, the aspiring performer picked up a guitar in secondary school and wrote his first tune in a burst of youthful inspiration. There has been no turning back since.

For At the Concourse, Nick will be showcasing songs from past and present. Old tunes have been reworked for a fresh presentation, while new ones have been written with an optimistic air, together merging a pensive offering as we approach a new year. Much of his music revolves around the theme of the self and re-awakening, a cautious and self-conscious exploration of what it means for both rebirth and redemption in a climate of cynical fatalism. – Taken from Esplanade

Have you ever had the chance to watch an Italian opera for free? We almost had when a young Caucasian lady came up to us today and offer us 2 tickets to the famous and widely popular “La Boheme” play today(for free coz she couldn’t attend it) at Esplanade while waiting for Nick Tan’s performance. But of course being as professional as we were, just to bring you the latest performances here in Singapore, we kindly declined her offer(which left her puzzled for a while).

Leaving that weird encounter aside, we saw Nick for the first time and at 23 years old he’s really got a lot going for him right now strumming the guitar confidently on his self-written originals and not forgetting a couple of decent, perhaps self-arranged covers? All in all, a pretty good performance but perhaps a little lackluster in vocals and experience on interaction with the crowd. No worries though, I’m quite sure we will be hearing more from him soon.

In the meantime you might want to check out Nick Tan’s Myspace page.

Video of “Bright Lights” by Nick Tan @ Esplanade Concourse:

*P.S: Pardon me on the quality of the video as it was taken from an iPhone video capture.

As mentioned in our earlier posting, we are already impressed with this duo and it’s a pleasure hearing them again, very consistent performance.

Check out more pictures and video of their performance below:

Video of a song written from a poem, titled “Virgo” by Yi Sheng:

Also affectionately known as “Sam & Clare”, the dynamic duo enjoys impetus outbursts of creative compositions and daring renditions of their favourite numbers. Sam the vocalist and Clarence on guitar and vocals have together performed a range of genres from R&B to pop & rock at numerous events and popular spots like Wala Wala, Acid Bar and eM by the River. Groovy and refreshing, their acoustic arrangements reveal a contemporary approach with influences of jazz. This weaving of genres intriguingly creates an original and unique style that never fails to surprise the audience. The adventurous pair, cheeky at times, also enjoys song-writing about the littlest moments to the most heart-felt experiences of their journey. Together, they look forward to every charismatic instance of creation and expression through their music, and hope to share them with an unexpecting stranger. – Taken from Esplanade

We first heard them at the Esplanade performance on Jan 10th, and we immediately felt that the duo had great chemistry together. It was a great fun listening to their originals as well as their own renditions of covers(here’s a personal favorite), Sam’s strong vocals coupled with Clarence’s amazing guitar skills mesmerized the crowd and were lucky we got the best seats right in front of them.

We will be expecting an album release and more great music from this talented duo. If you want to catch them in action, they will be performing once again at Esplanade Concourse on the 26th and 27th Jan 2010, don’t miss it!

Performance Details
Location: Esplanade, Concourse area
Date: 26 and 27 Jan 2010 Time: 7:15pm, 8:15pm (2 sessions)
Admission is free