https://www.scmp.com/rss/1298/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com To her friends, Colleen Ironside was generous, loyal, liked to make outrageous remarks in her inimitable rasp, and was often seen with a glass of white wine in one hand, Marlboro Light in the other. Music lovers knew her another way: as the promoter responsible for bringing the Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Elton John and dozens of other superstars to Asia, and raising the profile of the region as a place for musical acts to tour. Ironside is reported to have died peacefully in her sleep at her home... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3186596/she-brought-rolling-stones-hong-kong-tributes-flow-colleen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3186596/she-brought-rolling-stones-hong-kong-tributes-flow-colleen?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Jul 2022 09:15:22 +0000 When former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant watched then eight-year-old Yoyoka Soma replicate the complicated drum fills on Good Times, Bad Times, from the group’s debut 1969 album, he said: “Well, I know where she can get a job.” Plant’s praise for the 2018 video that’s been viewed nearly four million times spurred on the budding Japanese drummer. “I was very surprised, but honoured,” she said. Now 10, she has spent countless hours emulating the thunderous drum fills by the late Zeppelin... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3111276/she-has-wowed-dave-grohl-foo-fighters-and-robert-plant-led?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3111276/she-has-wowed-dave-grohl-foo-fighters-and-robert-plant-led?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Nov 2020 05:15:15 +0000 [Sponsored Article]   The rapid global spread of the coronavirus disease, Covid-19, has brought into stark focus just how easy it is for people to develop deadly health problems after inhaling viruses, germs and other harmful pollutants found in the air . There are dangers lurking at home, too. Research conducted by Hong Kong Baptist University in 2016 showed that the level of hazardous pollutants, known as PM 2.5, is on average higher indoors compared with the city’s busiest roads. There are a... https://www.scmp.com/presented/tech/innovation/topics/healthy-living-tech-good/article/3083493/why-technopreneurs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/tech/innovation/topics/healthy-living-tech-good/article/3083493/why-technopreneurs?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 May 2020 08:34:19 +0000 [Sponsored article]   The rapid global spread of the deadly coronavirus disease, Covid-19, has shown how important it is to have quick and accurate health diagnoses.  Countries such as South Korea and Iceland, which have made testing widely available to their populations, have been able to contain the virus more effectively. Scientists are working hard to develop new tests that can produce a result within minutes, instead of the many hours or days they can currently take. Shortening the waiting... https://www.scmp.com/presented/tech/innovation/topics/healthy-living-tech-good/article/3080809/fight-covid-19-how?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/tech/innovation/topics/healthy-living-tech-good/article/3080809/fight-covid-19-how?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Apr 2020 03:30:46 +0000 It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon in Manila’s Rizal Park and 62-year-old Johnny Siong is crooning his heart out to Whitney Houston’s Saving All My Love For You. He’s doing it partly for amusement and partly to psyche me out – we’re three games in to our four-game, winner-take-all chess tournament and what began as a quiet mano a mano match has attracted an eager crowd of spectators. Young and old, big and small, they are all craning their necks to see if the local legend can defeat the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3006819/checkmate-manila-pawns-paws-and-grand-chess-game?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3006819/checkmate-manila-pawns-paws-and-grand-chess-game?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Apr 2019 08:00:13 +0000 More than three decades after Foreigner’s 1984 ballad I Want To Know What Love Is topped the charts in several countries, the group’s founder and sole original member says that – yes – he does know now. “The amount of times I get asked that,” Mick Jones chuckles over the phone from Australia ahead of the Anglo-American band’s upcoming Hong Kong performance on November 3. Lady Gaga breaks free from last album woes with A Star Is Born “The song took its own course. It ended up as a universal... https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2168290/classic-rock-survivors-foreigner-lasting-course-and-finding-new-fans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2168290/classic-rock-survivors-foreigner-lasting-course-and-finding-new-fans?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Oct 2018 05:00:00 +0000 When a film looks like it will be a smash hit, it can be a dream job to interview actors and actresses. But when it’s a stinker, interviewing the cast can be another experience altogether. Following the New York screening of Striptease in June of 1996, the feeling was that the movie might be a mega-bomb, a summer disaster. Perhaps sensing this mood, Demi Moore, the film’s star, who was paid a record US$12.5 million, skipped the interview circuit altogether. Co-stars Ving Rhames and Robert... https://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/2163231/are-you-burt-reynolds-disguise-when-plastic-surgery-toupee-and-clean?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/2163231/are-you-burt-reynolds-disguise-when-plastic-surgery-toupee-and-clean?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Sep 2018 08:15:15 +0000 “And I’ll meet you in the Heartttlllaaannnd!” So sang a love-struck woman over a twee combination of banjos and guitars, and state-of-the-art but bland production values. Only, this was not occurring on the wide-open American plains. It was midday at a Hong Kong branch of supermarket chain Market Place by Jasons. It made me want to physically attack the watermelons. Market Place is not alone. It seems that no matter what a shop sells, or where that shop is located, there will always be some form... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2158955/supermarkets-enough-musak-making-case-music-free?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2158955/supermarkets-enough-musak-making-case-music-free?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Aug 2018 11:00:15 +0000 When former Eagles member Don Felder received the news that group co-founder Glenn Frey had passed away early this year, he thought it was someone else who had died. Felder was returning from a charity concert he had performed at in Mexico alongside Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl when his girlfriend learned via a series of text messages that “Glen” had passed away. Why the world loves and hates 1970s country rockers the Eagles “I thought she meant Glen Campbell, because we have someone in our... https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2027655/ex-eagles-guitarist-don-felder-cant-wait-play-hong-kongs-beautiful?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2027655/ex-eagles-guitarist-don-felder-cant-wait-play-hong-kongs-beautiful?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Oct 2016 02:00:15 +0000 “I’d prefer if people talk about my work as opposed to my personal life,” Madonna told this interviewer during a session at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles after the release of her 2003 album American Life. “I like talking about my work.” During interview sessions over the course of several years and albums in Miami, Los Angeles and London, it’s a mantra you hear a lot. And there’s no arguing with the global impact Madonna’s work has had since she burst into the public consciousness in the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/music/article/1905891/madonna-songs-i-write-now-are-about-lessons-ive-learnt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/music/article/1905891/madonna-songs-i-write-now-are-about-lessons-ive-learnt?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Jan 2016 22:00:30 +0000 If you spend much time on YouTube, chances are you’ve come across singer-songwriter Kina Grannis.   In one video, she’s playfully skipping across a beach in California with friend and fellow YouTube star David Choi. In another, she’s harmonising with Canadian band Boyce Avenue. And in her latest, she’s plucking her guitar with the blonde Gardiner Sisters as they sing sweet harmonies. Grannis, who doesn’t seem to have met a chart-topping pop song she couldn’t retool into a honeyed acoustic pop... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/music/article/1854660/hong-kong-welcomes-youtube-singing-star-kina-grannis-back-encore?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/music/article/1854660/hong-kong-welcomes-youtube-singing-star-kina-grannis-back-encore?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Sep 2015 07:00:15 +0000 It's late May and a security team patrol the outdoor grounds of Singapore venue SCAPE while a series of blockades keeps an estimated 6,000 screaming fans from causing a riot. The crowd of mostly teenagers are there to see the "stars" they follow obsessively. But the youngsters both male and female aren't screaming for Beyonce, Iggy Azalea or Lady Gaga. Instead, their shouts are aimed at Ryan Higa, Superwoman, Jenna Marbles, Tyler Oakley, Bethany Mota and Vsauce, who have all become famous via... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1600973/youtubes-top-celebrities-draw-packed-houses-adoring-admirers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1600973/youtubes-top-celebrities-draw-packed-houses-adoring-admirers?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Sep 2014 04:07:42 +0000 A few weeks ago, before controversial New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was booed on his return to Boston's Fenway Park, Ivan Rutherford stepped on the field to sing the American national anthem in front of 37,000 people. Unlike Rodriguez, who later got drilled by a pitch, Rutherford received a standing ovation. "It was an honour for me," he says from his home in Irvine, California, in the lead-up to his appearance in Hong Kong next week. "I'm a Yankees fan and I was keeping that... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1304861/les-mis-made-me?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1304861/les-mis-made-me?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Sep 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Making a telephone call to Al Jourgensen, frontman of the hell-raising industrial rock band Ministry, at his compound in El Paso, Texas, can be intimidating. After all, this is a musician who hurled firecrackers at Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor just for fun ("This is what we did with the people we liked"), threw furniture off hotel balconies while it was on fire, had his compound raided by 32 members of the FBI, DEA, ATF and IRS (they didn't find anything), and let's not even get into... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1297185/back-dead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1297185/back-dead?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 After entire school years spent grilling minute steaks at fast food joints, nights tearing mozzarella onto delivered pizzas and summers putting hideous salads together at country clubs, I was about to make hoisin chicken with pear salad. And I was terrified. Why? Because I'm a kitchen klutz. It wasn't a question of whether I could actually finish the meal, but rather, whether I would turn that hoisin chicken into poison chicken. Don't get me wrong. I like my Michelin restaurants as much as any... https://www.scmp.com/article/994054/youll-never-wok-alone?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/994054/youll-never-wok-alone?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Some long-time beer drinkers in the city feel that mainstream beverages such as Carlsberg, Heineken and San Miguel remain predominant outside of a few select outlets, and that's something they would certainly like to see changed. Despite the buzz, Hongkongers drink only four litres each a year of wine and 21.9 litres of beer. More ales, microbrews and a greater selection from the United States all rank high on the list of desirables that are hard to find at most venues. 'Although there's more... https://www.scmp.com/article/975815/beer-eternity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/975815/beer-eternity?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Aug 2011 16:00:00 +0000 When the March earthquake struck the eastern coast of Japan, several members of Canadian rock outfit Simple Plan were celebrating the birthday of their record label's Japanese representative. As the phone lines were down and she couldn't reach her family, the happy occasion quickly turned to panic. 'We didn't think much of it at first because there are a lot of earthquakes in Los Angeles,' lead singer Pierre Bouvier says. 'But when we turned on the news at our hotel, it definitely hit home. We... https://www.scmp.com/article/975571/virtues-simplicity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/975571/virtues-simplicity?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Aug 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Karl Taro Greenfeld still vividly recalls his worst day ever. On a return trip from Shenzhen, he went to top up his Octopus card at the Hung Hom train station. While doing that, someone stole his laptop computer, which contained 40,000 words of an expose that he was working on about severe acute respiratory syndrome. 'Only writers might understand this, but for about a month I was catatonic, and then I sat down and started writing again,' the Japanese-American author, 45, recalls while... https://www.scmp.com/article/975564/freedom-beckons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/975564/freedom-beckons?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Aug 2011 16:00:00 +0000 A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway Scribner's When Ernest Hemingway published his second full-length novel, A Farewell to Arms, in 1929, his writing career was just kicking into gear. After the success of his debut The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway was dealing with the difficult birth of his son by his second wife, Pauline, as well as his father's suicide. Alternating between homes in Arkansas, Florida and France, the then-30-year-old worked on drafts of his first world war-era novel to... https://www.scmp.com/article/973020/book-1929?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/973020/book-1929?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Jul 2011 16:00:00 +0000 What I'm listening to: I've just finished working on U2's Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark soundtrack so I've obviously been listening to that a lot. I'm also listening to Fleet Foxes as the guy's voice just gives me tingles. I've also been a big fan of Arcade Fire for a long time. What I'm reading: Notes from the Universe by Mike Dooley. It's a self-help book about making things happen. I'm halfway through about six books at the moment, including a few about Buddhism. What I'm watching: right... https://www.scmp.com/article/973031/steve-lillywhite-music-producer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/973031/steve-lillywhite-music-producer?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Jul 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Escape Journey Columbia The seventh studio album by San Francisco rock band Journey tells the story of young men and women struggling with their mundane lives and dreaming of leaving their troubles behind. Escape signalled quite a departure for the quintet led by guitarist Neal Schon, who went from being a squealing Santana castoff to become the creative foundation of the band. The addition of Jonathan Cain from The Babys was another help, as he added synthesisers to the mix which would... https://www.scmp.com/article/972384/album-1981?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/972384/album-1981?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Jul 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Does the Noise in My Head Bother You? by Steven Tyler HarperCollins Right from the get go readers get an ADD dose of Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler's wit and wisdom, and that staccato lyrical style continues straight through the 371 pages of the 61-year-old rocker's scintillating autobiography. Although the memoir is co-written with Rolling Stone contributor David Dalton, it's hard to tell. Fans looking for the risque can simply thumb through the book for many a colourful exploit, such as... https://www.scmp.com/article/972404/does-noise-my-head-bother-you?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/972404/does-noise-my-head-bother-you?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Jul 2011 16:00:00 +0000 What I'm listening to: Led Zeppelin IV, because there are many famous songs on the album and the sound quality is really good. What I'm reading: Guitar Magazine, of course, and also several books on Japanese history from the ancient times. What I'm watching: I like period dramas and quiz shows because I love history and I learn a lot from them. What I'm visiting: YouTube. I always go there to watch music videos of just about anybody I can think of! Who I loved playing with: Ozzy Osbourne,... https://www.scmp.com/article/971683/yuto-miyazawa-guitar-prodigy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/971683/yuto-miyazawa-guitar-prodigy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Boris Attention Please/Heavy Rocks Sargent House The Japanese trio Boris have been plenty busy of late. In addition to a double vinyl album earlier in the year, there's also a collaborative effort with Merzbow due out soon and two new releases that have just dropped. On Attention Please and Heavy Rocks, their 16th and 17th albums, the group are clearly exploring different ends of the musical spectrum, with varied results. Attention Please is the real shocker. For the first time in the... https://www.scmp.com/article/970972/boris?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/970972/boris?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000 The Cars Move Like This Hear Music The Cars frontman Ric Ocasek said he'd never reform the band who epitomised the perfect hybrid between rock and new-wave pop in the late 1970s and mid-80s, but it's good he changed his mind. By and large, the group's first album in 24 years is more of a worthy successor to Heartbeat City than The Cars' swansong, Door To Door, ever was. The group's best new songs, which include opener Blue Tip, Keep On Knocking and Hits Me, all feature Elliot Easton's simple... https://www.scmp.com/article/969023/cars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/969023/cars?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 May 2011 16:00:00 +0000 ACT ONE I was a child prodigy, born in Washington DC in 1934. My mother's parents were from San Juan, Puerto Rico. My father was a native American. I came from a family of 24 children and was the first born. Mother sang with Marian Anderson, the first black opera singer. President [Franklin] Roosevelt's wife allowed my mother and her to sing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, because they weren't allowed to sing in the opera house. I started at the age of three. I could sing the Gregorian... https://www.scmp.com/article/969001/bobby-taylor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/969001/bobby-taylor?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 May 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Beastie Boys Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two Capitol Twenty-four years after their debut, the Beastie Boys are now middle aged - and they know it. 'Grandpa been rapping since '83,' they bark at one point on their eighth album Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two. The catch is, they certainly don't act it. Their latest, originally scheduled to be released in 2009 but delayed due to Adam Yauch's bout with cancer, recalls the bouncy, silly, catchy hip hop of yore, but is filled with scintillating... https://www.scmp.com/article/967752/beastie-boys?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/967752/beastie-boys?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 May 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Who dat girl?' Flo Rida raps as he points to the women flocking around the stage at the newly opened Club Cubic in Macau. 'Where my sexy girls at?' he adds for emphasis. The champagne is flowing endlessly at the opening night of the 30,000-sq-ft nightclub at the City of Dreams casino in Macau, and the 31-year-old's well-rehearsed routine has everyone - and not just the women - shrieking along in a frenzy. Considering that the rapper had arrived just hours earlier after a prolonged layover in... https://www.scmp.com/article/965307/flo-rida-state-mind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/965307/flo-rida-state-mind?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Atom Heart Mother Pink Floyd Harvest/EMI Guitarist David Gilmour called it 'horrible' and bassist Roger Waters later told BBC Radio 1's Richard Skinner that 'If somebody said to me now: 'Right, here's a million pounds, go out and play Atom Heart Mother, I'd say: 'You must be f***ing joking. I'm not playing that rubbish.'' But back in 1970, three years before The Dark Side of the Moon was to define their sound, the Britain-based quartet (Syd Barrett was already gone by then) known as Pink Floyd... https://www.scmp.com/article/964654/album-1970?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/964654/album-1970?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 When Danny Elfman was a boy, he would make the short journey from his house to his local theatre in Los Angeles every weekend where he would watch director Ray Harryhausen's The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts and other science fiction and fantasy films. He describes the time as a golden age for kids, especially for boys. 'Our parents never worried about us,' he laughs. 'You know, 'What did you see? Did you like the movie?' 'Yes Mommy. The monster, the mutant, grabbed hold of... https://www.scmp.com/article/738044/hell-ride?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/738044/hell-ride?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Feb 2011 16:00:00 +0000 His favourite Hong Kong films: 'Boy that's a hard one. There have been a lot. Kung Fu Hustle. I could go on and on. I'd love to score a film here.' His first Disney film: 'Fantasia. I didn't see a lot of Disney films until I had my own kids, but that was the exception. I used to see it in Los Angeles at a Cinerama. That was a big thing. I would love to score something that was purely visual. That would be my dream.' On scoring The Simpsons theme: 'I wrote it in the car on the way from my... https://www.scmp.com/article/738043/picture-danny-elfman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/738043/picture-danny-elfman?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Feb 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin Atlantic In the beginning they were two British session musicians, a would-be accountant with a bellowing voice and a drummer who could pound the skins like a jackhammer. Guitarist Jimmy Page was the best known of the lot, having played with everyone from The Who to the Rolling Stones. But before that, he was also a member of The Yardbirds, alongside Jeff Beck, which gave him the idea of forming a supergroup. He figured that with drummer Keith Moon and... https://www.scmp.com/article/734581/album-1969?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/734581/album-1969?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:00:00 +0000 How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss Random House 'Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived north of Who-ville, did NOT!' So begins How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Theodor Seuss Geisel's classic ode to Christmas. We know him better as Dr Seuss, a writer of 44 children's books who often used four rhythmic units known as anapestic tetrameter to effectively convey the maximum meaning from a minimum of words. And while many of his stories became... https://www.scmp.com/article/733716/book-1971?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/733716/book-1971?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Girl Talk All Day (self-released) He begins with the guitar crunch of Black Sabbath's War Pigs overlaid with the rapping of Ludacris' Move B**** and ends more than an hour later with John Lennon's Imagine. In between, Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, has turned his fifth effort into yet another dizzying, blink-and-you'll-miss-it ADD party smorgasbord of recorded music past and present. Admittedly, the 29-year-old's 'mashups' are a lawsuit waiting to happen, but he precisely layers... https://www.scmp.com/article/732460/girl-talk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/732460/girl-talk?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Up to 400 Cantonese and English-speaking young people are expected to attend Hong Kong's first TEDx Youth Day on Saturday in Tai Po as part of a global initiative that will take place over a 24-hour period in more than 70 cities. During the event, the 15 to 25-year-olds will be treated to inspirational speeches, presentations and musical performances by 19 notable volunteers, including singer GEM, runner Derek Kwik and Hawaiian-based ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro (pictured). 'It's... https://www.scmp.com/article/730816/perfect-solution-youngsters-need-some-inspiration?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/730816/perfect-solution-youngsters-need-some-inspiration?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:00:00 +0000 The Orb featuring David Gilmour Metallic Spheres (Columbia) Synths swish around the ears. Drums pound like John Bonham reincarnated one moment and a dubbed-out reggaethon the next. Over the top of it all is David Gilmour's inimitable guitar sound, reaching skyward before gently blending with the dense, textured soundscapes. In other words, the Metallic Spheres album that pairs the electronic equivalent of Pink Floyd with that band's former guitarist is the perfect match. At one... https://www.scmp.com/article/728405/orb?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/728405/orb?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Tricky Mixed Race (Domino) After the triumphant comeback that was 2008's Knowle West Boy, the smart money would have been for Tricky to continue making the type of hard, brooding underground music that put him on the map in the first place. But he's named Tricky for a reason, which is why his ninth effort, Mixed Race, sees him pursuing his own widespread world music interests, with wildly mixed results. The biggest shock of all starts with the singer himself - or the lack of him.... https://www.scmp.com/article/727711/tricky?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/727711/tricky?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Local resident and former headhunter Paul Boyle has turned his personal demons into triumph, with his 2009 documentary Coming Clean nominated for two awards - best directorial debut and best international documentary - at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival last week. The film, shot in Kowloon and New York for less than US$200,000, is a gritty look at the struggles and demons drug addicts face both in crack dens and their daily lives. Boyle, 39, who was spending up... https://www.scmp.com/article/726840/filmmaker-turns-demons-personal-drug-addiction-festival-awards-triumph?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/726840/filmmaker-turns-demons-personal-drug-addiction-festival-awards-triumph?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Tonight's Lionel Richie concert at the Convention and Exhibition Centre marks the first time the singer has officially performed in the city since the '80s, though he did sneak in a private show last year. 'I was planning to go to The Peak last time, for the prettiest night scenery in the world, but obviously was unable to,' he said. 'I really hope that I can visit with my family this time.' For those who remember the singer from his mid-80s chart-topping heyday, it may come as a surprise to... https://www.scmp.com/article/726029/after-gap-over-20-years-lionel-ritchie-returning-say-hello-one-more-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/726029/after-gap-over-20-years-lionel-ritchie-returning-say-hello-one-more-time?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Harvest Neil Young (Reprise) 'Old man look at my life, I'm a lot like you were' are the opening lyrics to the single Old Man from Neil Young's Harvest album. It wasn't to be the most famous song off the album - that honour would go to the surprise No1 hit Heart of Gold - but the sparse, acoustic number was most emblematic of Young's life during that time. At the age of 25, he was coming off the success of Ohio, his rallying cry against the Kent State massacre; the break-up of his group... https://www.scmp.com/article/725888/album-1972?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/725888/album-1972?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Linkin Park A Thousand Suns (Warner Brothers) Longtime fans of Linkin Park's aggressive, riff-ridden rap-metal hybrid are in for a shock on the group's fourth album, A Thousand Suns. Amid the 15 songs are the best soundscapes that Pro-Tools can buy, along with poignant ballads, stabs at the dance floor and a folky acoustic throwaway. Largely gone are Chester Bennington's piercing shrieks and save for two tracks, Mike Shinoda's distinct rapping. If their last Rick Rubin-produced... https://www.scmp.com/article/725177/linkin-park?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/725177/linkin-park?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Mogwai Special Moves (Rock Action) Instrumental rock bands may seem quite commonplace these days with Caribou, Explosions In The Sky and !!! all releasing albums that bridge the gap between energetic cathartic release and contemplative soundtrack, but Mogwai were among the first on the scene. Now, 13 years after the Scottish five-piece released their debut Mogwai Young Team, their latest effort, Special Moves, shows ample promise of a bright future. There are plenty of firsts: first live... https://www.scmp.com/article/724526/mogwai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/724526/mogwai?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000 When he was 25, Jerry Weintraub had a dream in which he saw a sign in front of Madison Square Garden reading 'Jerry Weintraub presents Elvis'. This convinced him to relentlessly pursue Elvis Presley's manager every day for a year in a bid to promote the singer's first ever arena tour of the US. Three weeks after he presented a cheque for US$1 million to 'Colonel' Tom Parker, Presley was on a concert tour and the Bronx-born hustler was a millionaire himself. 'What Elvis did for me was establish... https://www.scmp.com/article/721649/millionaire-hustler?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/721649/millionaire-hustler?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Arcade Fire The Suburbs (Merge/Mercury) Few bands have received as many accolades in so short a time as the Montreal-based indie act Arcade Fire, who have been a critics' darling since arriving on the scene in 2004. Fewer still could withstand the hype. For their third effort, The Suburbs, the band released eight album covers followed by a live concert webcast filmed by director Terry Gilliam. Amazingly, this complex, lengthy effort by the seven-piece band is their best yet. In... https://www.scmp.com/article/721646/arcade-fire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/721646/arcade-fire?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Macy Gray The Sellout (Universal) In the title of her fifth album, Macy Gray isn't referring to her career but rather to love. However, the listener gets the feeling she's all too aware of her current status on the pop music ladder. At the age of 42 and with her career dangerously close to being roadkill, Gray has decided to make music on her own terms, with wildly mixed results. She has dispensed with the big Will.i.am-style production that marred her last effort and is showing far... https://www.scmp.com/article/721104/macy-gray?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/721104/macy-gray?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Beck Live at the Acropolis (Record Club) Beck Hansen started his 'record club' last year, a revolutionary opportunity to expose fans to albums they might not otherwise consider and to have a laugh. The concept is simple. Beck assembles friends, who have ranged from actor Giovanni Ribisi to Wilco to Brazilian cult band Os Mutantes. They then choose an album to record, and lay down the tracks without attempt at perfection. The process is filmed and one song a week is then uploaded to... https://www.scmp.com/article/719354/beck?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/719354/beck?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Heaven and Hell Black Sabbath (Vertigo) During what was billed as the 'Black and Blue' tour at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1980, it seemed as if every derelict in the city was crammed in to see Blue Oyster Cult and Black Sabbath. Marijuana smoke sat high in the tiers like a cloud, and many concert-goers claimed they saw people thrown off the balconies. While Judas Priest were carving their own niche in Britain and AC/DC's massive ascent was just around the corner,... https://www.scmp.com/article/719351/album-1980?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/719351/album-1980?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Eminem Recovery (Universal) At his best on his sixth major label release, Eminem displays a machine-gun delivery that's a marvel to listen to. Sadly, many of the 17 songs are framed behind uninspired beats that sound like he is creatively treading water. 'I sincerely apologise if all that I sound like is I'm complaining,' he raps on Going Through Changes, based around a Black Sabbath sample. But it's hard to accept his remorse as his venom courses through this 77-minute album. When he's not... https://www.scmp.com/article/718819/eminem?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/718819/eminem?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0000 The Flaming Lips, and Stardeath and White Dwarfs The Dark Side of the Moon (Warner Brothers) Remaking this 37-year-old classic is like redoing Jaws or Star Wars. It's so ingrained in the public consciousness that those who take it on have two avenues: laughably bizarre or respectfully straight. The Flaming Lips have managed to travel down both roads. The results are alternately invigorating and annoying. Openers Speak to Me and Breathe have been transformed into amped-up psychedelic... https://www.scmp.com/article/718215/flaming-lips-and-stardeath-and-white-dwarfs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/718215/flaming-lips-and-stardeath-and-white-dwarfs?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000 Badmotorfinger Soundgarden (A&M) If you have never heard of the band Nudedragons, you may be surprised to learn the group's recent show in Seattle sold out in 15 minutes, with several rabid fans willing to pay up to US$2,500 a ticket. By all accounts, the four-piece rock act played a blistering set featuring songs from their five albums. For lead singer Chris Cornell, whose most recent output was the ill-advised guilty pleasure dance album Scream, the hair is long again and his... https://www.scmp.com/article/718214/album-1991?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/718214/album-1991?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jun 2010 16:00:00 +0000