https://www.scmp.com/rss/502705/feed Rob Garratt is an award-winning freelance writer with a specialism in arts and culture journalism. Career highs include interviewing Hollywood icons Martin Sheen, Liam Neeson and Werner Herzog, and music legends Quincy Jones, Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock and Noel Gallagher. He previously served as chief production editor of all SCMP’s specialist publications, including Style and 100 Top Tables. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com If there was one instrument that stood out at the sixth Freespace Jazz Fest it was the piano, with four of six ticketed headline shows at the West Kowloon event spotlighting pianists. Of course, none cast a shadow a tenth as long as Herbie Hancock, one of the world’s most famous improvisers. “Someone is saying jazz is dead? I think the person who said that is dead already!” he quipped on stage at Wonderland on October 28, as much a reference to his own longevity as the genre’s dogged... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3284462/herbie-hancock-incredible-ever-hong-kongs-freespace-jazz-festival-2024?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3284462/herbie-hancock-incredible-ever-hong-kongs-freespace-jazz-festival-2024?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Oct 2024 09:45:08 +0000 It isn’t hard to decode the title of Wellsaid’s new album, Regretopia, which like much great art blurs the boundaries between the personal and political. “Everyone is living in a land of regret – it’s universal,” says Rocky Sum Lok-kei, frontman of the home-grown alt-rock group, “especially in Hong Kong. We’re always thinking about lost opportunities, what could have been – not just personal decisions, but the state of things.” There’s a tinge of irony, perhaps, that while the 31-year-old... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3282885/alt-rock-band-wellsaid-new-album-regretopia-hong-kongs-music-community-and-going-viral-tiktok?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3282885/alt-rock-band-wellsaid-new-album-regretopia-hong-kongs-music-community-and-going-viral-tiktok?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Oct 2024 23:15:07 +0000 Rob Garratt Rob Garratt Films have always been unspooling silently in the background of Antonio Sánchez’s life. The drummer’s grandfather, whom Sánchez calls a “completely ubiquitous” star of Mexico’s golden age of cinema, played the title character in Macario (1960), his country’s first work to gain an Academy Award nomination for best foreign-language film. Meanwhile, his mother was tasked with rating the age certification of new releases, so he got to see “a lot of movies I shouldn’t have”, he says. “Movies that... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3283170/mexican-musician-antonio-sanchez-composing-soundtrack-oscar-winning-birdman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3283170/mexican-musician-antonio-sanchez-composing-soundtrack-oscar-winning-birdman?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Oct 2024 09:45:08 +0000 Rob Garratt Rob Garratt “Oh, we didn’t talk about AI!” blurts Herbie Hancock, sitting upright as we wind up our conversation. “Everybody else is talking about AI.” As arguably the most famous musical improviser on the planet, Hancock makes an unlikely champion of finding the art in artificial intelligence. But since the tech revolution dawned, the 84-year-old pianist has repeatedly spoken out about the potential benefits of bots in the creative process. “I am optimistic,” Hancock tells me ahead of a headline slot... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3282841/herbie-hancock-ai-snoop-dogg-and-kendrick-lamar-collab-never-happened-and-kamala-harris-president?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3282841/herbie-hancock-ai-snoop-dogg-and-kendrick-lamar-collab-never-happened-and-kamala-harris-president?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Oct 2024 23:00:12 +0000 There is no denying that Hongkongers love their meat. The city has the fourth highest meat consumption per capita in the world, at 123kg per year, according to the latest statistics from the World Population Review, including one of the highest per capita figures for pork consumption, at 53kg per year. To many, it is simply not a meal without some variety of animal flesh on the table. Vegetarians can consider themselves lucky to find anything more than a small handful of suitable options on a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3281968/88-hong-kong-dishes-and-snacks-made-vegan-new-cookbook-dim-sum-egg-tarts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3281968/88-hong-kong-dishes-and-snacks-made-vegan-new-cookbook-dim-sum-egg-tarts?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Oct 2024 05:15:07 +0000 Last June, Ambrose Akinmusire announced his musical rebirth to the world with Beauty is Enough, a studio album promoted with a cryptic Joan Didion quote: “Maybe I was holding all the aces, but what was the game?” Whatever it was, the American trumpeter has certainly made much of the hand he’s been dealt over his two-decade-plus music career, all the while refusing to hew too close to convention. “You know, I don’t play the game,” says Akinmusire, ahead of his recent Hong Kong debut at the Xiqu... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3272768/jazz-star-ambrose-akinmusire-wayne-shorter-quitting-blue-note-records-and-finding-beauty-troubled?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3272768/jazz-star-ambrose-akinmusire-wayne-shorter-quitting-blue-note-records-and-finding-beauty-troubled?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Aug 2024 21:45:10 +0000 Faced with following up 2019’s inaugural Freespace Jazz Fest, but finding engaging programming difficult with international travel amid pandemic uncertainty, in-house curator Kung Chi-shing conceived a series of virtual encounters for 2020: pairing local musicians with contemporaries elsewhere on the globe. It quickly became clear to Kung that even a minuscule digital delay would scupper any syncopation, so sprawling, free-form improvisations became the norm. The sessions begat what will become... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3271046/cantopop-so-unhealthy-inside-hong-kongs-new-experimental-music-happening-freespace-noise-fest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3271046/cantopop-so-unhealthy-inside-hong-kongs-new-experimental-music-happening-freespace-noise-fest?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Jul 2024 04:45:14 +0000 Whoever put together the programme blurb for Ambrose Akinmusire’s forthcoming concert of “smooth sounds” in Hong Kong was either underselling his artistry for wider appeal or needs to take a deeper dive into the American composer and jazz trumpeter’s back catalogue. It’s true, Akinmusire’s most recent release was a masterclass in subtle sonics that might be pleasing to the ear, but there’s not a whiff of lift Muzak about Owl Song, a delicate, late-night meditation teaming the trumpeter’s croon... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3269723/tracing-jazz-great-ambrose-akinmusires-relentless-sonic-muse-solo-horn-hip-hop-collabs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/3269723/tracing-jazz-great-ambrose-akinmusires-relentless-sonic-muse-solo-horn-hip-hop-collabs?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Jul 2024 22:00:11 +0000 “If I’m naughty, I’ll sleep in the tram,” I jokingly told my partner when checking in to review the Island Shangri-La’s newly revealed family suites – despite it being just the two of us. Yet moments after crawling into our room’s twee tram-bed following a long deadline day in the office, I was fast asleep. Out for the count. Upon reluctantly waking, only the promise of live dinner jazz at the hotel’s Lobster Bar & Grill eventually got me upright again. That was one comfy ride. A night in Island... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3267009/island-shangri-las-new-family-suites-hong-kong-wonders-tram-themed-room-and-don-maks-whimsical-mural?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3267009/island-shangri-las-new-family-suites-hong-kong-wonders-tram-themed-room-and-don-maks-whimsical-mural?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Jun 2024 08:00:09 +0000 Jack Johnson is a rubbish rock star. For one, he’s too blooming happy, with not a whiff of the tortured artist about him. Nor an ounce of ego, either – dismiss his feel-good, acoustic pop ditties as soft rock, barbecue ballads, whatever, and he just doesn’t care. There’s zero drama too: he tours with his wife and kids – not his fifth wife, not some centrefold model, but the woman he’s been with since he was 18. No hell-raising, heartbreak or tabloid romances to be found at his door. “I don’t... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3253379/jack-johnson-fame-fidelity-and-not-being-too-good-looking-banana-pancakes-singer-and-surfer-still?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3253379/jack-johnson-fame-fidelity-and-not-being-too-good-looking-banana-pancakes-singer-and-surfer-still?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Feb 2024 01:00:18 +0000 The most unusual thing about Tom Jones? He sleeps hanging upside-down. “That’s the cue for a song!” retorts Jones. “I don’t think there is anything unusual I do,” he adds, before conceding that maybe it is just a little abnormal that he dangles feet first from an inversion table every day. “Well, most days.” It sounds like he is jesting – sleeping suspended from the ceiling is a parody of rock star silliness, played for laughs by the hardened British roadie of Wayne’s World 2, who learned it on... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3253320/tom-jones-elvis-presley-king-charles-his-changing-voice-recent-songs-and-more-ahead-ages-stages-tour?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3253320/tom-jones-elvis-presley-king-charles-his-changing-voice-recent-songs-and-more-ahead-ages-stages-tour?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:45:13 +0000 Idles are at a crossroads. Arguably the last noteworthy guitar band to emerge in the 2010s, the British post-punks became fast festival favourites – thanks to the retro cross-cut guitar assault, soapbox-worthy choruses and inclusive megaphone-messaging of politics big and small, found on dynamite debut LP Brutalism (2017) and even better follow-up Joy as an Act of Resistance (2018). But after two pandemic-era attempts to slay the beast they created – via the deliberately “grotesque” caricature... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3251241/burn-it-down-kill-it-and-move-idles-how-new-album-tangk-goes-beyond-angry-post-punk-politics-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3251241/burn-it-down-kill-it-and-move-idles-how-new-album-tangk-goes-beyond-angry-post-punk-politics-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Feb 2024 10:00:20 +0000 We’ve officially reached Peak Bali. The world’s favourite spiritual escape is at capacity. As 2024 dawned, holidaymakers endured five-hour traffic jams from the airport over the new year weekender – an unprecedented human tsunami that came just weeks after the Indonesian island was voted the world’s second-best destination (after Dubai) in TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best awards. Which means the world won’t stop arriving at the Pacific paradise any time soon (in fact, the local... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/travel-hotels/article/3250758/why-desa-hay-eco-resort-your-guilt-free-go-bali-indonesian-paradise-battles-overtourism-these?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/travel-hotels/article/3250758/why-desa-hay-eco-resort-your-guilt-free-go-bali-indonesian-paradise-battles-overtourism-these?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Feb 2024 02:00:22 +0000 Of Hong Kong’s big four island escapes, Lamma might be the most resistant to the passing of time. Unlike Cheung Chau, and Lantau’s Discovery Bay and Mui Wo communities, there are no American fast food chains or convenience stores to be found. And Lamma’s infamous counterculture ethos hasn’t taken root on the tiny dumbbell of Peng Chau – another car-free, time-capsule escape with a population not yet approaching five digits. Lamma’s substantial expat community has long celebrated its laid-back... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/article/3244674/does-lammas-new-hipster-restaurant-terracotta-deliver-quality-goods-club-group-behind-shady-acres?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/article/3244674/does-lammas-new-hipster-restaurant-terracotta-deliver-quality-goods-club-group-behind-shady-acres?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Dec 2023 02:00:18 +0000 Remember when people called Clockenflap an “expat festival”? Not so many people are throwing that groundless slight at Hong Kong’s biggest, best musical happening any more. Not since the festival made a triumphant return in March 2023, anyway. With a growing awareness of festival culture reverberating across social media, the event was fully embraced by boomer rockers and Gen Z fans alike, and sold out for the first time in the fest’s 15-year history. Soon after, it was announced that the brand... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3242735/8-east-asian-acts-watch-clockenflap-newjeans-producer-250-and-taiwanese-rockers-no-party-cao-dong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3242735/8-east-asian-acts-watch-clockenflap-newjeans-producer-250-and-taiwanese-rockers-no-party-cao-dong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Nov 2023 02:00:28 +0000 “Is this an American story or what?” muses Bernie Grundman, a half-hour into unspooling the opening chapters of his life story – a tale that ended up with the 82-year-old becoming arguably the most in-demand mastering engineer in the world. Here’s the short version: a plucky US Air Force vet from Arizona rocked up in Hollywood in 1966 at the beginning of the home stereo boom, and – with next to zero experience – landed a job at the West Coast’s hottest jazz label, Contemporary Records. Two years... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3240220/when-does-vinyl-really-sound-better-cds-bernie-grundman-mastering-crafts-small-batch-jazz-series?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3240220/when-does-vinyl-really-sound-better-cds-bernie-grundman-mastering-crafts-small-batch-jazz-series?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Nov 2023 09:00:27 +0000 It’s no secret that half of fame in any pursuit is image – and in no art form is that more true than music. From glammed-up divas to strung-out grunge chic, style is everything. Even not having an image, is an image. That’s sure the case for Fur, the earnest 60s-obsessed rock ‘n’ roll revivalists that were catapulted to internet fame after their throwback fashion went viral courtesy of an artfully retro music video. Yes, even the bots aren’t immune to a well-dressed group of young men. “It was... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/icons-influencers/article/3237005/fashioning-fur-vintage-obsessed-indie-band-went-viral-aping-wes-anderson-heres-how-uk-hipsters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/icons-influencers/article/3237005/fashioning-fur-vintage-obsessed-indie-band-went-viral-aping-wes-anderson-heres-how-uk-hipsters?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Oct 2023 07:00:14 +0000 The Comet has been Coming for some time now. In fact, to those paying any attention, The Comet Arrived years ago, blasting through the stratosphere with the 2016 release of Mercury Prize-nominated debut album Channel the Spirits. Crashing against the earth’s surface three years later with major-label debut Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery. Sparking sonic shock waves with last year’s swansong Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam … And now The Comet is speeding off again to another... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3236251/what-happened-comet-coming-uk-jazz-trailblazers-are-splitting-end-2023-shabaka-hutchings-decision?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3236251/what-happened-comet-coming-uk-jazz-trailblazers-are-splitting-end-2023-shabaka-hutchings-decision?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Oct 2023 05:15:08 +0000 When was the last time you listened to music? We don’t mean piping lo-fi “focus beats” through your Bluetooth speaker, or jabbing at those misbehaving earbuds while swiping between windows on your morning commute – but really, actively listening? In response to the digital commodification of music, there’s a growing global trend of dedicated communal events and listening spaces, fuelled in part by the hipster-driven vinyl revival. But there’s truly nothing novel about gathering for reverent... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3234696/exploring-japans-jazz-kissa-cafe-culture-tokyo-jazz-joints-documents-these-vibrant-vinyl-listening?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3234696/exploring-japans-jazz-kissa-cafe-culture-tokyo-jazz-joints-documents-these-vibrant-vinyl-listening?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Sep 2023 08:00:11 +0000 It’s starting to feel like 2023 is Hybs’ year. Formed amid pandemic boredom in 2021, the dreamy, wistful Thai pop duo quietly dropped their snappy sepia-tinged debut album Making Steak barely a year later – complete with irresistible, slow-burn earworms “Ride” and “Dancing with My Phone”, breakout hits with a combined 100 million Spotify plays and counting. The ever-sharp duo – model-turned-singer/songwriter Alyn Wee (29) and model-turned-actor Karn Kasidej (26) – just gave us a taste of its... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3233693/thai-dream-pop-sensation-hybs-accidentally-going-viral-new-album-midnight-moo-ping-and-stanning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3233693/thai-dream-pop-sensation-hybs-accidentally-going-viral-new-album-midnight-moo-ping-and-stanning?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Sep 2023 05:00:06 +0000 Japan’s bestselling beer might have already gone global – but we’d wager many more mouths will be gulping down Asahi lager in the months ahead. Sports fans are notoriously thirsty, after all, and last month Asahi Super Dry 0.0% was announced as official training kit sponsor of Manchester City Football Club – many people’s pick as the best football team in the world right now. When the five-year deal was inked last year, Asahi execs could have only fervently hoped that City would close the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3231538/why-asahi-and-manchester-city-make-great-team-we-look-inside-japanese-beers-timely-partnership?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3231538/why-asahi-and-manchester-city-make-great-team-we-look-inside-japanese-beers-timely-partnership?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Aug 2023 22:00:19 +0000 Let’s face it, the last hurrah for guitar music was now more than 20 years ago. Already decimated by hip-hop in the 90s, that thing they call rock ’n’ roll enjoyed one final fumble with the cultural zeitgeist, the garage rock revival of the early 00s – yep, almost five decades after Elvis’ hips first set the world a-shakin’. “Seven Nation Army” might have proved the DIY movement’s most pervasive musical reminder – 20 years old this March – but the media-hyped “new rock revolution” was... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3226908/why-strokes-were-last-truly-cool-rock-band-planet-inside-quintessential-nyc-indie-hipsters-lasting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3226908/why-strokes-were-last-truly-cool-rock-band-planet-inside-quintessential-nyc-indie-hipsters-lasting?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Jul 2023 22:00:17 +0000 “Ask me anything,” begins John Cleese, with the warm, knowing smile of someone certain that whatever he’s asked, his interlocutor won’t be short of sound bites 20 minutes later. Indeed, it sometimes seems like the British comedian need only open his mouth for a fresh ripple of indignation-stoking headlines to reverberate across the internet. In the weeks before we talk alone, Cleese prompted tabloid meltdowns over his decidedly anti-woke decision to ignore a request from the cast to cut a scene... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3226032/john-cleese-polanski-coronation-rebooting-fawlty-towers-joining-gb-news-putin-impending-apocalypse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3226032/john-cleese-polanski-coronation-rebooting-fawlty-towers-joining-gb-news-putin-impending-apocalypse?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Jul 2023 07:53:09 +0000 Like so many things in Asia’s so-called “world city”, Hong Kong’s music scene can be neatly divided in two – with the expat-centric/English-language/island-focused bands on one side, and the local/Cantonese/Kowloon-side musicians (quite literally) on the other. But while there are numerous venues, individuals and sub-scenes that can claim to have played a deep role in nurturing home-grown creativity north of Victoria Harbour, the Hong Kong Island scene really only has one spiritual home – and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3225182/history-hong-kongs-h2-music-festival-pictures-wanchs-legendary-local-band-showcase-returns-2023-we?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3225182/history-hong-kongs-h2-music-festival-pictures-wanchs-legendary-local-band-showcase-returns-2023-we?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jun 2023 04:00:23 +0000 Indie musicians with classical pretensions are nothing new. Jonny Greenwood’s orchestral soundtracks and Bryce Dessner’s symphonic output immediately come to mind – two art rock guitarists in arena-filling bands (Radiohead and The National, respectively) who have both previously been programmed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. To that list we can add Hong Kong’s very own troubadour-turned-auteur Olivier Cong, who was paired in “The Wind with a Voice”, a left-field chamber concert staged... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3222555/erkki-sven-tuur-and-olivier-congs-chamber-music-performed-hong-kong-philharmonic-players-study?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3222555/erkki-sven-tuur-and-olivier-congs-chamber-music-performed-hong-kong-philharmonic-players-study?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jun 2023 09:15:14 +0000 Cécile McLorin Salvant “just” needs a cable. Specifically, a connection to digitally sync her Nord keyboard with her laptop. “I just got [recording software] Logic,” says the four-time Grammy winner with childlike excitement. “I’m going to be messing around with little loopy bits, playing with Auto-Tune and doing some electronic BS,” she adds, playfully comparing the results to Flo Rida’s oft-derided, heavily distorted vocal tracks. Now, “messing around” with synths, beats, loops and blaring... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3222052/inside-cecile-mclorin-salvants-maximalist-musical-stylings-4-time-grammy-winning-jazz-chanteuse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3222052/inside-cecile-mclorin-salvants-maximalist-musical-stylings-4-time-grammy-winning-jazz-chanteuse?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 May 2023 00:00:14 +0000 “Does Dubai really need another Atlantis?” mused more than one UAE-dwelling friend when I shared the destination of my coming holiday. They had a point – on paper at least. Since its opening in 2008, Atlantis The Palm has proved perhaps the most enduring icon of distinctly Dubaian decadence, its unmistakable fairy-tale arches looming hazily in the distance some 7km out to sea, crowning the head of the man-made Palm Jumeirah (arguably, only the famed “seven-star” Burj Al Arab boasts a more... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3220365/dubais-atlantis-royal-really-worlds-most-ultra-luxury-hotel-we-review-palm-jumeirah-resort-where?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3220365/dubais-atlantis-royal-really-worlds-most-ultra-luxury-hotel-we-review-palm-jumeirah-resort-where?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 May 2023 00:00:22 +0000 There’s a moment midway through my conversation with the artist Yellow 黃宣 where the energy in the room suddenly changes. It’s when I tell him I like his music. Of course, it’s not unusual for journalists to fawn over their subjects – or to fake fandom for a cynical selfie. But a face of wide-eyed surprise, a forcefully energetic high five, and a collective intake of breath from his entourage, all collectively greet the notion that an English-speaking music writer – let alone a wider... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3220050/taiwans-yellow-huangxuan-regions-hottest-pop-artist-watch-huang-xuan-getting-out-googled-coldplay?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3220050/taiwans-yellow-huangxuan-regions-hottest-pop-artist-watch-huang-xuan-getting-out-googled-coldplay?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 May 2023 07:09:37 +0000 It’s impossible to truly date the genesis of any musical movement, but just as Elvis was hailed for “inventing” rock ‘n’ roll in 1954, and James Brown laid down the “first” funk record – 1967’s “Cold Sweat” – hip-hop’s birth has been pinned to a birthday party in The Bronx, New York, on August 11, 1973. Which means the world’s most popular music genre is having an almighty 50th birthday moment this year. The subject was top of mind for the mighty Wu-Tang Clan when STYLE caught up with the group,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3213071/wu-tang-clan-50-years-hip-hop-and-hong-kong-kung-fu-cinema-rza-and-co-weigh-john-woo-movies-inspired?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3213071/wu-tang-clan-50-years-hip-hop-and-hong-kong-kung-fu-cinema-rza-and-co-weigh-john-woo-movies-inspired?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Mar 2023 02:00:16 +0000 Here’s some good news: for Hong Kong’s music fans, Christmas really will come twice a year in 2023, with a second Clockenflap festival already announced – barely an hour after the curtain came down on the first event in more than four years. ICYMI, the city’s biggest music and arts festival will return to the Central Harbourfront from December 1-3. But before we get to speculating about which A-listers will be jetting in to entertain the newly maskless city later this year, let’s take a moment... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3212533/clockenflap-2023s-best-moments-pictures-big-namers-arctic-monkeys-and-wu-tang-clan-hybs-sasha-alex?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3212533/clockenflap-2023s-best-moments-pictures-big-namers-arctic-monkeys-and-wu-tang-clan-hybs-sasha-alex?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Mar 2023 09:39:13 +0000 If there was ever a year to travel to a festival in Asia, it’s 2023. While Europe and North America chose to embrace “normality” by hosting large-scale music events last summer, much of this region is now entering its first post-pandemic honeymoon – and naturally, after three-plus years of empty stages and silent fields, we couldn’t be hungrier. Exhibit A: Hong Kong’s beloved Clockenflap festival just sold out completely for the first time in its 15-year history, within hours of the full line-up... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3211840/missed-clockenflap-7-asian-music-festivals-book-instead-japans-fuji-rock-lewis-capaldi-and-lizzo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3211840/missed-clockenflap-7-asian-music-festivals-book-instead-japans-fuji-rock-lewis-capaldi-and-lizzo?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Mar 2023 02:00:12 +0000 In the four and a half years since Hong Kong’s last Clockenflap festival, the global entertainment landscape has experienced a long-overdue, but very welcome, sea change. The rise of K-drama. The MCU’s first Asian superhero. Parasite’s Palme d’Or. Michelle Yeoh’s moment and Everything Everywhere All at Once. And, of course, the global dominance of K-pop. In 2023, East Asian pop culture – and especially music – is not just breaking into the mainstream, it’s setting the agenda. (A random example:... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3211433/clockenflap-2023-5-east-asian-artists-ruling-hong-kongs-festival-line-thai-pop-duo-hybs-neo-kawaii?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3211433/clockenflap-2023-5-east-asian-artists-ruling-hong-kongs-festival-line-thai-pop-duo-hybs-neo-kawaii?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Feb 2023 04:00:18 +0000 Whether you’re a farm-to-table-fascinated foodie, or simply a sustainably minded citizen of the world, fossil fuels aren’t the flavour of the day. Which makes Towngas’ decision to celebrate 160 years of supplying much of Hong Kong’s energy by opening an ESG-themed restaurant a pretty smart PR win. Proudly perched above the utility firm’s Causeway Bay flagship store, half of CulinArt 1862 is set aside for the private chef’s table concept, where a “multi-course, contemporary Western kaiseki... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/good-eating/article/3206403/culinart-1862-restaurant-review-towngas-sustainable-eatery-serves-contemporary-western-kaiseki-thats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/good-eating/article/3206403/culinart-1862-restaurant-review-towngas-sustainable-eatery-serves-contemporary-western-kaiseki-thats?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Feb 2023 02:00:08 +0000 The Guns N’ Roses brand is synonymous with excess. The riffs. The rifts. The drugs. The girls. The private jets and never-ending tours. And the mounds of money its members have racked up – and burnt through – in the past 35 years. Among the most decadent and debauched of rock groups, GNR oozed swagger, danger and machismo from the get-go, launched from the icky asphalt of LA’s Sunset Strip to the world. Celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, genre-defining debut Appetite for Destruction... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3204373/whos-richest-guns-n-roses-member-net-worths-ranked-singer-axl-rose-bought-band-name-guitarist-slash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3204373/whos-richest-guns-n-roses-member-net-worths-ranked-singer-axl-rose-bought-band-name-guitarist-slash?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Dec 2022 16:10:09 +0000 [Sponsored Article] As one of the world’s first orchestras to go into lockdown, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) might not have performed a regular, main stage concert since January – but over the past half-year its world-class, award-winning musicians have been anything but idle. Coronavirus can't stop the music The 90-plus ensemble’s DIY spirit and use of live-streaming technology saw it reunited virtually to perform for the world during its hit series, Phil Your Life With Music,... https://www.scmp.com/presented/lifestyle/arts-culture/topics/concerto/article/3093455/hong-kong-philharmonic-orchestra?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/lifestyle/arts-culture/topics/concerto/article/3093455/hong-kong-philharmonic-orchestra?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jul 2020 10:17:04 +0000 Four years have passed since Prince left us – a supercharged period of global tumult no one could have imagined at his death, aged 57, on April 21, 2016 – and yet the pop icon’s legacy seems only more monumental than ever. Amid the multitude of geektastic factoids out there to commemorate the occasion, here is STYLE’s take on five of the coolest things Prince ever did. Made superhero movies truly cool Despite their stranglehold on our multiplexes, superhero movies still carry an unfortunate,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3080456/remembering-prince-5-coolest-things-his-royal-badness?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3080456/remembering-prince-5-coolest-things-his-royal-badness?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Apr 2020 02:00:26 +0000 Just as international A-listers from John Legend to Lizzo have been reaching out to locked-down fans with home concerts and interactive live streams, Hong Kong’s very own artists have also been using technology to help keep us distracted amid this unprecedented global crisis. If self-seclusion has kept you out of the loop, catch up on what you missed with STYLE’s wrap of just a few of the Hong Kong-based acts who’ve been coming at us live over the internet these past few days. Wow and Flutter x... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3078312/coronavirus-home-concerts-hong-kong-artists-use?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3078312/coronavirus-home-concerts-hong-kong-artists-use?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2020 04:00:14 +0000 Despite their belligerent Viking roots, modern Scandinavian people are not renowned for their fierce pride or strong sense of nationalism. The 21st century’s Nordic nations are considered models of stability and compassion – case studies of progressive politics, strong social support and gender equality; offering a warm welcome and understanding ear to other outlooks and cultures. 5 unexpected places to see the Northern Lights from But if there’s one thing Scandinavians, and especially Swedes,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3076938/are-swedish-meatballs-really-sweden-or-did-they-plunder?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3076938/are-swedish-meatballs-really-sweden-or-did-they-plunder?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2020 12:00:17 +0000 The first time Jai Day met Jackie Chan, he kicked the action star in the genitals – three times. Each blow was an accident. Day, a Hong Kong-based actor of British descent, was thrilled by the chance to work with Chan on the movie Skiptrace – an international 2016 buddy comedy pairing the martial arts maestro and American actor Johnny Knoxville. Unfortunately, when Day’s first meeting with the local legend turned out to be a fight scene, things did not exactly go to plan. “I was terrified. You... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3076651/hong-kong-actor-kicking-jackie-chan-where-it-hurts-three?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3076651/hong-kong-actor-kicking-jackie-chan-where-it-hurts-three?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Mar 2020 18:00:12 +0000 A reality TV star who went on to front a classic rock band, Adam Lambert has his feet deep in both the present and the past – but he’s already made history. As the first openly gay pop star to top the Billboard album charts, Lambert is undeniably equal parts LGBTQ+ icon and artistic trailblazer alike. But are his outsized theatrics losing their charm? Not a single solo track has charted since 2015 electro-folk anthem Ghost Town, and as Lambert gambles it all on his first new album in five years... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3075787/american-idol-queen-lgbt-icon-adam-lambert-just?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3075787/american-idol-queen-lgbt-icon-adam-lambert-just?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2020 18:00:10 +0000 Boxer, soldier, mobster, cowboy, jazzman, painter – Kirk Douglas played them all. Growing up with six sisters and no brothers, he became an on-screen alpha male – self-confident and muscular, a larger-than-life leading man in more than strictly literal terms. As we reflect on his death – announced by son Michael, aged an incredible 103 – we can rank Douglas alongside a handful of era-defining names who sum up a certain kind of bygone cinema: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Gregory Peck and Burt... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3049366/kirk-douglas-5-films-you-should-see-starring-spartacus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3049366/kirk-douglas-5-films-you-should-see-starring-spartacus?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Feb 2020 04:00:07 +0000 There is no better way to rub a Canadian up the wrong way than by claiming one of their celebrity compatriots is American. And yet, it remains the easiest of mistakes to make – with the vast majority of Canadians in the entertainment industry choosing to leave their sparsely populated rural nation to find fame south of the border, where they settle seamlessly, and often appear to shed anything obviously identifying them as being from anywhere else like an unneeded spare skin. While many... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3048706/justin-bieber-keanu-reeves-ryan-reynolds-and-7-other?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3048706/justin-bieber-keanu-reeves-ryan-reynolds-and-7-other?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Feb 2020 12:00:14 +0000 Illegal drugs might too often be glorified by filmmakers, with decadent high rollers, flamboyant free spirits and fiendish, power-hungry gangsters among the most likely to imbibe a toke, line or hit on screen. But the very real devastation addiction can bring to everyday lives hasn’t been entirely ignored either – as these powerful portraits from the past 50 years of cinema prove, brought to life by heavyweight names from Al Pacino to Angelina Jolie, and Meg Ryan to Nicolas Cage. The Panic in... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3047526/angelina-jolie-al-pacino-8-actors-who-have-made?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3047526/angelina-jolie-al-pacino-8-actors-who-have-made?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jan 2020 02:00:14 +0000 When Jennylyn Pascual spotted a Facebook post asking to hear her story, her heart skipped a beat. Finally, there may be someone who could help her find the mother she has not seen in nearly two decades. Like most Filipinos living in Hong Kong, Pascual is a domestic worker. She moved to the city with the hope of furthering the search for her long-lost mother, but since arriving at the end of 2018 she has found few people even willing to listen to her plight, let alone help her search. “I saw this... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3046136/community-platform-migrant-workers-hong-kong-aims-fill?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3046136/community-platform-migrant-workers-hong-kong-aims-fill?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jan 2020 01:15:11 +0000 “One in four” is the woke world's oft-quoted catchphrase – referencing the number of people believed to suffer from mental health problems at some time in their lives. And yet cinema – society’s most powerful mirror and greatest empathy machine – has been historically reticent to commit realistic portraits on screen. Worse – filmmakers have been clumsy, and cheap, mining mental stigmas to sketch crazed sociopathic villains (Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, and, yes, even Joker ), or else playing... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3044295/angelina-jolie-and-nicole-kidman-jennifer-lawrence-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3044295/angelina-jolie-and-nicole-kidman-jennifer-lawrence-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Jan 2020 18:00:14 +0000 No art form has the ability to shape contemporary mainstream opinion like cinema. An immersive blend of picture, sound and storytelling – best enjoyed in a darkened room without distraction – films invite viewers into alternative realities more effectively than books, music or paintings can hope to: the best movies are like empathy-conjuring machines, framing societal issues and shattering preconceptions by putting viewers inside the heads and circumstances of characters they may never have been... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3042747/5-recent-lgbtq-movies-have-made-impact-and-how-angelina?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/leisure/article/3042747/5-recent-lgbtq-movies-have-made-impact-and-how-angelina?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Dec 2019 06:00:07 +0000 When I sat down to watch Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 in a Hong Kong cinema, I knew it would be a meaningful movie, presenting valuable social insight. The Korean drama has been sparking headlines for months, for its bold framing of feminist themes, and the spotlight shone on mental health issues too rarely talked about. But I was also braced for a stereotypically shallow portrait of an identikit tyrant/workaholic/drunken/disengaged husband, either ill-equipped or unwilling to address the problems... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3041397/why-kim-ji-young-born-1982-isnt-just-feminist-film-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3041397/why-kim-ji-young-born-1982-isnt-just-feminist-film-its?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Dec 2019 02:00:15 +0000 When was the last time you went an hour without looking at your phone? Do you break out in a cold sweat when your social media feed won’t refresh? Are we really in control of these machines, or is it the other way around? Today’s hyper-connected world of AI, IG, cyberwarfare, drones and mobile phones is exactly the kind of nightmarish dystopia science fiction storytellers dreamt up decades ago – so it’s jolting to realise we have officially arrived in the fabled future of fiction. Two of the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3037944/how-akira-and-blade-runner-predicted-neon-urban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3037944/how-akira-and-blade-runner-predicted-neon-urban?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Nov 2019 06:00:13 +0000 Approaching its 12th annual instalment, Hong Kong’s Clockenflap is now well established as one of the region’s hottest and hippest festivals. And to earn that reputation, it had to entice a pretty impressive roster of A-list stars to these shores, many of whom are visiting the region for the first time. So what do the stars make of “Asia’s World City” – and what shenanigans to they get up while they’re in town? Ahead of this year’s event, which is returning to Central Harbourfront Event Space... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3036954/clockenflaps-craziest-artists-demands-jack-black-wanted?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3036954/clockenflaps-craziest-artists-demands-jack-black-wanted?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Nov 2019 02:00:15 +0000 What does silence sound like? That’s a trickier question than it might seem. Maybe your imaginary quiet place is a warm deserted island or a quaint crusty library – but mine is outer space; the cold, steely, unfathomable, stretch of infinity. Silence is a terrible aloneness, something to be feared, not sought – one of the reasons headphones have remained such a consistent friend. The truth is, actual, total silence remains unimaginable – every space and situation carries a sonic, a sound, a... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3035897/we-review-apple-airpods-pro-are-they-better-original?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/3035897/we-review-apple-airpods-pro-are-they-better-original?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Nov 2019 06:00:08 +0000