WF SINGAPORE 09 - DAY ONE
Our man Lefto was on reporting duty from Singapore.
So while buddy Simbad is completely wasted laying on the bed (I mean, we've got two beds haha!) I’ll tell you the story about day one. I’ll start it from London, I jumped on this flight with Simbad and heard it wasn’t that full so we were kind of lucky to have a whole row for each of us…I could sleep the whole 12 hour flight YES! The Boeing drove on the tarmac and then suddenly stops, the captain telling us that a signal shows one of the reactors is overheating… I’m like wtf? So, he decided to call the technical support squad to see what’s up! After 15 minutes the captain said it was all good and we were ready to lift off, I don’t know about you guys but when they tell me some bad news like that I’m just scared of taking off, imagine the engine loses power while we’re taking off…pfffffew!!!
12 hour flight, what could you possibly do.. I just took a 7 hour nap, really needed it after a crazy Rome weekend. Simbad came back from the US so he was completely in the zone, or in another dimension.. he’s used to other dimensions!
WF SINGAPORE 09 - DAY TWO
Time flies out here, but isn’t it always the case when you’re abroad having a good time? I went to sleep around 6.30am last night (i think it will be even later tonite :( and Simbad is sleepin’ …again!!) and woke up with Simbad sayin’ “let’s go eat, i’m hungry“… it was 1pm, went downstairs and ate a steak and pasta, what a breakfast haha! Back in our room, Simbad took a nap and I was bored so decided to go down to see if someone.................................
WF SINGAPORE 09 - DAY THREE
Wow and it just don’t stop! Man, jetlag struck me hard tonight (and Jose as well!) so we headed back to the hotel while the rest is still rockin’ the beach hard. I’m not a pussy, it’s just that when you're tired, dead, you can’t really get into it; at least we’ll be good tomorrow while Simbad will probably pass out until Monday haha (or maybe not, you never know with him). Day started early as we got 3 wake up calls, really, i felt like the Office Space movie, the dude with his 6 bosses!!
IT`S SANTAMONICA!
After much deliberations we can now reveal that the winner of the Asia-Pacific Talent Search is the Jakarta based group SANTAMONICA. Congratulations to them! They will now perform on the last day of the WF SG, closing the first ever 24H Beach Party in Singapore. Established in 2003, Santamonica is the brainchild of duo Joseph Saryuf and Anindita. Described their sound as the musical version of a trip down to Alice In Wonderland adventures,
SUPERSONIC KENTARO
The world first heard Kentaro’s name at the 2002 DMC/Technics World DJ Championship Final when he claimed the much coveted champion belt with the motto “No walls between the music” and the first perfect score ever in the competition. Kentaro’s track selection and tricks behind the decks, melding hip hop, breaks, drum ‘n’ bass and everything in between is untouchable taking into a realm that nobody has yet to explore. More than just a technical DJ, Kentaro is a performer, inciting the crowd into a frenzy while titillating the scratch fetishists. Kentaro is moving at the speed of vox.. Sleep on his skills and he’s gonna leave you in the dust.
JOSE JAMES IS THE REAL DEAL!
In an era ruled by songbook clones, the arrival of Brooklyn based vocalist José James is a breath of fresh air. Blessed with striking baritone vocal pipes (a little Terry Callier here, a lot of Gil Scott Heron there), Jose draws on the spiritually elevated heritage of Andy Bey and John Lucien to make earthy, intelligent & downright sexy acoustic jazz. José James is here to remind us why we love music so much!
SG DANCE AMBASSADOR
One of Asia’s most internationally prominent DJ, Aldrin has been at the forefront of Asia’s dance music scene, flying the Singapore flag throughout the four corners of the world, garnering acclaim at every stop from press, punters and fellow DJs alike. Renowned for his genre-bending fusion - from minimal to electro, tribal to progressive, tech house to techno and everything in between, Aldrin has consistently thrilled crowds of thousands with his flawless, genre bending sets.
I WANT NOTHING BUT JACK BEATS
Turns out Jack Beats are veterans to the scene with insane credentials. The duo is comprised of Dj Plus One from the Scratch Perverts and Beni G from Mixologists, both award winning turntablist crews from London and world renown DJs. Making tracks with heavy bass influenced by house music and rave culture Jack Beats represents everything you love about the new wave of British House DJs. Wobbly basslines, big breakdowns and edgy accapella’s are cut, copied and pasted together to create a floor-filling brand of House, Electro & Dub Step that’s bound to rock the foundations of any club to its very core.
HOUSE IS BACK WITH MR. V
New York born, Mr. V, real name Victor Font, is a house music and latin music producer and rapper. He is a regular collaborator of Louie Vega and is also the co-owner of SOLE Channel Music, with Alix Alvarez. Experiencing Mr.V DJ sets, original productions or remixes is like taking a trip back in time to dance music’s golden age where DJs played whatever it took to get the party going and the music was never predictable.Thanks to MR.V that spirit & enthusiasm are back! At the WF Singapore MR.V' set will feature Oveous Maximus, a multi-award winning poetry slam champion and member of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Oveus Maximus connects poetry and house music. We can't wait to be there!
J.A.M (Soil & "Pimp" Sessions trio)
Three guys, dinner jackets with masks of rabbit, Chihuahua dog and Beagle dog…this eccentric jazz trio is the J.A.M piano trio and consists of Josei (Piano & Keyboard), Akita Goldman (Bass), Midorin (Drums) of Soil & "Pimp" Sessions. With straight ahead jazz style and simple piano trio line-ups, they gradually started playing short sets in the middle of Soil & "Pimp" Sessions show. Their performance uplifted packed audience with dazzlingly transformed piano melody on non-stop flood of rhythms. J.A.M have evolved from short mid-Soil & “PIMP” Sessions set to playing live performances in their own right. Unmissable!
HERE COMES THE NEXTMEN
The critically acclaimed UK production/songwriting group, The Nextmen, whose latest album featuring artists including Alice Russell & Dynamite MC was championed by the US press, are renowned for incorporating hip hop drum sets and electronic basslines into their sound. Their floor-filling & cutting-edge club sets, playing their trademark sound of reggae and funk induced hip hop, Bmore and party mashups are now celebrated all over the world.
TAYLOR THE ONE MAN SHOW
Son of the Legendary Bobby McFerrin, Taylor McFerrin is redefining the term “one-man show.” Combining his skills as a producer and performer, Taylor is making music heads around the world take notice as he seamlessly builds songs from scratch with his ambitious solo project. Vocals, Fender Rhodes, synthesizers, samples, and beat boxing are meshed together in his Brooklyn studio as he builds from his roots deep in ‘60s soul to his vision of future hip-hop. Taylor is sure to keep the buzz on high for years to come.
PROMMER DELIVERS
Munich born Christian Prommer is one of the finest producers and DJs in the German club music scene and far beyond. As a member of FAUNA FLASH (with Roland Appel), TRÜBY TRIO (with Rainer Truby and Roland Appel) as well as VOOM:VOOM (together with Peter Kruder and Roland Appel) he is responsible for a multitude of album productions, 12inches and remixes which have often challenged the traditional borders between genres and even established whole new genres. Christian Prommer who is undoubtedly a master of his field (or should that be fields?) defines himself as a researcher – someone who is always trying to discover new musical secrets. His DJ sets are always filled with powerful and minimal banging beats so fasten your seatbelt and prepare yourself for a fierce tech-Jazz/house set from Mr Prommer.
BOUNCE WITH ALEX FROM TOKYO
Alex from Tokyo, who, contrary to what you might infer from his name, is Paris-born and a resident of New York, is one of the deepest, most exciting DJs around. Working in both New York and, well, Tokyo, Alex is a member of the lauded Berlin Innervisions label. Tokyo Black Star, his production group with Tokyo-based producer and engineer Isao Kumano, released their latest studio effort on Innervisions. While TBS rides a percolating wave of space clouds and synthesizer excursions, Alex's DJ sets move bodies with deep house, Italo bounce, and sprinkles of the finest stellar dust around.
CODE NAME: HARMONIC 313
Mark Pritchard has been making pioneering music since 1990. Always under a moniker, in the last 18 years he has been responsible for a supreme spectrum of production talent from Reload to Global Communication to Link to Jedi Knights to Troubleman to name but a few. His impact has been far reaching as his list of admirers demonstrates: Daft Punk, Richie Hawtin, Gilles Peterson, Kenny Dope and Jazzy Jeff. Once again his new project, Harmonic 313 bears zero resemblance to past work, 313 is the Detroit area code and in sound it is inspired by Dilla as much as Kenny Larkin. This is a producer that's helped develop every scene from ambient to the bleeding edge of dubstep making this gig at the WF Singapore an underground appearance for the electronic aficionados.
TOSHIO MATSUURA SAN
Acclaimed DJ and producer Toshio Matsuura will be gracing the decks at the WF SG for what promises to be a night of soulful music and eclecticism. Famed for his work with United Future Organization (UFO) in the 90’s, Toshio eventually went solo, released several albums & remixed the likes of James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire, Astor Piazzolla and Gotan Project so expect to hear a mesmerizing blend of deep house, soul, funk, jazz, broken beat and everything in between.
LEXIE LEE THE DANCEHALL DIVA
After dominating the BBC charts in the UK with her hit single Warlord's Daughtah, Lexie Lee is taking her brand of sassy girl power worldwide. Not one to be boxed into a corner, Lexie's style is uniquely inimitable. Add Lexie's Jamaican-Reggae roots, some US-Hip Hop flavor, and infuse it with a bit of European electronica and you have a brand of refreshing ear candy that is bound to please listeners worldwide. Her album, Di Preparation, features production from some of the industries best producers like J-Hits, whose resume boasts some of hip hop's most successful giants including Jay Z. The New Era of Dancehall has just begun & Lexie Lee is definitely Keepin' it Duttyah!
GO DEEP WITH AL HACA
Al Haca is an open source production collective with members based in Stuttgart, Berlin, Vienna as well as in Birmingham and
Barcelona. Imagine Roots Manuva's take on hip hop, mixed with some of them dirt basslines and broke-the-funk-up-beats of a Dizzy Rascal, but still warm sounding like that future soul of a Sa Ra Partners collective - retouched and dubbed to the outer limits by a Mad Professor – now that’s the sound of Al Haca in a nutshell.
SIMBAD IN THE MIX
There are not many artists and producers out there with their own sound, but London-based DJ and producer Simbad is definitely a true original with his own brand new bag; a crisp, raw but very musical approach to soulful music. By combing through stacks of records in relatively left-field genres — dancehall, broken beat, disco, jazz — he's become a connoisseur of what he terms "quality booty music."
BATUCADA POR FAVOR!
Carnival rhythms, fused with contemporary sounds, an 8 piece band (Novo Bloco) and an 80 strong percussion team (Bloco Singapura) make up the rousing act Bloco Singapura + Novo Bloco. Get ready for a truly polyphonic carnival bliss when members of Bloco Singapura are joined on stage by Novo Bloco, an amazing collective of musicians, vocals and sounds of Jazz Funk, Soul, Hip Hop, Dance and Roots Reggae.
