The Council Consults: Playlist

Not everyone can put pen to paper and articulate the feelings invoked by a song, or have an ear for details that go over most listeners’ heads - to capture a moment and describe the distinct feeling of immenseness a verse creates - and there’s something to be said (read: admired) about those who possess the skill to verbalise something so intangible.

For this week’s edition of The Council Consults, we speak to one such person who has managed to document the music scene seemingly effortlessly for the past 10 years, Hidzir, who shares with us 10 of his favourite house & techno tracks.

You might have read and listened to his column for Bandwagon, The Bandwagon Mix (check out one of his personal favourite mixes #69 by husband and wife duo Debbie Chia and Kavan Spruyt of Midnight Shift, AKA Lily's Rose, here), or you might be more familiar with the version of him that’s grooving to the music on the dancefloor.

It may come as a surprise to many, but prior to his music journalism days, Hidzir could be found listening to hip-hop, hardcore punk, and, as he jokingly shares with us, his first encounter with “techno” was really eurodance - all this took a shift as he started unravelling the marvels of house and techno.

House music has always been a staple of nightlife in Singapore, with a dense influx of house and techno culture in recent years, Hidzir shares about the early days of the scene, “Zouk pioneered the movement back in the mid-90s, helping popularize the genre to casuals over here - and although I wasn't old enough to experience those dancefloors firsthand, I recognize how important that era was in Singaporean house music history.”

The nightlife scene moves at a rapid pace in Singapore, with new promoters and event concepts coming up, as well as your long-standing institutions that have remained, Hidzir maintains that house music will never go out of fashion, “It is important to note that nightlife trends will always be cyclical and fleeting. But for as long as I've covering nightlife, house music is the one thing that never goes out fashion. Regardless of what's hip in electronic music at the time, eventually people will always want to go back to its roots, and there's nothing purer than house.”

From his piqued interest, he’s gone on to attend some of the largest dance music festivals, including Sonar Barcelona in 2012 when he was Music Editor at JUICE Singapore where he caught incredible sets by John Talabot, Nina Kraviz, Ritchie Hawtin, Julio Bashmore and many more. He reminisces, “I even caught the late great DJ Rashad, and at the time I wasn't even familiar with footwork.”

An ode to 10 years of his career in music journalism - hit play on Hidzir’s playlist and have a listen to 10 of his favourite house and techno tracks.

There’s something intangible about the moments you spend on the dancefloor, where the bassline keeps your feet moving and the melodies send you soaring. Be it at a festival, a club, an unexpected pop-up venue or in your best friends’ living room, irreplaceable memories are forged on the journey that the music takes you on.

This week The Council Consults invites the effervescent Sheena, to share with us her favourite moments and tracks from her recent adventure in Europe.

Having contemplated taking a gap period for a while, she knew that 2017 was the year to get out of Singapore’s bubble and experience a whole different environment. Earlier this year, she took to Europe where she spent 3 months travelling through Berlin, London and Amsterdam, immersing herself in a musical adventure.

“It’s true what they say, you just have to go to Berlin and experience the spirit of Berlin’s nightlife - not just in the clubs, but pop-up spaces, house parties for people to lose themselves in,” Sheena says, “While there are the famous big clubs like Berghain and Sisyphos, I got to experience smaller venues like HEIDEGLÜHEN. Beyond clubs, you could find parties at underused spaces and industrial buildings which made the atmosphere so unique.”

Being on the road and hitting hot spots such as Amsterdam, Sheena was able to catch part of the beating heart of Amsterdam’s electronic music scene, DGTL Amsterdam. The festival is held at NDSM Docklands, and punters get to experience partying in an industrial shipyard surrounded by art installations. Some of the highlights for Sheena were hard hitting techno maestro Maceo Plex’s (cue jealous gasps) three-hour set and Fort Romeau at the Resident Advisor Stage.

Over in London, Sheena attended Junction 2, a festival curated by establishments such as The Hydra and Drumcode, where she got to catch some of her favourite techno acts including Tale of Us and Adam Beyer.

“The playlist is quite a mix to show the variety of new sounds I got to experience during my trip, whether it was in small, underground parties in Berlin to music festival setting in London,” she shares.

Let Sheena share her musical adventure with you, with her playlist spanning minimal techno tracks to deep house tracks and everything in between.

By now we have learned how transient this little red dot is - people come from all walks of life to study, work and live here - and when comes the time to bid them farewell, it is always bittersweet.

Often spotted at the front of the cage with a drink in hand and not a care in the world, Camille is a familiar face to many on the dancefloor. This week’s edition of The Council Consults sees our poster girl (literally, you would have seen her cameo on several of our event banners), share a farewell playlist that emulates her mood as she prepares to return to Paris.

“I’ve been living in Singapore for about 2 years now on a school exchange programme. In my second year here, one of my friends introduced me to HQ, and the rest was history,” she reminisces, “It’s never easy to leave a place that feels like home, and when I’m back in France I’ll definitely miss this place and all the wonderful people I’ve met here.”

Catch her for one more night of cardio at the frontlines of HQ this week as Finn & HarryC take over the decks to keep you dancing all night long.

From the team at The Council, we wish you the very best as you go on to take Paris by storm, Camille. Goodbyes are never easy, but we are sure our paths will cross again. Always remember to 'Keep Dancing' and 'Behave Yourself'.