Dream pop trio Postiljonen hails from the land that gave us ABBA, The Cardigans and flat-packed furniture: Sweden. Much of Postiljonen’s essence and sound can be described by the title of their debut album, “Skyer”; which means clouds in Norwegian. A band that is able to craft music that’s equal parts dreamy and atmospheric; giving listeners the effect of floating on clouds; with dashes of M83 and Sigur Rós in their soundscape.

A quick look around revealed that the venue was rather surprisingly packed to the brim — an impressive feat for a band that has only released one full length LP. Joel Nyström Holm was first to grace the stage, and was met by an outburst of cheers; with many girls pointing out how good-looking he was. Joel kicked the show off with an intro sample of what seemed to be a Martin Luther King-esque speech. Band mate Daniel Sjörs followed suit and laid on atmospheric chords over the speech with a slow burning beat that gained momentum. Finally, the crowd went into a frenzy cheering as lead singer Mia Brox Bøe joined the band on stage.

In the now dimmed venue, the band kicked things of with the song “Help”, accompanied by dreamy 8mm filtered video snippets playing in the background and strobing lights accentuated the hard hitting points of the song. This created an ambience likened to an art-performance of sorts, using various media to further enhance the overall experience of the audience. As lead singer Mia sang through her reverb drenched microphone, the crowd couldn’t help but to sway to the slow grooves of the song.

The band then invited the crowd to clap along as they entered into the song “Plastic Panorama”. The enthusiastic audience gladly complied with the request and soon the whole venue was united as one, clapping along as they swayed to the rhythm. At the end of the song, the band gratefully thanked the crowd, as they did not expect this many people to turn up; to which the crowd loudly cheered to. Up next was their crowd favourite hit “Supreme”, whose upbeat tune got everybody breaking out into dance as hardcore fans sang along to every word of the song.

Before playing their next song “All that we had is lost”, they took the time to tell the story behind it. The song was in fact a tribute to the late great Whitney Houston. When the news of her passing broke, the band was devastated and wanted to make something in her memory; resulting in this song which contains samples and lyrics of her hit “How Will I Know”.

As the last song drew near, the band ripped into their sax-laden hit “Atlantis” which once again got the crowd moving and grooving. Postiljonen wrapped up their set and thanked the audience once again, but the crowd was hungry for more. Lead singer Mia shyly apologized that with only one LP under their belt they don’t have that many songs. But after much coaxing from the audience, the band returned one last time for an encore of their song “Atlantis”. Ending the night with the crowd swaying and dancing the night away—filled with the joy that their thirst has finally been quenched. (Othniel T / Adeline H)

Ra Ra Riot initially happened to be one of those bands that we ran across on youtube after listening to other bands of the same genre. The first song I actually listened to was ‘Dying Is Fine’ from their first album ‘The Rhumb Line’. The depth they have in their music infused with an essence of cheery misery caught more of our attention and decided to follow them ever since then, especially with sounds heavily influenced by NY’s finest, Vampire weekend (Well, Ezra Koenig and Wes Miles did go to the same high school).

To the appetizer of the show served a brilliant opening by local talent ‘The Fridays’, performing songs hilarious with lyrical humor with songs such as ‘Take Me To Topshop’ and a song that was featured on a local music site, The Weekend Sessions, Responsible. Not long after the opening act ended, came the entrée to the night, hailing from upstate New York, Ra Ra Riot! Without front liner lady cum cellist, Alexandra Lawn, my mind was wondering of how their sound would be without their signature string section complete. Regardless, the band came on, crowd cheered on, opening their act with ‘After Years’ picking it up straight after with The Orchards casino online best, ‘Too Dramatic’.

With a replacement cellist on stage hidden in the back, their sound managed to replicate the Remember that saliva Marijuana Detox products would let you have the saliva drug test in about 10 minutes. sound of their softmore years. Adding to the list, the band played notable songs ‘Binary Mind’, to ‘Kansai’, mixed the entire set with their signature string sound contrasting with their new directed techno sound,passing Rebecca back and forth from violin to keyboards (notably pointing out her bedazzled violin). Through the first half, the band faced several technical errors with the fine-tuning of their equipment, affected some of the forementioned songs. Regardless the band managed to progress even with the matters at hand.The show wasn’t in dismay, they picked up their pace and gave the energy the band was known for on stage giving diverse quirks on stage with Wes’ enthusiastic singing and Mat’s quirky bass playing.

Midway, the band dished out ‘Dance With Me’ complemented with their more indie tunes ‘Run My Mouth’, and ‘Wilderness’ jumped to more recent hits from their 2013 album ‘Beta Love’. Picked up their tempo, fans through the floor blissfully closed their eyes or bopped their heads while enjoying the blissful orchestral melodies the 5-man-band had to offer. Especially with their more emotional compositions ‘Dying Is Fine’ and ‘I Shut Off’ stopping to thank the crowd for having them over for the first time in Malaysia, Walked off from the stage right after, displeasing the crowd making them to chant endless for an encore. Floor was banging and the band finally hit back on stage, pulled the old cliché. They played ‘Ghost under rocks’ and finally brought out their undeniably most popular song ‘Boy’ showering the crowd spicing up the show with Wes guiding the crowd to clap in unisen to the two songs.

The crowd was just trembling the floor with applause, the crowd was pleased and the band thanked the crowd again, formally ending the night kicking start their Asian tour with a Ra Ra Riot. (Zafran Aqil/Kristy C)

Upfront at The Bee

Upfront ends the year2013 with exciting acts lined up for KL indie music lovers, starting in  October : Ra Ra Riot from New York on 26^th October :

Hailing from Syracuse, New York, indie rock band Ra Ra Riot received blog buzz and press acclaim for their debut album ‘The Rhumb Line’. Now promoting their third album, Ra Ra Riot has recreated themselves on Beta Love, a collection of giddy pop sinfs that pull inspiration from Futurist Ray Kurzweil among others.

Find your ‘Beta Love’ at Upfront presents Ra Ra Riot on Saturday, 26th October 2013 as they will performing their delectable tunes of indie rock and chamber pop combined.

Presale : RM 78
At the door : RM 98

Get 20% off on Ra Ra Riot tickets using a Mach by Hong Leong Bank Debit or Credit Card (only available at The Bee outlets)

Tickets are on sale at these outlets:
- The Bee outlets (Jaya One and Publika)
- Rock Corner Bangsar Village 1

Upfront

Upfront is a series of intimate live music shows created by The Bee to bring fans closer to their favourite bands on stage.As the name implies, it is as exclusive and up close as one can get during a live performance. Upfront will feature artists and bands from an eclectic range of genres, from the indie to the mainstream,establishing The Bee as a hub for the music and creative arts scene.

The multitasking band of two debuted their sound in the mid-2006, with their first album If Children. Continuing with their second album, The Knot three years later, which didn’t get as much attention as the re-release of If Children after being signed to a record label. If Children gained a rough seven from some music reviews, said to be “endangered” as most music are starting to side with technology, also described as “earnest, without expecting a pat on the back for it”. Minimalist, perhaps best describes the band, as they’re fusion of incompatible and simple elements creates a greatness of its own. Their recent release Civilian in 2011, was the point of emergence, described as this century’s folk, having the ability of degenerating indie-folk with the essence of both sonic noise and hymnal folklore effect. Gaining an incremental eight from music reviews, despite the awkward intimacy between the two, the chemistry of dark calm terror and haunting distortions were faultless.

Upfront presents Wye Oak will be the sophomore concert of May’s event calendar, worth the time and worth the mention to fellow family and friends.

Upfront presents Wye Oak
Date  :    May 11th, 2013
Venue  :    The Bee, Publika, Kuala Lumpur
Tickets :
 Presale tickets – RM78
 Regular sale tickets – RM98
Tickets on sale at The Bee Outlets (Jaya One and Publika) and Rock Corner, Bangsar Village 1 and Ben Sherman (Bangsar Village 2 and Pavilion). Entrance opens at 8 pm. Fair warning that this intimate event is 18+.