Attention all music lovers in Singapore! Remember the notion of those headbanging, indie rock concerts that used to exist before all this K-Pop nonsense started? Well in fact, they do still exist, and the band that does it best in my opinion is coming right to your doorstep to ensure you a night of rocking tunes and a hell of a lot of headbanging. 

Taiwanese indie rock band Gigantic Roar although young entries into a thriving and competitive independent music scene, have snowballed critical acclaim since the release of their first official EP “Climbing up the birdy tower” in 2014. Upon entering the scene, the newcomers were even nominated for ‘Best Live Performance’ that year at the prestigious Golden Indie Music Awards, before clinching the title the following year when they were nominated once again.

Speaking from experience, I was absolutely amazed at how these four guys  were able to get the crowd going with nothing more than their wits about them and a deep, striking passion for music. I’ve been to many concerts, and none have rivalled the electricity their live performances generate; something that comes from pure, unadulterated good music. 

They’ll be performing in Singapore on the 14th of December at Switch by Timbre  and will also be featuring guest performers Felix Felicis. The latter is a band consisting of an eclectic yet talented mix of musicians from other well known indie bands such as Elephant Gym, Chocolate Tiger, Come on! Bay Bay! as well as one member from Gigantic Roar. The talented quartet have already released their own debut album “A Bunch of Assholes” only six months into their debut as a band, a mean feat in itself. They call themselves a "special project" that may be wrapping up their act soon, so this may be your last chance to experience their unique chemistry in person.

​With it being their first time in Singapore, show them some love and come support these passionate and dedicated musicians, won’t you? 

<em>Gigantic Roar will be performing at Switch! By Timbre in Singapore on the 14th of December at 7pm to 8.30pm. Entrance is free and they will be flanked by guest performers Felix Felicis. </em>

While I was in Taiwan, something that came to my attention especially as a student at National Taiwan University was the huge following that not only mainstream pop music had, but also independent music. The likes of Chris Liao廖文强,Crispy脆乐团 were celebrated names that were known by all university students within Taiwan. But one indie band that I found to be exceptionally talented who really stood out from the rest was Elephant Gym, a band which specialises in the Math-Rock genre, and performs interestingly enough without any vocals. When I first saw them perform this was the first point that struck me; but the second and most important thing about their music was that I felt it really didn't need any vocals to make it sound better or make it easier to listen to. You know that feeling you get with classical music sometimes where after five to ten minutes you kind of get bored and start wishing there was more going on onstage, or some vocals to take the edge off things? Well I didn't feel it when I watched Elephant Gym perform live at Yoga Lin's <Speaking in Tongues> concert in mid-2014. Instead what I felt was a strong sense of freshness, clarity, self-direction and creativity that flowed from their music like water in a stream; and it was absolutely infectious. Yoga's fans were more than satisified with their set, myself included.

The band themselves have had a great 2014, picking up scores of nominations and awards at the 2014 Golden Indie Melody awards (7 in total), including for best single, best artist, so on and so forth. And some of you may ask, what is this little-known genre called Math-Rock which they claim to adhere to?

According to some information taken from the Golden Indie Melody Awards;Math Rock is:

-A kind of experimental rock genre that began in the 1980s in America

-Math-Rock's signature elements include a complicated arrangement, often using syncopated or offbeat stops and starts, odd time signatures, angular melodies, counterpoint, extended and dissonant chords, also choosing not to begin songs with common chords.

-Most kinds of rock are played in 4/4 time signature, but Math-Rock uses different and unaligned rhythms, however allowing each instrument to somehow fit together in different keys(?)音軌, to allow for smooth listening that doesn't disturb the ears.

Here is the untranslated explanation below:

Math-rock(數字搖滾)，是一種實驗性的搖滾風格，80年代後期萌芽於美國。

Math-rock的特點是編曲複雜，經常使用不規則停頓或開始、不自然節拍結構（odd time signatures）、棱形旋律（Angular melody）、對位法（counterpoint）、延伸和弦（extended chords）、不協調和弦（dissonant chords）、非典型和弦進行。

一般搖滾樂都以 4/4 拍 作歌曲結構，而Math-rock則頻繁使用不對稱節拍，卻讓每樣樂器巧妙地於不同音軌上「對在一起」，聽起來又順暢不礙耳。因複雜結構如數學運算，故此稱為「Math-rock」。

So like the explanation says, Elephant Gym certainly does bring a fresh new sound into the Taiwanese music industry that it is sorely lacking, taking all listeners by surprise-but in a good way of course. Even Yoga himself liked their music so much that he invited them to be the guest performers at his concert, even collaborating with them on several of the songs released on his latest EP <Speaking in Tongues>. I think it's time for me to stop talking and to just let the music play. Elephant Gym is a shining beacon of hope for the Taiwanese music industry and its youth. With their interesting ideas and zest that they infuse in their music, they're sure to impress no matter what kind of music you listen to.

Elephant Gym's second EP <Angle> is out in stores in Taiwan now, or can be found on iTunes, KKBOX or ordered on books.tw .