Come November, Soundscape Records and The Actors Studio brings for the 3rd edition of The Hidden Sessions, featuring the likes of Iqbal M, Like Silver, Silent Scenery, The Maharajah Commission, Enterprise, and Khottal . Tickets are RM30 a pop, and is available at The Actors Studio (Lot 10), iLasso Tickets and KLPaC Box Office.

For more info, please head over to these websites:
The Actors Studio
Soundscape Records 

A sort of NGO fest is happening this Saturday, courtesy of the Frinjan gang in collaboration with Gen-S, which aims to educate the youth on current socio-political issues and voting rights but not forgetting to bring on the rock, which they do with an impressively varied line-up of acts including Akta Angkasa, Couple, Harmacy, Khottal, Liyana Fizi, Monoloque, Massacre Conspiracy, Partimelovers, Tilu and loads more, with 24 acts in total.

Event starts at 10am on Saturday, 23rd July 2011 at Kompleks 3K, Jalan SS13/1, Persiaran Kewajipan, Subang Jaya (map to the venue HERE). Admission is free. Check out the event’s Facebook page for more info.

We were pretty psyched when we saw a ‘teaser‘ for Khottal’s new single, YMFT (Your Most Favorite Thing) a couple of months back, since it has been quite a while since they’ve released any new material. Produced by Paku Tekan and the band members themselves, watch their official music video for YMFT below.

Khottal – YMFT (Official Music Video) from paku tekan on Vimeo.

Khottal has been actively uploading home-made videos of them performing new songs on their youtube channel (for instance, here’s an early version of YMFT from a couple of years back) , but since their last EP, Woo Song (2009), they’ve been relatively quite in terms of releasing new material (official records). Now with a slight change in their lineup, we hear that they’ll be heading into the studio to record another release, though we’re unsure if its a full length / EP / single.

Below is a teaser for their upcoming single and music video, YMFT.

Indie pop blog SEA Indie has just released their latest free download compilation, this time focusing on the Malaysian indie scene. Titled Mighty Melody, the compilation features a pretty wide range of pop sounds, from the classic sounds indie pop to the mighty crunch of power pop, the swirling jangle of shoegaze, acoustic pop and more. With a tracklisting that includes our favourites like Nicestupidplayground, Furniture, Ferns, Couple, Love/Comes, Yuna, Khottal, The Hollows and more, this promises to be one mightily melodic compilation indeed. Download the compilation for free from SEA Indie.

Here’s the full tracklisting:

01. Love/Comes – His Gesture of Love
02. Nicestupidplayground – Stereo Girl
03. The Drives – Friday Saturday Sunday
04. Yuna – Backpacking Around World
05. Furniture – Once Set In Stone
06. Couple – Lagu Cinta Untukmu
07. Liyana Fizi – This Feeling
08. Ferns – Miss Stormcloud
09. Romancesa – Woody
10. Crashin’ Butterfliez – Long Wait
11. Wani Ardy – You
12. Khottal – Against Tomorrow
13. The Hollows – Silent
14. Poppy – Beautiful
15. The Fridays – Pavillion Is For Losers
16. The Sofa Sessions – Nobody Else

Rantai Art Festival is back this year with a programme that goes all week long. Ranging from art exhibitions by local artists, poem recitals, short theatre & short films screenings to storytelling, photography and lomography workshops during weekdays, culminating with music performances that starts from Friday onwards. The long list of performers include Khottal, Zip Zieller, Silent Scenery, Iqbal M, Rock N Roll John, Definitely Maybe and loads more spread out during the 3 days.

The festival starts at 10am everyday from Monday 20th December 2010 to Sunday 26th December 2010 at the Balai Seni Lukis Negara, Kuala Lumpur. Admission is free.

Check out their official website for the complete schedule and more info.

Singaporean post-rock champs I Am David Sparkle will be returning with their new album “Swords” this month, and if your hands are already itching to get it as soon as possible then worry not, for the band will be doing a short Malaysian tour in conjunction with the new album’s release. Brought to you by the good people from Soundscape and Kitty Wu Records, the band will be playing in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, supported by local luminaries like Akta Angkasa, They Will Kill Us All, Deepset, Khottal, Sphere and loads more.

In Kuala Lumpur, show starts at 7pm on Saturday 18th December 2010 at MAP KL, Level G2-01, Block A5, Solaris Dutamas, Jalan Dutamas 1, Off Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur. Admission is RM25.

In Penang, show starts at 7pm on Sunday 19th December 2010 at Soundmaker Studio, 2nd Floor, No. 62, Weld Quay, Penang. Admission is RM20.

Check out the band’s official website for more info on them.

MAP, Kuala Lumpur’s latest arts platform will be opening it’s doors this coming 27th of March 2010, with a 2-day arts festival. The festival will include from performing arts – theatre, music (yes, music is art) and dance – to installations, sculptures and even workshops.

Located in Solaris Dutamas, the center aims to be the arts central in KL with facilities such as an art gallery and multiple theater spaces.

Anyways, here’s whats happening for music for the festival.

27/3/2010 (Saturday)  @ WHITE BOX
9.30pm to 10pm
Jazz saxophonist with Azmi Hairudin and Christophe Turchi

2pm to 3pm
Music gig with Peter Hassan Brown and friends

3.30pm to 5.30pm
Music and poetry readings by Pekan Frinjan
Participants include Meor, Nik, Keladak, Shh..Diam, Mohd Jayzuan, Stam Mustapha, Gyomogii, Marini Rafar and Fazleena Hishamuddin.

6pm to 7pm
Performance art by Ensemble 11
This is a multidisciplinary performance, involving music, video and movement; working with improvisation. Individual performers will work on their own ideas and rough structures yet flexible enough to change and modify accordingly.

9.30pm to 11.30pm
Music gig organised by Rice Above No. 7 featuring Aggrobeats, Rebel Scum, Khottal and Nao

3.30pm-4.30pm
Paul Lau and Tugu Drum Circle workshop

5.30pm-6.30pm
Music gig with Monoloque

7pm-9.30pm
Music gig organised by Jerome Kugan with Panda Head Curry, Vernadium, Tenderfist, Sharidar & Nizam and Deserters

10pm-12am
Singer-songwriter round by Moonshine featuring Reza Salleh, Azmyl Yunor, Zalila Lee, Izzy Mohamed.

For more info on the festival, visit here.

Hailing from Melaka, this 10 piece outfit skips between punk, unpolished pop and indie rock. The sheer volume of the band members, and their energy is a breath of fresh air to the local scene. We originally planned to shoot this episode, on the rooftop of Central Market in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, if only it wasn’t for the rain that night. The Khottal boys, along with our production team, had to lugg all those equipment into one of the empty galleries that night, and in the end, at 12 am, began the shoot.