Posts By Mark Wong

Muse’s career-defining Origin of Symmetry is one of the few albums that I consider to be a modern masterpiece. Their second outing took their musical status to new heights in regard to scope, quality, creativity and ambition. After investing many hours into this album over the course of 14 years, I still find it astonishing how effortlessly Muse branched out to a vast amount of contrasting genres where they were able to completely reinvent themselves musically. 
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Ever since I came to Vietnam to teach, there was one thing that piqued my interest which was to understand why Korean pop music was so popular in this country. Despite having already been introduced to the South Korean musical giants such as BTS and Blackpink, they still felt incredibly disposable after a few listens. However, there was one solo artist that grabbed my attention among the others. That artist goes by the name of Taeyeon.
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The end of 2017 is almost on the horizon, which means one thing: Christmas is officially here. I always get happy around this time of year because there’s the opportunity to spend at least one day with your family. One of the reasons why everyone should fully embrace this wonderful holiday is that it gives you the excuse to scroll through your music collection and play some of the best Christmas songs ever.
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Legendary Italian film composer Ennio Morricone is considered to be one of the most influential musicians of our generation. He’s composed over 500 film scores within his lifetime. His compositions have been in famous films such as The Thing and The Hateful Eight. However his most recognised pieces are from Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and A Fistful of Dollars.
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It hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for Paramore over the past year. After going platinum with their self-titled album Paramore, bassist Jeremy Davis left. To make matters worse the band also had to settle a legal dispute with Davis over their funky tune Ain’t It Fun. So with only lead singer Hayley Williams and guitarist Taylor York remaining, surely it was time that they called it quits?
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This year I got the opportunity to go to Canada. However one of the reasons why I’m in Toronto this summer is because of one band: Muse. A lot of my friends called me ‘crazy’ for travelling across the world to watch the Teignmouth space-rock trio perform for the ninth time. Muse are one of the few bands that I will keep going to see every time they announce a tour. This is because of the monumental shows that they put on.
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I’ve always admired the complexity of jazz music. It’s one of those genres that constantly keeps me on the edge of my seat due to the intricate techniques that are involved, such as complicated time signatures, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz legend Dave Brubeck’s Unsquare Dance is one of the tunes that epitomises why jazz is such a cool but underrated genre.
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In recent years some bands have become fascinated with the concept of replacing the letter ‘A’ with ‘V’ in their names. Massachusetts electro-rock trio PVRIS (pronounced Paris) are one of the bands that have got on board with this rather bizarre trend. Initially starting out as a hardcore rock band, their debut album White Noise sees them in a completely different light.
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Back in the summer of 2012 my life was complete when The Rockhaq Community awarded me tickets to see Blink 182 live. To this day I still feel like it’s a debt I can never repay because of how special that night was to me. Seeing those three pivotal figures perform right in front of me reminded me how important they were in my teenage years. Songs such as Feeling This gave me a taste of what rock music was all about.
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Seven years ago I got the opportunity to see Green Day live at Wembley Stadium and it absolutely blew me away. Green Day will always be one of the most important bands in my life. Last year Amrita Garcha wrote a review on Green Day’s album American Idiot. It really drove the message home for me in terms of how important American Idiot’s role was for pop punk music in 2004. At the age of 15 I was still developing my obsession and appreciation for the rock genre and I remember the impact American Idiot made on me. It gave me an insight into the relentless nature of punk music.
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