City buzz

LANEWAY ROLLS TO GREATER HEIGHTS

CONCERT

St Jerome's Laneway Festival 2016

MUSIC fans are spoilt for chance this weekend with everybody from local singer-songwriter Ethel Yap playing in a roomful of cats to UK punk legends The Exploited performing in Singapore for the first time ever.

But if you want to hear the next big things in indie music, then Laneway Festival is the one to check out.

The sixth edition boasts the biggest line-up to date and includes the likes of Battles, Grimes, Chvrches, Thundercat, Beach House and Purity Ring. Flying the Singapore flag are homegrown talents Cashew Chemists, Intriguant and Riot in Magenta, just to name a few.

New this year is a fourth stage set up by dance collective Syndicate, which will bring together local and international electronic DJs and visual artists.

"We agreed we should look at building a brand-new stage in Singapore (but) we didn't want it to be a token - we wanted it to be something for Singapore by Singaporeans," says the festival's co-founder, Danny Rogers.

"The area is going to have 11 hours of non-stop tunes, and it's going to be a wild street party like the early Laneway Festivals; it's the first time we are doing anything like this in Singapore, and we believe it will spawn a new period of us taking on unique collaborations."

By Dylan Tan

STAND-UP COMEDY

Comedy Masala

COMEDY club Comedy Masala has turned into one of the best things to do on a Tuesday night. The open-mic comedy sessions at the Boat Quay bar Hero's features many performers each time, from amateurs to pros, quipping about life in Singapore.

Expect jokes, impersonations and polished stand-up routines to go with your drink. And if you'd like to give it a try, you can just hop onto the stage and test your wisecracks. You'll find that, though it can get rowdy at times, the crowd is almost always appreciative. At any rate, a heckle or two will only help thicken that hide. Since the club's launch in 2010, some 43,000 people have seen it.

By Helmi Yusof

DINING

Cocotte's Moules Frites Mondays

IF you love mussels, then Moules Frites Mondays at the rustic French restaurant Cocotte will be your favourite day of the week. Their Blue Mussels arrive from Norway every Monday afternoon, and are cooked in a cast iron pot of three different flavours, served with a side of hand-cut fries.

These three options are fennel cream, which is a white wine-based cream sauce; piperade, which is a more Mediterranean flavour with its tomato and roasted pepper base; and curry, which is inspired by the restaurant's location in Little India.

Head chef Anthony Yeoh explains: "It's an incredibly comforting yet fuss-free thing to eat, and goes well with anything from a beer, to a glass of chardonnay or sparkling rosé if you want to get fancy."

By Rachel Loi

DINING

Chinese New Year Dining at FORT by Maison Ikkoku

YOU don't have to wait till Chinese New Year (CNY) to enjoy this feast. FORT by Maison Ikkoku currently has a CNY menu that is available till Feb 29.

Executive chef and head mixologist Ethan Leslie Leong has a four-course menu that is inspired by flavours of CNY, but will not have the usual yusheng or pen cai.

Start the meal with "Joyous Treasure", a dish of pan-seared scallop and seaweed, topped with a heap of black and golden roe and sprinkled with edible gold flakes.

Next is "Bountiful Harvest", the chef's interpretation of the roast goose. Here the goose is cooked sous vide style, and served with dehyrated lotus root, cubed beetroot and sweet potato mash.

Fish is a must at CNY, and the "Sea of Fortune" features salmon steak served with passion fruit, green apples and grape fruit.

Dessert is a citrus sorbet paired with frozen kumquats, aptly named "Golden Royale".

Chef Leong has also specially created cocktails to go with each dish.

By Tay Suan Chiang

CONCERT

Ragamalika - An Exploration of Ragas

IF you've ever wanted to indulge in Indian classical music, here's something for you. On Jan 30, Carnatic vocalist Charulatha Mani will collaborate with instrumental orchestral group Team Madhurima to present Ragamalika - An Exploration of Ragas.

Presented by Mudra Cultural Society, the evening will feature a selection of popular ragas with songs from Carnatic as well as film music. Mani's career has spanned more than 15 years, with not just credits on film soundtracks, but also a hit Tamil television show - Isai Payanam.

Hailing from Kerala, Team Madhurima is made up of six members, who are led by mridangam player Vypin Satheesh, a former assistant professor at the Sri Swathi Thirunal College of Music in Thiruvananathapuram.

By Avanti Nim