Los Angeles-based DJ Tay James –Justin Bieber’s official DJ – is in Bangkok tonight for a show at Insanity Nightclub on Sukhumvit Soi 11 that kicks off at 10. James has performed on some of America’s highest-rated TV shows of icons such as Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Degeneres, Jay Leno, and David Letterman. Find out more and book a table at (082) 731 8885.

“Pumping” up the action

DJ Pump, one of Canada’s top turntablists who shot to fame after winning the DMC and ITF national championships, will be back at the Sugar Club on Sukhumvit Soi 11 on November 23 manning the decks from 10pm to 4am. He is known for his skilful blending of music genres, from hip Hop to funk, trap to soul, and disco to house. Book a seat at (061) 391 3111.

Spins from the SAR

Hong Kong-based DJ Ricky Stone will perform at Insanity Nightclub on Sukhumvit Soi 11 on November 24 at 10pm until late. He has been ranked on the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs list for 4 consecutive years, peaking on the #35 spot in 2008. Call (082) 731 8885.

Straight from Windy City

Smartbar Chicago’s resident DJ and producer Chrissy, aka Chris E Pants and Murdertbot, will make his debut in Bangkok at Safe Room, Silom Soi 8, on November 24 at 10 as part of his Asia tour. The talented DJ will be supported by local hero Jaydubb. Find out more at (087) 061 1117.

Sounds of the Future

French DJ and producer Onra performs at the “Produce x Future Factory Music Series #1” at Future Factory in Samsen Nai, Phaya Thai on November 25 at 8pm. He will be supported by Pichy (Quay Records), and Boogie G (Nite Ride). Book early at (098) 253 9356.

Shelton, 41, is the boyfriend of rocker Gwen Stefani, who may have already come to this conclusion.

“She goes, ‘Listen to me, you’re going to regret this for the rest of your life if you don’t take this gift and just live in the moment,'” Shelton told the magazine.

The lanky Oklahoma native, who has a passion for eating and a chubby past, laughed that he has finally come into his own.

“It’s going to be used in every conversation, whether it’s at The Voice, or at the feed in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, or in a conversation with a doctor,” he said.

“You’re damn right, I’m Mr. Sexy! I’ve been ugly my whole life, if I can be sexy for a year, I’m taking it. I’m taking it.”

The title is yet another thing he shares with “Voice” co-star Adam Levine of Maroon 5, now a close friend.

“I can’t wait to shove this up Adam’s ass,” Shelton adds. “As proud as I am and honored that you guys asked me, that’s really the only thing I care about.”

It’s been a great couple of months for the Irish three-piece. “Freedom Child” topped the UK Official Albums Chart, the band’s fourth UK No 1 album. It’s also topped the iTunes chart in their native Ireland as well as 13 other countries. And they’ve entered the Top 10 on iTunes in 47 markets around the globe.

“Freedom Child” is a collection of urgent, timely, future-facing anthems that speak of both real-life events and real-time sonic adventurism.

The album was recorded in London and Los Angeles and, for the first time, the band chose to work with outside writers and producers, including Toby Gad and Nasri Atweh.

The first single, “Rain”, picked up tremendous support around the world and the video has already been viewed more than 22 million times.

The Script are one of the hottest live bands today, having sold 1.4 million tickets at 203 headlining shows and selling out Croke Park Stadium in their hometown in minutes. Their first Thai concert, in 2015, sold out and received raves from local reviewers and fans.

Seats go on sale on January 27 starting at Bt2,000 at http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com and (02) 262 3838.

Keep up to date at http://www.BECTero.com.

The band with heavy guitar and dark introspection were a leading force in the grunge scene of the 1990s, led by the voice of Scott Weiland, who died of an overdose in 2015 on his tour bus.

The troubled Weiland had already been replaced before his death by Chester Bennington, the frontman of Linkin Park. Bennington left Stone Temple Pilots amicably and earlier this year killed himself.

Stone Temple Pilots marked their rebirth on Wednesday with the release of the song “Meadow” and said to expect an album in 2018.

The fast-paced guitar track features the voice of Jeff Gutt, the 41-year-old singer from the defunct California nu-metal band Dry Cell who had returned to his native Michigan.

Stone Temple Pilots had put out a call for a new singer and received around 15,000 submissions but Gutt was invited to audition after bassist Robert DeLeo was introduced to him while playing in Michigan.

Gutt told Rolling Stone that he had considered Weiland a model as a singer since first hearing the Stone Temple Pilots’ debut album “Core” in 1992, when the new frontman was a teenager.

“So walking in on that first day, it was crazy. I mean, you have dreams about things like this,” he told the magazine.

Guitarist Dean DeLeo, who is the bassist’s brother, told Rolling Stone that Gutt was well-equipped to sing the parts of Weiland and also to take the band forward musically.

“He has that baritone, and he’s also able to get into that tenor world. He’s a real singer,” DeLeo said.

Gutt found a television audience on the US version of talent show “The X Factor,” performing a deep metal-voiced rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

The allegation is the latest in a flood of sexual abuse claims implicating powerful men in Hollywood, including studio mogul Harvey Weinstein, Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey and comedian Louis C.K.

Dottley, 36, alleged that Medina tried to rape him in December 2008 after he and a friend were invited to the mogul’s Los Angeles home.

After his friend went for a swim, leaving the two men alone, Medina threw him on the bed and “stuck his tongue down my mouth”, Dottley told The Advocate magazine.

As Dottley resisted, Medina became more aggressive, he said, recounting how he broke down and begged the producer to stop.

“His forearm was bearing down on my neck so hard that I don’t know how much longer I would have remained conscious,” Dottley recalled.

The attack ended when Dottley’s friend walked in on the pair, he said.

Medina’s attorneys, Howard Weitzman and Shawn Holley, issued a statement to People magazine, saying: “Benny Medina categorically denies the allegation of attempted rape.”

Dottley said Medina sent him a threatening message days after the alleged attack when he was walking down the street with his now ex-husband.

“It says something like: ‘Hey, I’m at The Ivy eating. Just saw you walking across the street. Is that the husband I have to have killed to have you?'”

Medina, 59, started working as a protege to legendary producer Berry Gordy, working with Motown stars such as The Temptations and Smokey Robinson.

He also worked at Warner Brothers with Prince, Madonna and Chaka Khan.

Medina’s life inspired the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.” He has managed Lopez, Will Smith and Mariah Carey, as well as produced television and films.

Dottley, who is best known for his role in the TV show “Sordid Lives: the Series”, told People he felt “powerless” during and after the alleged attack.

“You don’t try to rape someone, then threaten to kill their husband via text message if you aren’t incredibly fearless of what you’re doing,” Dottley said.

“This could not have been his first time.”

Thanat Chimthuam, better known as Jo Boyscout, collapsed shortly after midnight, after singing for about an hour at the Colour Bar Town in Town in Wang Thong Lang district.

Rescuers from the Por Tek Tueng Foundation arrived at the bar past midnight on Saturday and tried but failed to resuscitate him. They rushed him to Lat Phrao Hospital where doctors declared him dead after spending about 30 minutes trying to revive him with electric shock.

His friend and band member Songpol Klaipongphan said the band started playing at 11pm and at 11.30pm Thanat appeared tired and sat down, which was unusual for him.

Songpol said Thanat collapsed after singing the last song. Initially, he said, he thought Thanat was joking. But when the friends took a closer look they noticed Thanat was foaming at the mouth and crunching his teeth.

Songpol said friends tried to open the singer’s mouth while others called police and the emergency health centre

The world has changed, or maybe the 27-year-old has grown up. On “Reputation,” her sixth studio album, Swift is in a fighting spirit — and the story is all about her.

“Reputation” stars Swift as aggrieved and vindictive — not the singer from her last album “1989” who playfully pointed to the chatter among her ex-lovers, but one wielding a baseball bat and ready to smash stuff up on the video for the new album’s first single “Look What You Made Me Do.”

On “I Did Something Bad,” Swift — who breaks new ground on the song by recording a profanity — tells a man who crossed her, “I don’t regret it one bit / ’cause he had it coming.”

In a possible nod to challenges faced by strong women, Swift continues: “They’re burning all the witches, even if you aren’t one.”

– More hip-hop, no politics –

Swift has always brought autobiographical elements into her songs but on “Reputation” one target is unmistakably clear — Kanye West.

The rapper notoriously interrupted Swift as she accepted an MTV award in 2009 and last year infuriated her by boasting that he might be able to have sex with her because he “made that bitch famous.”

West’s wife, socialite Kim Kardashian, sought to defend her husband at the time by releasing a recording of a telephone conversation in which West appeared to consult Swift about the lyrics.

Swift hits back on her latest album: “Friends don’t try to trick you / Get you on the phone and mind-twist you / And so I took an ax to a mended fence.”

The focus on West is all the more striking as “Reputation” for the first time sees Swift embracing hip-hop, completing a transformation from her early days strumming country guitar.

“End Game,” one of the strongest songs on the album, has Swift collaborating with both rapper Future and English songwriter Ed Sheeran, a close friend, in a finely tuned blend of pop and hip-hop.

If the sharp-elbowed tone may reflect the mood of the United States in 2017, one element is strikingly absent — politics.

Unlike virtually all A-list pop singers of the moment, the self-described feminist Swift has stayed mum about President Donald Trump.

The silence may be refreshing for music fans looking for an increasingly elusive political safe space in Trump’s America. But it also marks a shrewd marketing move for an artist who works on the liberal coasts but whose country roots have ensured her a loyal fan base in conservative states.

– Still peaceful with fans –

And even if her persona on the album is harder-edged, she is also making sure her real-life reputation among fans stays undisturbed.

Swift has made surprisingly few public appearances for “Reputation,” instead communicated through safe posts on social media platform Tumblr.

When three years ago she released “1989,” one of the top-selling albums of the past decade, Swift also waged a high-profile war against Spotify, accusing the fast-growing streaming site of short-changing artists.

Swift has since dropped her campaign and returned to Spotify. But she is keeping “Reputation” off all streaming services for at least one week, hoping to maximize sales.

Swift is less reserved in other areas.

She speaks more forthrightly than ever about sexual desire, even if her imagery is still prim compared with lyrics from stars such as her rival Katy Perry.

“I don’t want you like a best friend / Only bought this dress so you could take it off,” Swift sings.

Swift sharply shifts tone to close the album with a ballad, “New Year’s Day.” Swift’s gentle voice is backed by piano, a reminder of her earlier sound — and that her new “reputation” is also about maturity.

The members of Astro were known as iTeen Boys while training as part of Fantagio iTeen, a rookie talent development programme under the management agency Fantagio. The group’s name and members were announced in August 2015. That month, they starred in a web drama series titled “To Be Continued”. The web drama featured the members as themselves, as well as Kim Saeron, Seo Kangjoon, and Hello Venus.

Leading up to their official debut, Astro held a nationwide showcase tour called “Meet U Project”. The group toured South Korea and held 20 shows and two fan meetings.

Astro’s debut EP “Spring Up”, was released on February 23, 2016, featuring title track “Hide & Seek”. Always carefully stage-managed, the group held a debut showcase where they announced their official fan club name Aroha (an abbreviation for “Astro hearts all fans”) though Aroha also means “love” in Maori. Within a week of its release, “Spring Up” reached #6 on the Billboard World Albums Chart in the United States, as well as #4 on the Gaon Music Chart. On February 25, the group released the music video for “Cat’s Eye”, containing clips from “To Be Continued”. In March, the group was the only Korean act invited to the LeTV Entertainment Awards in China.

Their second EP “Summer Vibes”, was released on July 1, featuring title track “Breathless”. The album peaked at #6 on the Billboard World Albums Chart and #21 on the Billboard World Digital Songs Chart.

Astro performed at Staples Centre in Los Angeles for “KCON 2016”. They held their first solo concert at the KEPCO Art Centre in Seoul and their first Asia showcase in Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand.

Astro’s third EP “Autumn Story”, was released on November 10, featuring title track “Confession”.

On February 22, Astro released “Winter Dream” featuring title track “Again”. The album was not promoted on music shows as it was considered a special album dedicated to their fans. The album also completed the group’s seasonal project that included the previous albums “Spring Up”, “Summer Vibes” and “Autumn Story”. Four days after its release, the group held an anniversary fan meeting titled “The 1st Astro Aroha Festival”.

On May 29, Astro released their fourth EP “Dream Part.01” featuring the title track “Baby”. The group held their first tour, titled “The 1st ASTROAD”. On November 1, Astro released their fifth EP “Dream Part.02” featuring the title track “Crazy Sexy Cool”.

Tickets are Bt3,000 to Bt5,500 at Thai Ticket Major. Visit http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

The rockers, featuring Nick Allbrook, Jay Watson, Joe Ryan and Jamie Terry, are just about to start a tour of Asia, kicking off with a gig in Tokyo, before travelling to Taipei and Hong Kong.

Pond was formed in Perth, Western Australia, in 2008 by Allbrook, Jay and Ryan as a collaborative musical project.

Their first album was “Psychedelic Mango” which contained many psychedelic rock and pop elements. Their second album, “Corridors of Blissterday”, was completed live with an eight piece band in five days, and released in June 2009. This led to the creation of their 2010 album, “Frond”, released in May 2010, featuring a heavier pop influence than previously heard from them.

After the breakthrough success of “Innerspeaker”, the debut album by Tame Impala, a band which shares three members with Pond, the album “Beard, Wives, Denim” was recorded in 2010 and later released to critical acclaim.

Pond toured the United States in 2012, appearing at festivals such as South by Southwest and was named by NME magazine “The Hottest New Band In The World” in their “Hot List” issue.

Tickets are Bt2,000 available at Thai Ticket Major. Nakarin Space is on Srinakarin Road.