Canadian singer Mike Milosh, a former member of  the Los Angeles-based duo Rhye, is playing several gigs next month, starting at the Umeda Club Quattro in Osaka on May 17, Zepp Diver-City in Tokyo on May 18, the Seoul Jazz Festival 2018 May 19-20, Neo Studio in Taipei on May 22 before coming to Bangkok.

Milosh produced, wrote, and recorded “Blood” over the last two years in studios in LA, New York, Toronto, Berlin, and Sussex, England. This album comes through in the groove in songs “Feel Your Weight” and “Count to Five”. “Waste” was the first song he wrote for the album and recalls breaking up with his exwife.

Tickets are Bt2,000 at the door and at http://www.TicketMelon.com/rhyebkk.

The rockers, currently on the Asian leg of their “The Retrograde Asia Tour 2018”, are also scheduled to play in Taiwan, Manila, Singapore and Malaysia.

Crown the Empire was formed in July 2010 by Andrew Velasquez, Austin Duncan, Hayden Tree, and Brandon Hoover while at Colleyville Heritage High School with the ultimate goal of “being heavier than most bands in our area”. Former drummer Alex Massey quit the band a new months later and was soon replaced by their current drummer, Brent Taddie.

The band started recording their debut EP, “Limitless”, in 2011 with singles “Voices” and “Wake Me Up” and made their first US tour with A Skylit Drive. In 2012, the band released first single, “Makeshift Chemistry” from their sophomore, “The Fallout”, and followed up with “Memories of a Broken Heart”.

In 2013 the band released “From Death to Destiny” and headlined a tour also featuring Motionless in White and Upon a Burning Body.

In 2015, Crown the Empire released a new single, titled “Prisoners of War” on digital retailers as part of a deluxe reissue of “The Resistance: Rise of the Runaways”, which included “Cross Our Bones”, an alternate version of “Machines” and an acoustic version of “Millennia”. In 2016, Crown The Empire released their third studio album “Retrograde” which debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200.

Tickets cost Bt1,800 at the door. Rockademy Thailand is on Sukhumvit Soi 26. Find out more by calling (02) 261 3833 or visit http://www.RockademyThailand.com.

This 24-year-old English musician, singer and songwriter was born in Nottingham to musical parents who separated when he was young. His father, whose last name was Bugg, was a nurse, and his mother worked in sales, both parents having previously made recordings. He started playing guitar at the age of 12 and attended The Farnborough Academy in Clifton. His main influences are Don McLean, Oasis, Donovan, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, John Martyn, Jimmy Page and the Everly Brothers, as well as heavy metal band Metallica.

At 17, he was selected to perform on the “BBC Introducing” stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival and was subsequently signed to Mercury Records. In 2012, he released his self-titled debut album, which reached number one in the UK charts with a total sale of 604,100 copies. He was a supporting act for Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds at the Belsonic Music Festival, Belfast.

Bugg has also spent time in Malibu working with Rick Rubin and Iain Archer, and had had some interactions with Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who plays drums on “Broken”. In 2013, Bugg released his new album, “Shangri La”, along with a new single, “What Doesn’t Kill You”. Bugg was one of five nominees for the 2013 Brit Award in the “British Breakthrough Act” category.

In 2017, Bugg released a new single, “How Soon the Dawn”, on all platforms with a music video, before announcing his fourth studio album “Hearts That Strain”, which he has been touring to promote since the end of last year.

Tickets cost Bt2,600 at Thai Ticket Major counters and online at http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

It was a performance of Scottish composer James MacMillan’s acclaimed version of the “Stabat Mater.”

A British choir group The Sixteen and chamber orchestra ensemble Britten Sinfonia took to the stage against the backdrop of Michelangelo’s masterpiece of The Last Judgement, while lovers of classical music from around the world tuned in to watch on the web.

The “Stabat Mater” is a 13th century poem most likely written by Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi (1230-1306), but sometimes ascribed to Pope Innocent III, which portrays the Virgin Mary’s suffering during Jesus Christ’s death by crucifixion.

MacMillan, 58, who has composed many pieces of sacred music, was commissioned by the Genesis Foundation, which has been working since 2001 to support young artistic talent and develop the link between art and faith.

His version of “Stabat Matar” was heaped with praise upon its premiere at London’s Barbican Centre in 2016, and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, pushed for the composer to present his work at the Vatican.

Some 300 people filled the Sistine Chapel Sunday evening for the concert while live video of the performance was streamed over the website of Classic FM.

As the British choir began to sing the audience there and online was reminded that the acoustics as much as the frescoes have made the chapel world famous over the centuries.

The Sistine Chapel attracts some six million visitors each year as part of the Vatican Museum, but it is also “a musical centre where composers have written for the liturgy for hundreds of years, some of the great composers of Western civilisation, Palestrina, Allegri, Josquin… And to have my music played here is a very special priviledge,” said MacMillan.

Conductor Harry Christophers added that “these great sacred places always have something special about the acoustics. The details we can hear, the resonance, is fantastic; it’s so emotional.”

And for him the performance at the Sistine Chapel was the chance of a lifetime.

“These occasions, you are lucky if they appear once in a lifetime, and here we are, I can’t think of anything greater.”

Two years after his unusually early retirement from touring, the Swedish DJ was found dead in the Gulf sultanate’s capital Muscat.

“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the loss of Tim Bergling, also known as Avicii,” his management said in a statement, without specifying the cause of death.

“The family is devastated and we ask everyone to please respect their need for privacy in this difficult time. No further statements will be given.”

Maitrai Joshi, a DJ at the Muscat Hills Resort, said he spotted Avicii and understood the dance superstar was on vacation in Oman for the first time and had extended his stay.

“I saw him again the next day and again he was friendly, humble and took some photos,” Joshi told AFP by email.

Avicii was among the first DJs to break through in the mainstream as electronic dance music grew over the past decade from nightclubs to Top 40 radio. He created a global hit out of Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars,” to which he added a layer of energetic electronica.

He also helped produce Madonna’s last album. On Instagram, the pop superstar posted a picture of herself in the DJ booth with Avicii and wrote: “So Tragic. Goodbye Dear Sweet Tim. Gone Too Soon.”

His biggest individual hits included “Wake Me Up,” which went to number one across Europe in 2013 and featured the soul singer Aloe Blacc.

In 2015, he DJ-ed the wedding reception of Sweden’s Prince Carl Philip and his bride Sofia. The couple mourned him in a statement, saying: “We had the honor to have known him and admired him both as an artist and the beautiful person that he was.”

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called Avicii “one of the greatest names of music in Sweden in modern times.”

– Scene ‘not for me’ –

While the death came as a shock, Avicii has spoken publicly in recent years about his health problems, including pancreatitis, triggered in part by excessive drinking.

The condition forced him to cancel shows in 2014 as he had to have his gallbladder and appendix removed.

In 2016, Avicii stunned fans by retiring from touring when he was just 26, saying that he wanted to leave the high-flying electronic music lifestyle.

“The scene was not for me,” he told music magazine Billboard after his decision.

“It was not the shows and not the music. It was always the other stuff surrounding it that never came naturally to me. All the other parts of being an artist,” he added.

“I’m more of an introverted person in general. It was always very hard for me. I took on board too much negative energy, I think.”

Avicii later returned to the more quiet life of a studio artist. Last year, he put out a six-song EP that featured British pop singer Rita Ora.

– ‘Genius and musical innovator’ –

The son of Anki Liden, a prominent Swedish actress, Avicii had his start uploading tracks on the internet and was discovered by Dutch superstar Tiesto, who invited him to play at his residency in the clubbing hub of Ibiza.

His breakthrough single, “Levels,” adapted a sample of soul singer Etta James and earned him one of his two Grammy nominations.

He took his stage name from the Sanskrit word for the lowest level of hell in Buddhism, adding an additional “i” at the end.

In 2014, he was tied with Tiesto as the third top-grossing DJ in the world on the list of Forbes magazine, which estimated his earnings for the year at $28 million.

Pop star Charlie Puth paid tribute to Avicii as “the man who really opened my eyes to what my production could one day sound like.”

“Avicii was a genius and a music innovator, and I cannot believe he is no longer with us. RIP to the very best,” Puth wrote on Twitter.

Deadmau5 — a fellow top DJ known for his outspokenness who had mocked Avicii when he quit touring so young — offered his “sincerest and most heartfelt condolences.”

“Banter aside, nobody can deny what he has accomplished and done for modern dance music and I’m very proud of him,” Deadmau5 tweeted.

Electronic producer Diplo on Instagram called Avicii “the gold standard” in setting musical trends.

“I know you had your demons and maybe this wasn’t the right place for you sometimes, but we need to protect true artists like you at all costs because there are not enough left and we are losing too many,” Diplo said.

Rock band Lomosonic stole the thunder from rival Big Ass by taking two top prizes in the rock categories – Best Rock Group and Best Rock Album for “Anti-Gravity” – at the 29th Season Awards held Wednesday night in the Grand Ballroom of Swissotel Le Concorde Bangkok.

Big Ass, who is currently celebrating 20 years of success, did however pick up Best Rock Song for “Mai Kheed Fai”.

“If I knew I was going to win this award, I’d have gone home and put on a better suit,” quipped Lomosonic’s Aritach “Boy” Poltan on stage after receiving the award for Best Rock Group.

“We’ve always been overlooked in the awards stakes but today, Season Award has seen our value. Thank you to Season Awards and to [our label] Sanamluang for all their support,” he continued to loud applause.

“I understand the well-publicised feelings of Lomosonic’s Boy about playing all the songs on an album. Which makes it all the more amazing that we are now being sued for playing our own song,” said drummer-songwriter Kachorndej “Kob” Promraksa of Big Ass. Every member of the band has been accused of copyright infringement following a performance of “Korn Tai” at a corporate party. Back in 2000, when they did release singles, that was a hit from their second album, “XL”, but the disc was on the Music Bugs label, and now they’re with GMM Grammy subsidiary Genie Records.

The Richman Toy did well too, taking home Best Duo or Group and Best Album for “Tawan Lia Tood”.

“These days, many bands aren’t interested in recording full-length albums or CDs. But, a handful are and we are among them,” said Veeranat “Jap” Tippayamonthon, the frontman of The Richman Toy.

Other winners included Foxy who took home Best Instrumental (“Water 7”), West of East for Best New Artist, experimental pop band Beatboyz Bangkok for Best Recordings (“Manut Muang”), Hugo for Best Song (“Dam Sanit”), Rasmee Wayrana for Best Solo Female Artist, and Greasy Cafe for Best Solo Male Artist.

The announcements were interspersed by shows from Siripong “Nat The Voice Kids” Srisukha, who played guitar on “Khon Khai Raeng”, Apartment Khunpa with “Suea Rong Hai”, Paradox with “Rotfai Khabuan Haeng Khwamfun” as well as Indygo, Annalynn, The Callus, Slot Machine and Jelly Rocket.

One of the biggest independent bands in the world, Boyce Avenue has sold in excess of 10 million songs and 1 billion streams, and toured the globe several times, though this is their first stop in the Kingdom. Tickets costing from Bt1,800 to Bt2,800 are now on sale at Thai Ticket Major counters and online at http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

All that jazz

Sips and Sounds, a series of sophisticated music constellations from the masters to the young and rising, returns to The St Regis Bangkok’s bar on April 27 starting at 8. Organised in collaboration with Thai violinist Dr Paye Srinarong, the event features internationally acclaimed Thai jazz quartet, Bemerkenswert Vier led by renowned saxophonist Polwit Opanant, together with the captivating vocals of Kita The Voice. Book your table at (02) 207 7777, email: fb.bangkok@stregis.com, or visit http://www.StRegisBangkok.com.

EDM with the ‘trap’

New festival “It’s a Trap” gets underway on April 27 at Muang Thai GMM Live House. Running from 7.30pm to 1am, it features trap, bass and dubstep artists Dirtyphonics, Barely Alive and Virtual Riot. Tickets cost Bt1,500 at http://go.event¬pop.me/ITSATRAP.

Bugg goes acoustic

English singer-songwriter Jake Bugg brings his chart-topping songs to Bangkok in an exclusive show at Scala Theatre in Siam Square on May 1, as part of his “Solo Acoustic Tour 2018”. Bugg burst onto the music scene as a 17-year-old prodigy when he was selected to perform at the Glastonbury Festival. Now 23, he will be performing tracks off his latest album, “Hearts That Strain”, which was recorded with some of the best players in the history of popular music in Nashville.  Tickets cost Bt2,600 at Thai Ticket Major counters and online at http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

They’ve got the moves

Patiparn “Mos” Patavekarn, Saksit “Tor” Vejsupaporn, Saranyu “Ice” Winaipanit, Pongsak “Aof” Rattanaphong, Jazz Sputnix Papiyong Kookkook and Sweat 16 will show off their talent for dancing in The One Concert Series’ newest edition “1035 Krabuan Tha Jam” being staged at Royal Paragon Hall of Siam Paragon on May 5. Tickets costing from Bt1,500 to Bt4,500 are on sale at Thai Ticket Major. Find out more at Facebook.com/ fmone1035 or http://www.FMOne1035.com.

Puth spent a year and a half writing and revising his second album, “Voicenotes,” which comes out May 11 after a delay, and despite warnings that it was not commercially viable he found himself repeatedly turning to jazz.

But it’s not as if his fans will think he’s gone in a drastic new direction. Instead, Puth hears jazz in the warm chord progressions of the keyboards hidden under the pop texture.

“Voicenotes” — whose first single, “Attention,” is driven by a gently strummed guitar line and funky bass — harks back to the retro production of songwriters such as Babyface and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who Puth sees as heirs to the jazz tradition.

“The whole album is jazz disguised as pop music,” Puth told a news conference in Los Angeles.

“I’ve established a vibe where my music, it might lean adult in a way, but I still have 12-year-olds, teenagers, pre-teenagers — they are all singing the music.

“And that makes me the happiest guy ever because I’m secretly ‘edumacating’ them, whether they like it or not,” he said with a laugh.

– Perfect pitch –

Puth took up classical piano as a child and was playing jazz by age 10 before heading to study at the Manhattan School of Music.

The 26-year-old, while acknowledging he failed at transcribing music in school, has an uncanny talent for recognizing pitches. In the course of a news conference, he identified the pitch of a cocktail being shaken by a bartender in the distance of the hotel and instantly replicated on keyboard the beep of a phone.

“See You Again,” which appeared in the action film “Furious 7” as a tribute to late actor Paul Walker and features rapper Wiz Khalifa, became a viral hit in 2015 and remains the second most-watched video ever on YouTube.

Charlie Puth performs at the Z100’s iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2017 at Madison Square Garden on December 7, 2017 in New York. // AFP PHOTO

But Puth, whose first album “Nine Track Mind” also produced the hits “We Don’t Talk Anymore” and “Marvin Gaye,” said that “Voicenotes” felt more like his debut album as it was more sonically consistent.

The album title comes from the vocal notes function on his iPhone, which Puth said he constantly uses as he sings out tunes that come to his head.

He wrote the album in his parents’ home in New Jersey, saying it was important to connect with family after so much time on the road.

“It’s incredible, truly, how the more famous you get, the more alone you are,” he said.

– Eager for collaborations –

Puth collaborated on the album with Boyz II Men, whose sound is in tune with “Voicenotes,” as well as the folk-rock legend James Taylor, whom Puth called a longstanding inspiration.

Puth said he would be happy to go full jazz and play with the jazz greats such as Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock — if they called him.

“That would be incredible,” he said.

Puth’s retro turn into 1980s and 1990s R&B comes amid the success of Bruno Mars, who borrowed liberally from the genre on his Grammy-winning last album.

Puth believed that the sound popularized by artists such as Janet Jackson and Bobby Brown still feels fresh.

“I didn’t invent this style of music. All I’m doing is the 2018, 2019 version of it,” he said.

Julien’s Auctions said Wednesday it was putting more than 150 items from the late superstar up for sale on May 18, ranging from early childhood photos to golden record trophies to some of his most eye-grabbing attire.

Highlights include a custom-made yellow “Cloud” guitar, so named for its unique twisting body, which also has Prince’s signature love symbols engraved between the frets.

The auction house estimated the guitar would fetch between $60,000 and $80,000. Last year, it sold another Cloud guitar for a surprisingly hefty $700,000.

The Cloud guitars were made for Prince by Minneapolis luthier Dave Rusan, with one appearing prominently in the 1984 film “Purple Rain” where Prince’s alter ego “The Kid” receives one as a gift from his girlfriend Apollonia.

Another key item on sale next month is an electric blue turtleneck with matching trousers which Prince — whose best-known hits included “1999” — wore at his turn-of-the-millennium New Year’s Eve party at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota.

The auction house said that it expected the outfit, which Prince also wore when jamming with Lenny Kravitz at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1999, would go for $50,000 to $70,000.

The suit, like many of the items, were listed as coming from Prince’s ex-wife Mayte Garcia, a dancer and mother of Prince’s only known child — who died shortly after birth in 1996 due to a rare disorder.

Many of the items including stereo equipment came out of Paisley Park, the reclusive star’s studio and headquarters that has since been opened for paid tours.

Prince died in April 2016 at Paisley Park from an accidental overdose of powerful painkillers. He was 57.

Prosecutors are expected to announce Thursday whether they will press any charges over the death of Prince, who had been treating pain from hip surgery.

The Early Noise initiative identifies artists who are ready to break boundaries and be successful within the music industry.

“We are excited to identify and recognise Wonderframe as Thailand’s first Early Noise 2018 featured artist. We believe she is ready to break through and make an impact within the music scene with her experimental fusion of hip-hop and Thai-pop that is representative of a new generation of music talents. Our data also shows that the Spotify audience is reacting very well to this refreshing new sound that is unique to and distinctively Wonderframe,” says Chee Meng, Tan, head of artist & label marketing for Spotify Asia.

Wonderframe has been making waves since her debut on reality talent show “The Star” and her first single, “Yoo Dee Dee Kor”, peaked at No 3 on the Spotify Thailand Top 50 chart. Her new single, “555 (ToT)”, debuted in the top 10 of the same charts, within the same week of release.

Music lovers and fans of Wonderframe are encouraged to hit play on the Early Noise 2018 playlist, and enjoy the chance to know Wonderframe at a more intimate level. Fans who stream this playlist can enjoy some of Wonderframe’s favourite tracks and her early hits. In addition to that, the young hip-hop R&B artist shares her feedback to some of the burning questions many have for her. Some of the questions Wonderframe answers include, what was the one song that changed her life; who her dream music collaboration would be with; and what was the inspiration behind the latest single 555 (ToT).

The Early Noise artist list is compiled using a combination of efforts from Spotify’s team of in-house music experts. Based on the analysis of millions of streams worth of current music listening data, the teams are able to identify these talented individuals.

To be included in the list, the artist’s music must be in Spotify’s viral charts, which are a barometer of the music that is being shared the most among friends, as well as in Spotify’s Fresh Finds and Release Radar, both weekly-updated playlists that identify under-the-radar artists that are generating buzz online. In addition, number of listeners that have discovered the artist, through individual playlists or Spotify curated content, are considered.

As part of the localisation efforts and celebration, Wonderframe is the first local Thai artist to be featured on the Early Noise 2018 playlist.

Wonderframe is Supakchaya “Frame” Sukbaiyen who hasn’t looked back since appearing on “The Star” back in 2012. She went on to act in a couple of Thai TV series but her big break came when she released her 2017 debut single under the name of Wonderframe. This release led her to secure the #3 spot within Spotify Thailand Top 50 chart, and the hit single has achieved over 1.2 million streams on Spotify. Her latest single 555 (ToT) sees her explore pop R&B and rap genres.