in the dark year of 2020, a dear friend's wife wanted to learn more about singapore. she asked me for a list of local books, and i shared with her, and another person, an overly comprehensive list of fiction (disclaimer: i worked on a few titles).
recently, i realised i haven't thought up the same for singapura muzik, so here's a preliminary list of my personal faves (limited to one album per artist), and the book list too, based on my faltering memory of some years of tuning in, on and off, to the sonic and textual waves emanating from this black isle. for anyone out there:
MUZIK
Anita Sarawak - Live at the Mandarin Singapore (1975)
ASPIDISTRAFLY - A Little Fable (2011)
Astreal - Ouijablush (1997)
Fauxe - Half of my Love (2016)
Force Vomit - Give It Up for the Trustfund Rockers (2002)
Gulayu Arkestra - Hippocampuskuda (2011)
humpback oak - Ghostfather (1997)
陳潔儀 Kit Chan - 心痛 (Heartache; 1994)
Leslie Low - Triangular (2014)
許美静 (Mavis Hee) - 遺憾 (Regret; 1995)
MEAN - In Flight (2013)
Muon - The Death of Cinema (2003)
sonicbrat - stranger to my room (2013)
The Observatory - Catacombs (2012)
X’ Ho (Chris Ho) + ARCNTEMPL - Lucifugous (2013)
Xhin (Official) - The Images Within (2022)
Zircon Lounge - Regal Vigor (1983)
LIT
Adrian Tan - The Teenage Textbook (1988)
Alfian Sa’at - A History of Amnesia (2001)
Alfian Sa’at - One Fierce Hour (1998)
Amanda Lee Koe - Delayed Rays of a Star (2019)
Andrew Koh - Glass Cathedral (1995)
Arthur Yap - The Collected Poems of Arthur Yap (2013)
Balli Kaur Jaswal - Inheritance (2013)
Boey Kim Cheng - After the Fire (2006)
Boey Kim Cheng - Between Stations (2009)
Boey Kim Cheng - Clear Brightness (2012)
Chong Tze Chien - Four Plays (2011)
Claire Tham - Fascist Rock: Stories of Rebellion (1990)
Cyril Wong - Tilting Our Plates to Catch the Light (2007)
Damien Sin - Classic Singapore Horror Stories series (1992—2003)
Dave Chua - Gone Case (2002)
Eleanor Wong - Invitation to Treat: The Eleanor Wong Trilogy (2005)
Faith Ng - Plays: Volume 1 (2016; ed. Lucas Ho)
Goh Poh Seng - If We Dream Too Long (1972)
Goh Poh Seng - The Immolation (1977)
Gopal Barantham - The City of Forgetting: The Collected Stories of Gopal Baratham (2001; ed. Ban Kah Choon)
Gregory Nalpon - The Wayang at Eight Milestone (2013)
Haresh Sharma - Off Centre (1993, 2006)
Haresh Sharma - Trilogy (2010)
Isa Kamari - Rawa (2013; trans. R. Krishnan)
Jean Tay - Boom (2008, 2009)
Jeremy Tiang - State of Emergency (2017)
Joel Tan - Plays: Volume 1 (2015)
Johann S. Lee - Peculiar Chris (1992)
Julian Davison - One for the Road: An English Boyhood in Singapore & Malaya (2007)
Kuo Pao Kun - Complete Works: Plays in English (2012; ed. C. J. Wan-Ling Wee)
Ming Cher - Spider Boys (1995, 2012)
Mohamed Latiff Mohamed - Confrontation (1997, 2013; trans. Shafiq Selamat)
Morgan Chua - Tiananmen (1989)
Philip Jeyaretnam - Abraham’s Promise (1995)
Pooja Nansi - Love is an Empty Barstool (2014)
Rex Shelley - The Shrimp People (1991)
Russell Lee - True Singapore Ghost Stories series (1989—ongoing)
Sonny Liew - The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (2015)
Sonny Liew - Warm Nights, Deathless Days: The Life of Georgette Chen (2014)
Tan Hwee Hwee - Mammon Inc. (2001)
Tan Kok Seng - Son of Singapore (1972)
Tan Tarn How - Fear of Writing (2011, 2012)
Tania de Rozario - And the Walls Come Crumbling Down (2016)
Teng Qian Xi - They hear salt crystallising (2010)
Wong May - A Bad Girl’s Book of Animals (1969)
Xi Ni Er - The Earnest Mask (2004, 2012; trans. Howard Goldblatt & Sylvia Li-Chun Lin)
Yeng Pway Ngon - Art Studio (2011, 2014; trans. Goh Beng Choo & Loh Guan Liang)
