21/03/2025

FRIDAY | MAR 21, 2025

23

LYFE

Electrifying dance experience T HE anticipation is building as Neon Music Festival 2025 (NMF) gears up for another electrifying edition at KL Base Sungai Besi on April 11. o Hardwell returns, ArtBat debuts at Neon Music Festival Techno, Hardwell is known for chart-topping anthems such as Spaceman, Apollo and Run Wild, with collaborations spanning global icons such as Craig David, Jason Derulo, Jay Sean and Austin Mahone, as well as remixes for Rihanna, Calvin Harris, Ellie Goulding and Coldplay. As a headliner at festivals such as Tomorrowland, Ultra, EDC Las Vegas and Coachella, Hardwell’s return is set to be a landmark moment for Malaysian dance music fans. Joining the festival is highly acclaimed Ukrainian duo ArtBat, making its regional debut with its immersive UpperGround audio visual experience. Renowned for its cinematic soundscapes and high-energy melodic techno, ArtBat has captivated audiences worldwide with mesmerising visuals and emotive performances. NMF is also set to make history by featuring a first-ever triple B3B (back-to-back) performance from progressive house heavyweights DubVision, Matisse & Sadko and Third Party. While Matisse & Sadko have played in Malaysia before, this collaboration, which also marks Third Party’s Malaysian debut, will deliver a long-overdue return of progressive house anthems to local shores. Organised by Neon Projects Sdn Bhd, the festival promises a night of high-energy performances, cutting-edge visuals and an unforgettable atmosphere. Dutch DJ and producer Hardwell will make his long-awaited return to Malaysia after a seven-year hiatus and lead this year’s powerhouse lineup. A pioneer of Big Room

22Bullets B2B Marvinz1r, Blink, Chukiess & Whackboi, Dirty Signal, Honey Gee and RXB are rounding out the lineup, ensuring a diverse and dynamic night of music. Beyond the music, this year’s festival promises a 360-degree audiovisual experience, featuring high-definition real-time reflective graphics, laser displays and a top-tier sound system. Attendees can also expect stunning photo ops, art installations and an emphasis on safety, comfort and hospitality. Tickets are on sale now, ranging from RM268 to RM458.

THOUGH the message and direction is valid, metal bands under the Red and Anarchist black metal (RABM) subgenre are typically boring to listen to. Though they stand in opposition politically and morally to bands from the National Socialist black metal (NSBM) circle — who are often fascists or neo-Nazis, the RABM circle is, unfortunately, almost entirely occupied by bands that are not able to write decent metal music. Once in a blue moon, something actually good will manage to crawl out of this particular metal scene and earlier this month, Amsterdam-based Marrow of Man did exactly that. Releasing a split album with Nightmare Effigy from the US, the one-man Dutch band’s four songs on Decimation of the Spirit is a searing left-wing assault on the occupiers of Palestine. Now completely embracing the RABM spirit, behind the veil of the corpsepaint makeup, Marrow of Man’s Sahand Mozdbar kicks his side of the split off with the explosive Empire of Genocide . “Long shadows are cast / By the arm of an empire so inhumane / Over the lands that gave birth to Christ / And are now bombed to be resettled by the colonial forces,” Mozdbar howls over his signature style of guitar riffs and beating drums. The other three songs from Marrow of Man’s half of the split, Beneath the Olive Trees , Black and White and In the Name of Liberty , continues the barrage against the imperialism, colonialism and genocide faced by trapped Palestinians. For the remainder of Decimation of the Spirit , Nightmare Effigy takes the reins with five songs. Rather than continuing with Marrow of Man’s pro Palestinian approach, the one-man project takes black metal back to its cold, traditional roots, evoking riffs and melodies similar to the infamous bands that began the second-wave of black metal in the 80s. Decimation of the Spirit’s second half is slightly weaker than its first half, but it is a good introduction for Nightmare Effigy via being on the same split album as the more established Marrow of Man. Rather than merely being a strong follow-up to the band’s debut album last year, Marrow of Man’s side of the split is also Mozdbar’s excellent entry into RABM, elevating an otherwise floundering scene. Decimation of the Spirit is available on streaming platforms. Psalms of anti-colonialism Mozdbar’s Marrow of Man new split album stands triumphantly on the Palestinian side. – SPOTIFYPIC Ű BY MARK MATHEN VICTOR

ArtBat debuts with immersive UpperGround experience.

Hardwell returns to Malaysia after seven years with his signature Big Room Techno.

Conan O’Brien tapped to host Oscars again

CONAN O’Brien will return to host a second consecutive Oscars, the Academy said after this month’s well reviewed gala drew almost 20 million viewers in a slight ratings uptick. The late-night comedian will return for the 98th Academy Awards on March 15, 2026, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang said in a press release. The confirmation of next year’s host comes unusually early, with Kramer and Yang praising O’Brien for “skillfully guiding us through” this month’s Oscars, in which indie movie Anora won best picture. Among the other prizes, best actor winner Adrien Brody ( The Brutalist ) set a new record for the longest-ever Oscars acceptance speech, spending five minutes and 40 seconds on stage. “The only reason I am hosting the Oscars next year is that I want to hear Adrien Brody finish his speech,”

quipped O’Brien. The show’s producers, Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan, will also return next year. With 19.69 million viewers, the Oscars telecast increased its audience figure for a fifth straight year. This was in part due to the show streaming live for the first time, on Hulu. The combined figure was slightly up from last year’s early ratings of 19.5 million, for a gala dominated by smash hit films Oppenheimer and Barbie . During the Covid-19 pandemic, Oscars ratings sank as low as 10.4 million. The Academy Awards telecast regularly topped 40 million just a decade ago. O’Brien’s first Oscars stint, which included a lively opening monologue, a quirky musical number and a surreal pre-taped riff on satirical body-horror flick The Substance , earned wide praise. – AFP

O’Brien’s debut as Oscar’s host drew widespread acclaim. – AFPPIC