As 2013 comes to an end, we are taking a look back at some of our favorite posts of the year by our guest editors.
Sydney pop songstress by way of Hong Kong, Rainbow Chan records her music in the same place that her zany garb and shoes reside: her closet. After realizing her original artistic focus of being an oh-so-experimental singer/songwriter was not for her, Chan turned to something a little more her: infectious pop music out of left field. What resulted from this genre jump is the Long Vacation EP (Silo Arts), which is named after a 1996 Japanese TV drama. She claims the inspiration for the six tracks consist of, but not limited to, glockenspiels and music boxes, Frédéric Chopin and Steve Reich, girl groups and electronics, Hong Kong pop, Shanghai jazz, American rhythm ‘n’ blues and Japanese television theme songs. Chan will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all this week. Read our brand new feature on her.\]
Chan: I travelled to Iceland to conduct some fieldwork for my Honours thesis on Icelandic music and landscape in 2010. Snorkeling in the Silfra (a narrow canyon where the American and European tectonic plates come apart) is the most incredible thing I have ever experienced. I wore a full body suit to protect me from the glacial waters, which were a chilling three degrees celsius! The water is clear, and you can see underwater up to 70m deep. Like crystal formations, the rocks that form in rift are jagged, multi-layered and haunting. Being submerged in water blocked all sound so I could only hear the sound of my heartbeat and everything seemed like it was in half time. It is one time in my life where I have felt complete peace.
Video after the jump.
