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The songs that give us skin orgasms
If you like to read about music, you will know that the talk over the past few weeks has been all about “skin orgasms”.
It is a vulgar-sounding phrase, but the sensation it describes is rather glorious.
A skin orgasm is that sensation when your hair stands up on your arms and you get chills down your spine.
It can occur when one comes across a particularly beautiful piece of music.
“Aesthetic chills” is perhaps a nicer term for the phenomena, or you could use the fancy-sounding French word “frisson”.
Scientists have known about skin orgasms for some time, but it is only very recently that they have been given a full scientific look.
Last year, a PhD student at Utah State University measured the physiological responses of people listening to music and found that it triggered the same sort of euphoria as sex and food.
Basically, it releases dopamine, the brain chemical responsible for giving us the warm fuzzies.
Of course, it is not just any music that triggers skin orgasms.
The sort of songs that are most effective tend to be dynamic – those that feature unexpected or unusual flourishes.
It could be a sudden change in volume, like when the Pixies do their loud-quiet-loud thing in Gigantic.
There could be unusual harmonies, as in Bjork’s lovely, bizarre Oceania.
Or perhaps it is the introduction of a new instrument or texture into a song, like when Lana Del Rey goes into her falsetto in the latter half of ballads such as Born To Die or Summertime Sadness.
ANTICIPATION
These are the songs that give me chills.
A big part of experiencing skin orgasms is the anticipation of what is to come.
Even without ever having heard a song, we can usually tell when it is building up to something special. You can sense it.
When it does come, and especially if it exceeds our expectations, we get a nice dopamine rush.
Who needs drugs? This is so much better.
The sad thing is that not everyone experiences skin orgasms.
They do not have an exact figure, but up to 45 per cent of music listeners are missing out.
During the study, they also found that those capable of experiencing skin orgasms had close to three episodes for every 10 minutes they spent listening to music.
For your standard pop song, that would work out to about once per song.
As I am a DJ at Kiss92, I tend to listen to an awful lot of music, so it might seem like I would be having a skin orgasm all the time – and that sounds dangerous.
Fortunately for my mental and physical health, not every song we play does it for me.
There is always some plodding dud that kills the moment.
Jennifer Lopez’s Ain’t Your Mama is the place where skin orgasms go to die.
This article was first published on June 22, 2016.
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3 reasons for EXO's success
There is no better time to be an EXO fan than now.
The massively popular nine-piece K-pop boy band has always wowed audiences with killer dance moves, electrifying energy and wicked choreography, but their latest studio album EX’ACT looks set to finally allow them to dominate the industry.
Statistically, these boys are at the top of their game.
According to The Korea Herald, more than 660,000 copies of EX’ACT, released on June 9 and available on iTunes, were pre-ordered.
The album also chalked up an unprecedented sales figure of 450,000 copies within a mere three days of its release.
Furthermore, Monster, a dark, aggressive track and one of two lead singles EXO are promoting, achieved an impressive “all-kill” (an individual song topping all of South Korea’s major music charts) almost immediately upon release, reported entertainment website allkpop.
Make no mistake, Kai, Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O. and Sehun are firing on all cylinders.
M tells you why at this juncture, EXO are turning into an omnipresent, unstoppable global force.
1. BIG IN AMERICA
Most A-list Korean acts are huge on their home turf, as well as in other Asian countries like Japan, China and Thailand, but not many have managed to crack the US market.
In February, EXO held their first North American concert tour and it was a resounding success.
Mind you, they weren’t filling tiny venues but stadium-sized arenas.
Fuse TV reported that in New York, EXO “almost sold out” the 18,711-capacity Prudential Center, faring much better than four fellow Korean acts combined – Girls’ Generation, VIXX, Teen Top and AOA. That was the line-up for last September’s K-pop convention KCON 2015, held at the same place.
It hasn’t made EXO complacent though.
At the 2016 Gaon Chart K-pop Awards in February, during the group’s acceptance speech for the Fan Favourite Award, Suho said that after performing in US cities such as Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago, it hit him that “K-pop has garnered much love” outside of Korea.
“As artists who represent K-pop, we will continue to be hardworking,” he said.
2. CRITICAL ACCLAIM
The powerful lead singles Monster and Lucky One from EX’ACT have shed some of EXO’s idol baggage that comes with being pretty boys.
Lucky One, a groovy EDM number, especially, has been garnering solid reviews from renowned K-pop websites and vloggers.
YouTube vlogger MRJKPOP heaped praise on their “vocal execution”, remarking that “EXO have never sounded better”.
Billboard.com described Lucky One as “boasting a disco shimmer complete with funky guitar licks and an unexpected-but-much-welcomed flute inclusion”, while allkpop gave the music videos of Monster and Lucky One high scores of 9 and 9.3 respectively out of 10.
Lay, the only remaining Chinese member after the departures of Kris, Luhan and Tao, told the Korean media at their album launch press conference in Seoul that he and his bandmates have matured over the past year.
“Through EX’ACT, we want to show our manly sides, because we’ve grown older,” he said.
3. GETTING CLOSER TO FANS
Another winning aspect of EXO is their increasing desire to forge bonds with their diehard supporters.
At the press conference in Seoul, Chen said that as part of the promotion for EX’ACT, they are showcasing “real, everyday sides” of themselves through V Live (an app that allows fans to watch personal videos of celebrities on their phones), in a special segment called EXOmentary.
For example, D.O. showed off his flair for cooking, Suho his pastry-making skills and Sehun played with his puppy.
Baekhyun told reporters: “Honestly, in the past, we’ve displayed our on-stage image a little too much.
“I think many fans were curious to know what we are really like as regular guys in their mid-20s.
“So this is for them.”
This article was first published on June 22, 2016.
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N Korea test fires two powerful, mid-range missiles
SEOUL – Nuclear-armed North Korea conducted two back-to-back tests of a powerful new medium-range missile on Wednesday, with both achieving a significant increase in flight distance over previous failed launches, South Korea’s Defence Ministry said.
Both tests were believed to be of a much-hyped, intermediate-range Musudan missile capable of reaching US bases as far away as Guam.
International condemnation was swift, with the United States and Japan labelling the launches a clear violation of UN resolutions, and South Korea vowing to push for tighter sanctions on Pyongyang.
Existing UN Security Council measures ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology.
The first test shortly before 6:00 am (2100 GMT Tuesday) was deemed to have failed after reportedly flying around 150 kilometres (90 miles) over the East Sea (Sea of Japan).
The South Korean defence ministry said the second Musudan – fired from the same east coast location two hours later – had flown 400 kilometres.
“South Korea and the United States are conducting further analysis,” the ministry said in a statement that stopped short of labelling the second test a success or failure.
Four failed Musudan tests earlier this year all either exploded on the mobile launch pad or shortly after take-off.
A successful test would mark a major step forward for a weapons programme that ultimately aspires to develop a proven nuclear strike capability against the US mainland.
US State Department spokesman John Kirby said the latest launches would only increase global efforts to counter North Korea’s illicit weapons programme.
“We intend to raise our concerns at the UN to bolster international resolve in holding (North Korea) accountable for these provocative actions,” Kirby said in a statement.
Japanese broadcaster NHK quoted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as saying such tests “cannot be tolerated”.
South Korea’s foreign ministry warned that North Korea would face even stronger sanctions and said the tests underlined “the hypocrisy and deceptiveness” of Pyongyang’s recent offers of military talks with Seoul.
First unveiled as an indigenous missile at a military parade in Pyongyang in October 2010, the Musudan has a theoretical range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres.
The lower estimate covers the whole of South Korea and Japan, while the upper range would include US military bases on Guam.
Three failed launches in April were seen as an embarrassment for North Korea’s leadership, coming ahead of a rare ruling party congress that was meant to celebrate the country’s achievements.
Another attempt in May was also deemed to have failed.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified high-ranking government official as saying the second test on Wednesday demonstrated an obvious “improvement in capacity and technology”.
The official said the missile appeared to have been fired on an unusually high trajectory to limit its range.
A Japanese defence ministry spokesman said it had reached an altitude of 1,000 kilometres and “exhibited a certain functionality”.
The latest tests came with military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula still running high following Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch a month later that saw the UN Security Council impose its toughest sanctions to date on the North.
In recent months, North Korea has claimed a series of technical breakthroughs in developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to targets across the continental United States.
The North has displayed an ICBM, the KN-08, during military parades, but it has never been tested.
Melissa Hanham, an expert on North Korea’s WMD programme at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California, said Wednesday’s launches represented a worrying step forward.
“I don’t know if it’s a success, but it is definitely progress. Testing is iterative and they are learning from each flight,” Hanham told AFP.
“Policymakers need to focus on a testing ban to prevent this from becoming a working missile.”
Rebecca Lim says dad epitomises her ideal man
As one of the top local actresses in showbiz at the moment, Rebecca Lim may have found her “dream job”.
But when it comes to the bachelorette’s dream guy, she hopes to snag someone who possesses the same qualities as her father, who epitomises her ideal man.
The 29-year-old told M at yesterday’s press conference for her latest drama The Dream Job: “My dad has set very high expectations in terms of his heart – very pure and selfless. He’s also very strong and brave.
“In life, he has gone through many ups and downs, but he has never let us see that he’s down and out or vent any of his anger on any of us. He has always taken it in his own stride.”
One valuable piece of relationship advice that Lim’s father has given her is to find “a guy who treats his own family right” because “how he treats his own family will be how he would treat his wife”.
She added: “It makes perfect sense because… (that’s very telling).”
However, her co-star, close pal and rumoured squeeze Ian Fang has a very different reaction towards his own father.
The 26-year-old Shanghai-born actor, who’s the only child of divorced parents and was raised by his grandmother and mother, doesn’t “feel anything” whenever Father’s Day comes around.
His dad left the family when he was one, and his parents split up when he was four.
He said: “He does message me occasionally, but usually I don’t reply and I don’t know why… I just don’t feel like (it).”
Instead, Fang considers his single mother as his father figure.
He said rather emotionally: “I don’t have a father figure in my life. I don’t know the feeling of being ‘under one roof’. I will never and have not experienced such a thing.”
Fang added: “I hope (my) mum can find happiness. I want her to feel loved and pampered by a gentleman.”
This article was first published on June 22, 2016.
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Father of killed S.League player to engage Thai lawyer
He has been to Bangkok twice since his son was killed there last month.
And private bus driver Ramasamy Ramalingam, 60, will soon go there for a third time to engage a lawyer to help him get justice.
He and his son’s friends want to know how former S.League player Sivaneswaran Ramalingam, 28, could be killed in a chokehold and what led to the deadly altercation.
Mr Sivaneswaran was killed on May 28 after a dispute with his Belgian live-in girlfriend of five years, Ms Sarah Gieghase.
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Related: Father seeks answers
The incident took place in the apartment they shared with their three-year-old son.
Mr Sivaneswaran’s alleged killer is believed to be Ms Gieghase’s ex-husband, Mr Kevin Maes, who is also a Belgian.
Mr Ramasamy first went to Bangkok on May 28 to bring his son’s body back to Singapore.
It arrived here the next day and was cremated on May 30.
Mr Ramasamy went to Bangkok again on June 2 with his son’s friends – Mr Isaac Chew, Mr Ashley Ow and Mr Darrel Tan – to look for answers.
But it was not an easy task, especially due to the language barrier.
They met the Thai police, but Mr Ow, 30, said they did not share any new information.
They managed to meet the security guard who was on duty during the incident at Mr Sivaneswaran’s condominium, Vista Garden in Sukhumvit.
Together, they watched closed-circuit television footage of the first-storey lobby during the incident.
Mr Chew, 29, who works in property development, told The New Paper on Monday that according to the clip, Mr Sivaneswaran was last seen alive at around 7.25pm on May 27.
He was seen entering a lift with Ms Gieghase and their son after a swim.
Shortly after midnight, the footage showed Mr Maes at the lobby.
He goes upstairs with another man who had arrived minutes later.
Mr Chew said: “At 1.20am, Sarah went downstairs. She looked frantic and appeared to be in tears when she spoke to the guard.
“When we spoke to the guard, he said Sarah told him Siva was armed. She went back upstairs and the guard called the police. Officers arrived at 1.30am.”
He said the guard told them he went to the unit with the police and saw Mr Sivaneswaran lying face down on the ground.
He added: “The guard saw Kevin’s knee was on Siva’s upper back and he had him in a chokehold.
“Kevin’s friend was holding Siva’s left arm against his back and his other hand was holding Siva’s legs.”
According to the guard, a policeman shoved Mr Maes away, but Mr Sivaneswaran was already unconscious.
He was pronounced dead at 2.50am.
Related: Father didn’t know he was dating his boss
GRANDSON
Mr Ramasamy said they did not meet Ms Gieghase and his grandson.
The pair also had not gone to Mr Sivaneswaran’s funeral on May 30.
Mr Ramasamy added: “I miss my grandson. Since my son’s death, she hasn’t called and I also didn’t try to call her as I don’t think it will serve any purpose.
“An innocent soul is gone. We will be fighting for justice all the way till the end.”
Mr Ow who is a former Young Lions player, said they did not get to meet Mr Maes either.
He said: “I’ve received about four messages from Kevin saying he could not talk about the matter. He told me to talk to his lawyer instead.”
The four of them left Thailand on June 4.
The group decided to engage a Thai lawyer to help them with their case.
Mr Chew has set up a fund-raising profile on generosity.com to raise US$22,000 (S$30,000).
Most of the money will be used for the lawyer’s fees.
On Monday, a Thai police officer told TNP Mr Maes is still out on bail and declined to give any more details.
Wife so upset, he had to keep eye on her
It has been an emotionally draining episode for him and his wife since their son, former S.League player Sivaneswaran Ramalingam, 28, was killed in Bangkok on May 28.
Speaking to The New Paper on Monday, private bus driver Ramasamy Ramalingam, 60, said that since the tragedy, he has spent more than $15,000, including the cost of transporting his son’s body from the Thai capital to Singapore.
Mr Ramasamy earns about $3,000 a month.
On June 13, one of his son’s friends, Mr Isaac Chew, 29, set up a fund-raising profile on generosity.com to raise US$22,000 (S$30,000) for the family.
Mr Ramasamy welcomed this gesture and told TNP he was so shaken by the tragedy, he found it difficult to return to work.
He only started working again yesterday.
He said: “I need to concentrate when I drive the bus. But I could not concentrate at all since Siva’s death.
“My wife, who is a housewife, has taken news of the death very badly. She is always mumbling to herself and seems to be in a daze. I had to keep an eye on her at home. Things have improved slightly now.”
The couple have three other sons aged between 24 and 32 years old.
ASSISTANCE
When asked why he did not ask them for financial assistance, he said his two older sons have their own families to support.
One has three children.
The other got married this year and just bought a new flat.
Mr Ramasamy added: “My youngest son is still serving his national service. So money can be quite tight for all of us.”
Mr Chew, who works in property development, said US$22,000 was a conservative amount.
The bulk of it will be used to pay a Thai lawyer they will engage soon.
He said: “We have to pay the lawyer $4,000 as a deposit and she can cost us between $450 and $600 an hour. So it’s not cheap. But all of us want justice for Siva.”
They aim to raise the funds by July 13, which would have been Mr Sivaneswaran’s 29th birthday.
As of about 10.30pm yesterday, 67 donors had contributed $4,371.
This article was first published on June 22, 2016.
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Shaun Chen finally shows off family in Instagram
For his first Father’s Day celebration as a new dad last Sunday, Malaysia-born Mediacorp actor Shaun Chen finally revealed how his Malaysian wife Celine and his six-month-old daughter Nellie look like via an Instagram post.
He had insisted on maintaining their privacy since last October, when he first told the media about his marriage and her pregnancy.
But after much consideration, the 37-year-old feels it is “the right time” to reveal more about his family.
Chen married the former beautician, who is in her 20s, last July and they welcomed their first child last December.
Mother and child moved to Singapore in April from Alor Setar in Kedah, Malaysia, to be with him.
He told M at the press conference for the upcoming Channel 8 blockbuster drama The Dream Job yesterday: “I wanted my wife to have the freedom to tell people who her husband is or post on her own Instagram about our relationship.
“I didn’t want her to be in a difficult position where she has to lie to people about who her husband is. At least now she can give an answer.”
The Dream Job, which premieres on June 28 at 9pm, stars Chen as a lawyer who is in charge of helping a wealthy businessman (Hugo Ng) hire three people (Jeanette Aw, Rebecca Lim and Ian Fang) to be his “children” and help with his business.
Chen’s family photo, which was taken a few weeks ago by his sister-in-law, shows the trio wearing matching adidas T-shirts.
He said: “I saw the shirt on display at Suntec and there was a female and kid’s version. I thought it was very cute so I decided to buy matching outfits for my family…
“A lot of people have said (my daughter) looks like a boy because her hair hasn’t grown yet, but I don’t care.”
He giggled before saying: “It’s okay lah, when she grows up she will become pretty.”
There have been both positive and negative comments left on his Instagram post, but Chen told his wife to “just ignore” the mean ones like he does.
Thankfully, she is not at all bothered by any of the negativity and “can handle it”.
Despite his busy filming schedule, the doting dad cherishes his time with his daughter as she might not reciprocate his affection when she grows older.
“The first thing I do when I get home is kiss her – neck, cheeks and face. She will just sit quietly and let me kiss her. If I wait a few more years, I don’t think she will bother to give me the attention anymore,” he said.
This article was first published on June 22, 2016.
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MAS to include yuan investments as part of official foreign reserves from June
SINGAPORE – The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Wednesday (June 22) it will be including its renminbi financial investments as part of its official foreign reserves starting from June.
“This move recognises the steady and calibrated…
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Cars vs Autobots: Disney sues China firms in copyright dispute
SHANGHAI – Walt Disney Co has taken three Chinese firms to court over concerns local animation”The Autobots” copied elements from Disney’s own hit movie”Cars”, as the US firm looks to protect its drive into the world’s second-largest economy.
A court in Shanghai held a hearing on Tuesday, a Disney spokeswoman confirmed to Reuters. The dispute was over”copyright infringement” and “unfair competition”, according to a notice on the Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court website.
Disney is making a major push into China with the recent opening of a US$5.5 billion (S$7.4 billion) theme park in Shanghai, its first on the mainland, while its animated movies including “Zootopia” and”Big Hero 6″ have been big box office hits in the country.
The iconic US firm, however, faces tough competition in the market from local theme park developers, popular Chinese animations as well as counterfeits from merchandise to fake Disney hotels. Chinese authorities have promised to give Disney”special” trademark protection.
“The Autobots” drew ire from netizens in China when it was released last year, with some pointing out similarities with Disney’s 2006 film “Cars” starring Owen Wilson and its sequel in 2011. “Cars 3” is pencilled in to be released next year.
Zuo Jianlong, the director of “The Autobots” for production company Blue MTV, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday he was “relaxed” about a potential ruling.
“Lots of people online have talked about plagiarism, but it seems from the legal side that the matter is quite clear – at root there is no plagiaristic behaviour,” he said. “If you put the two films side-by-side to compare them, then you will know they are completely different.”
Disney declined to comment further on the case.
The Chinese film is about animated racing cars including main heroes K1 and K2, while Disney’s offering follows the story of legendary racing car Lightning McQueen.
The three Chinese firms involved in the suit are production company Blue MTV, media company Beijing G-Point, and online content platform PPLive Inc.
An official for Beijing G-Point, who gave her name only as Ms Cheng, said the firms had hoped to reach a settlement, but Disney had been opposed to this. She added G-Point was not involved in production, but rather in the film’s distribution.
Reuters could not immediately reach PPLive for comment.
China’s box office hit around 45 billion yuan (S$9.2 billion) last year, and is growing fast, a lure for overseas studios to tap into the market despite a cap on imported films, censorship concerns and a rising challenge from locally made movies.
