The Word Ha Noi

You know those old cartoons where the character goes fishing and catches nothing but car tyres and welly boots? Digging for vinyl in Hanoi is a bit like that. In between fin de siècle gramophones and fighter pilot helmets, you might find a Chemical Brothers album with a bite taken out of it, or releases by Russian and Cuban classical ensembles that look like they’ve been used as chopping boards.

Next month will mark the inaugural Big Wig Music Festival in Fort Canning Park, Singapore. Perhaps the biggest of the big wigs, Pharoahe Monch. will spit rhymes and soothing melodies alongside his company W.A.R. Media.

The Cat is coming of age. The nocturnal felid is turning two and surely that’s 18 in cat years and therefore reason to celebrate on the Mar. 16.