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Molek FMThe Best Of 2009
You win some, you lose some. This year charged in like a bull dog in heat. With late rides around the hood to find out who’s been naughty and nice, JUICE dug deep into all things that made 2009 so special. Rock with us.
Best Club Zouk
Superclub Zouk turned 5 this year and with the renovation continued to bring their game booking some major players and throwing the biggest and best parties this year.
Best New Club Rootz
Located on the rooftop of Lot 10, Rootz is the latest KL hot spot and shows loads of promise. The place to be seen and already host to several cred house parties, time to get flossy and on the list.
Best Bar Palate Palette
We dig how chill Palate Palette is. With a slew of out of the box events and an ambience you could sink into like a beanbag, grab a bite, quaff an assam boi cocktail and just enjoy.
Best New Bar Bar Italia
The brainchild of Paolo Guiati, the man behind the non-kosher Neroteca, the food and service may receive mixed reviews but the rooftop bar shows potential.
Best Pub Sid’s
Pub grub and affordable drinks make Sid’s a second home. Salute!
Best Ladies Night Lipstick Gossip @ TwentyOne
The monthly Thursday night combines fashion, music, women, pampering and tasty nibbles and yummylicious drinks, all under one roof.
Best For Chilling Out Havana
A fine selection of wines and cigars and a breezy atmosphere, make this the place to imagine that you are Tony Montana.
Best Club Night 4Play
DJ Goldfish’s return to Zouk has proven to be a monstrous success. Thursday nights are just crazy making this the new Ghetto Heaven of 2009.
Best New Club Night Bud Culture
It was all about dubstep this year and representing are Bud Culture masterminds Tubby, Hanif Junglist and Reza.
Best Up-For-It Crowd Mutant Mayhem Halloween Party @ Heritage Mansion
The night was a call out for all mutants. Digi Yellow Man, Power Rangers, maids, nurses, goths and Darth Vader turned up and Mixing in Action brought the mayhem.
Best Hip Hop Night Lollipop @ Mist Club
Kartelhitmen lead the troops at Mist Club on Friday nights and create some major bounce. It’s a full house every time.
Best Electro Night Lapsap
Best Retro Night Mambo Jambo @ Velvet Underground
Best Drum & Bass DNB Xtra @ Cloth & Clef
Best EDM Global @ Zouk
Best DJ Foulworks
The two masked boys of Foulworks never fail to bring the sickest tunes. Capping it off for us was IvanX and Drth Sid’s dabbling with the darkside at JUICE‘s 6th Anniversary party at Euphoria. The foul boys are going to be kickin’ plenty of musical a$$ come 2010.
Best New DJ Twinkies
The girl power duo of Arabyrd and Nadia turns it up on the dancefloor with a wicked mash of electro to dancehall that has turned Barsonic and Cloth & Clef upside down.
Most Promising DJ Act Eclectic Botz
If robots took over the world, would we all be on the floor? If the robots in question happen to be Eclectic Botz, then yes. DJs Jonvu and MicHoh turn it out like a freshly laundered jumper, from rock ‘n’ roll to indie all the way to left-field electro, nu rave and house. As Jonvu puts it, “At the end, we just want to have a good time with our friends and fans.” ‘Nuff said.
Best Music Selektahs SalahWrong
Sometimes it’s not about perfect mixing and it’s about track selection. Joyce Wong aka KinkyBlueFairy and Sarah Chan aka Sarchan don’t proclaim to be DJs but “song selektas” and crate dig through the indie, electro and pop with the attitude to match.
Best DJ (Foreign) A-Trak
He reckons Malaysia has the most Twitterers evah, we reckon he is one awesome DJ. A World DMC Champ at 15, his Red Sessions presents Infinity + 1 Tour set at Zouk this year fused old school with new school and left no clubber unturned.
Best Band Nao
Nao’s “no nonsense” live shows include political sermons separating them from the fluff of indie bands with nothing to say. Even if you don’t understand Tat’s intense Mandarin rantings, you’d stand in awe of the band’s military precision.
Most Promising New Band Bunkface
From winning ROTTW’s Battle of the Bands to sweeping 8TV’s Shout Awards, pop-punk band Bunkface are as infectious as an STD and just as much for getting it.
Best New Band Khottal
The 10-piece Khottal expand their sound beyond the normal band set-up and include instruments such as accordions, melodeons, glockenspiels, ukuleles, mandolins, recorders and violins. Eccentric and aurally astounding.
Best Spoken Word Album Dizzy & The: Dizzy & The
Experimental emotronic. Dizzy & The put poetry to music to dreamy effect.
Best Hip Hop Album Jin Hackman: Jinius At Work
No one crafts a lyric like Jin. Spitting a crazy mix of English and Malay and a turn of phrase that can crack us up on cue, Jinius At Work sounds like a cross between Eminem and 9th Wonder. This boy got flo, yo! His debut is proof of that.
Best Solo Artist Yuna
Tudung-clad Yuna has a voice that could tame angels. Wowing the indie scene gig by gig, her EP was sold out almost immediately after it was released and it’s already on her 2nd print run. Big!
Best Hip Hop Outfit SSK
SSK are changing the game. The trio first reared their collective heads on Rebel Scum’s ‘Bakdatang’. Their RM Rap Melayu EP is Malay language hip hop at its finest. Er, dapatkan segera?
Best Hip Hop Star Joe Flizzow
They don’t call Joe Flizzow the President for nuthin’.
Best New Solo Artist Arabyrd
Spending much of this year touring Europe and blowing the festival crowds to smithereens with her dancehall-Missy E hybrid of a sound, this ball of fire is kicking our local music scene in a big way. We’re all over her ‘Byrdkick (Stereotyp Remix)’ tight this minute. Blast it!
Hottest Property Kraft
This boy is hood! Host of Think You Got Skillz after winning the first season, 22 year old Kraft has the sights as well as the sound. Easy on the eye and with his first single getting airplay, brands are gonna be all over this boy.
Made Us Proud Zee Avi
The YouTube phenomenon has been touring the States on the back of a record deal with Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records. Single ‘Kantoi’ could put local slang in the vocab of Americans everywhere, she’s already made it onto Peak Practise. Tears to our eyes….
Best Live event (small room) The Bomb Shelter @ Cloth & Clef
Helmed by Rogue Squadron, this monthly is a throwback to old skool hip hop and features killer live sets including a surpise one from Noh of Hujan mid this year. Now that’s flava.
Best Event Series Heineken Green Room
Concerts are fraught with problems. Take the Beyonce gig for example. So who have we been counting on for our live interbational music fix? Filthy Dukes, Verbal of Teriyaki Boys, VHS or Beta, Dexpistols and Van She are just some of the names heading up the Heineken Green Room’s lineup. Applause please.
Best Atmosphere Rainforest World Music Festival 2009
We ain’t just talking about the clean air. With no expectation on the music as the bands are largely unknown, everyone treks here for a good time and they bring it with them to this 3-day jungle party.
Best Live Venue Cloth + Clef
There was no ignoring this joint. If we overheard anyone complaining about the scene and lamenting the same old same old we shoved a Cloth and Clef flyer in their cakehole. The small but fighting driving force ain’t just pushing the music scene their pushing the boundaries.
Best Live Performance Kasabian @ MTV World Stage
Nevermind the rest of it, Kasabian came onstage in a fury of strobe lights and were tight as a in. It’s rare for Malaysia to catch an international band at it’s zenith but with singles like ‘Club Foot’ ‘Fire’, ‘Vlad the Impaler’ and ‘LSF’, singer Tom Meighan and wingman guitarist Sergio Pizzorno et al gave KL one hell of a winning performance.
Most Stylish Clubber Aaron Sh
Aaron’s fierce style is enough to induce whiplash. Tall, lanky and sporting a look that could kill always, he’s slayed many a JUICE party, that we want him as our personal stylist.
Most Stylish DJ DJ Goldfish
Goldlife! Goldfish is like P Diddy and Kanye put together. He’s got his own vid show, runs his own studio and store in Selecta, produces some seriously phat hip hip tracks and is on the decks helming one of Zouk’s most successful nights. The guy is money and he knows it. Lamborghini Gold!
Most Up For It Crowd Annexe
You know you’re in for a real different treat when you’re at Annexe. Constantly pushing the boundaries of music, art, design, culture, its audience is ever ready to embrace.
Most Talked About Event Juice KL Launch @ Bangsar Baru
Bangsar was buzzing when Edison Chen was in town for the launch of Juice’s first store in SEA. People were climbing on cars and hanging off buildings under the blaze of the sunjust to catch a glimpse. We got to meet him in the air-conditioned store. Haha.
Best Arts Event Bangun- Penang Clan Jetties Community Arts Project
An ongoing series of contemporary site-specific art projects focusing on history, heritage, community and culture; poetry, dance, theatre, installation art, shadow puppet making and performance were related to the Clan Jetty communities. Yeah, we can be cultured too when we wanna be….
Best Way To Spend Your Dough Chic Pop
Calling all recessionista sisters, this is the year to budget shop. Chic Pop @ Zouk brought it with its bargain basement fashion finds, food, drink, music, good company and charitable spirit. We’re already saving up for the next one.
Most Thought Provoking Event Seksualiti Merdeka @ Annexe
A 3-day series of forums, workshops, storytelling sessions and film screenings devoted to the theme of sexuality rights in Malaysia. Because freedom should be about so many things….
Best Arts Venue Annexe
Annexe continually mixes it up with an intelligent and entertaining schedule packed with music, art and film from the fringe.
Special Mention Joey G
We met him when he was 19. 10 years later the guy has gone from danceclub cutie to model to VJ to DJ to host and now heads up a music empire in the making in Soundbox. And through it all he’s lost none of his energy or positivity and is about the nicest bloke ever, bar none. We love you Joey!
Best Twitterer @calvinharris
“RICH PEOPLE MEAN F*CK ALL TO ME SERIOUSLY. I’M MAKING MUSIC FOR REAL PEOPLE AND REAL PEOPLE DANCE – RICH PEOPLE STAND AT THE BACK12:45 AM Aug 14th from web”
‘Nuff said.
Best Blog ThirstyBlogger.my
Deepak turns drinking into an occupation. Through the Thirsty Blogger’s ‘Cocktales’, Deep explores all things alcohol from event décor to drunk travels.
Best Alternative Media PopTeeVee
A web TV network by Popfolio, PopTeeVee’s The Fairly Current Show and The Weekend Sessions are our viewing. This is the future of television. Tune into www.popteevee.net.
