Playlist

MUSIC

Take Me Apart

Since her outlandish 2013 Cut 4 Me mixtape, US singer Kelela has been discussed in the same breath as musicians like Solange Knowles and Frank Ocean, especially when it comes to smartly confessional, experimental electronic soul.

Without relying on conventional rhythm, melody, meter or structure, Kelela became a sensation of next-level genre-babbling, a vibe she doubles down on, hard, for her full-album debut, Take Me Apart. With her brawny vocals and an oddly phrased and hungry take on breakups, makeups, and forthcoming romance, Kelela is ready to take no prisoners.

Still, it is Turn to Dust that is most stirring in that it toys with soul's age-old conventions while imagining love's hole-in-the-heart distance in language that's crisp, frank, and emotive. That's a tradition worth keeping and twisting, and Kelela does so brilliantly.

BOOK

David Bowie

[Photo provided to China Daily]

British award-winning music icon David Bowie, who passed away in early 2016, led one of the most memorable and legendary lives imaginable.

Covering among other things such as his London roots, the creation of Ziggy Stardust, his relationship with his family and his marriage to Iman, this book offers readers a view into the real life of David Bowie.

Drawing from hundreds of interviews with friends, lovers, family and rivals, this biography promises to be the most intimate yet. It's "a must-read, incredibly diverse and detailed oral history of the rock god's entire existence. From the cradle to the grave. Best. Bowie book. Ever," says US writer Denis Leary.