January 23, 2006
News | Old School Asian Downloads |
My friend Stuart has been making cool mix tapes for twenty years--I still have cassette productions he made back when "cut and paste" involved scissors and glue. Although we didn't always stay in touch, our tastes seem to have stayed in line and now we're both big into "lost" international pop from the 60s and 70s. Just as in the days of Monster Magnet and Butthole Surfers, Stu is a far more serious collector than I--and still cranking out the killer mixes.
Now you can be on the receiving end, too. His site Radiodiffusion Internasionaal features a weekly mp3 download from his collection. Past countries of origin have included Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia, as well as Africa and South Asia. And if you've got stuff to trade, you may hit the motherlode...
January 12, 2006
Oki | Dub Ainu |Far Side Music | Japan
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A folklore grad student recently hipped me to the following story about the Ainu of Japan, who've been subjected to the same sorts of indignities and injustices as their indigenous counterparts around the world. During the U.S. occupation of Japan, they found a new source of income by putting their woodcarving skills to work, making American Indian-style totem poles and selling them to G.I.s as souvenirs. Although the totem pole had no prior existence in Japan, the Ainu began to take it seriously, incorporating symbols of local spiritual import such as the killer whale. Today the Ainu view the totem pole as an important symbol of their culture and their solidarity with indigenous peoples around the world.
Listening to Dub Ainu, I immediately thought of the totem pole story--this recording brings to mind similar issues. Ainu multi-instrumentalist Oki has apparently resurrected a moribund Ainu music culture by learning to play tonkori (a thin, lute-like instrument) from old recordings and placing the instrument in new instrumental contexts. This album is a remix of previous works by Oki. As with the totem pole, the structure is not native to the Ainu culture. Dub/hip hop production techniques, Casio organ, Okinawan-style vocals, Tuvan throat singing and slinky, melodic bass all find a place on this cool and tastefully executed disc. For some it may beg the question, is this authentic Ainu music?
But here's the point: It's not the role of outsiders to say what is or isn't Ainu. If the Ainu say that totem poles and dub are Ainu culture, then they damn well are. Oki is redefining what it means to be Ainu through organized sound, thus strengthening and revitalizing his culture--it doesn't get more real than that.
January 10, 2006
Elvy Sukaesih | The Dangdut Queen |Rice Records | Indonesia
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Rice Records' new compilation of tracks from the Elvy Sukaesih catalog focuses mainly on the decade between the mid-70s to the mid-80s. It's an era when dangdut had come into its own, commanding polished arrangements and recording quality, and hadn't yet moved into its keyboard workstation/syth-pop phase. For those who learned about dangdut from the Sublime Frequencies Sumatran music volumes, don't expect the down-and-dirty, tranced-out dangdut found there. Elvy Sukaesih's music is clean-as-whistle, infectious Indonesian pop that fuses multiple influences.
In the opener, "Penyanyi Sexy," Elvy plays the classic Bollywood coquette over Farfisa, arpeggiating piano, fake strings, funky bass, suling (Indonesian flute), a Middle-Eastern-sounding lute of some sort and the propulsive gendang percussion that gives dangdut its onomatopoetic name. This diverse lineup remains basically the same throughout the CD, providing lots of interesting arrangement possiblities and a hypnotic showcase for Elvy's appealing voice.
The CD comes with extensive liner notes by Katsunori Tanaka and plenty of glamour shots of the singer. In all, an excellent introduction to the queen of dangdut.
While listening to Rice Records' latest compilation of dangdut queen Elvy Sukaesih, I started doing a little browsing on Indonesia's favorite brand of homegrown pop. Dangdut, an amalgam of Arabic, Indian, Indonesian and contemporary pop influences, is--get this--often compared to salsa! Sometimes I wonder why we bother to attempt writing about music at all. Tell you what, just listen to some dangdut hits to get the idea.
Like any form of pop with staying power, dangdut started in the working class and was bashed, then embraced by the middle class. Like French hip hop, the genre presently is said to reflect the frustrations of male muslim youth--according to Wikipedia, the self-proclaimed king of dangdut, Rhoma Irama, "proclaimed himself as an Antichrist" two Christmases ago. Will it belong before the CIA employs ethnomusicologists? (Nah, way too creative, that.)
But dangdut isn't an inherently political genre--it's Indonesian party music. You can get a peek at the future of the genre in this article on "dangdut trendy"--the type of stuff pumping in the Jakarta club world.
January 05, 2006
Various | Guitars of the Golden Triangle |Sublime Frequencies | Burma
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Here's a disc I let slip by for a few months--ironic since it's one of my favorite 2005 releases. Guitars of the Golden Triangle is another backpack of cassettes from the hinterlands of Southeast Asia, committed to CD as-is by Sublime Frequencies. It's a collection of 70s rock tunes from Burma, now known as Myanmar. For most of us, what we know about this country centers on the heroin trade and Myanmar's oppressive military junta. Listening to this disc will give you a better feel for the Burmese as real people than pulp novels about the CIA or another article about Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
When I dropped Guitars into my computer, my music player happened to arrange the tracks by artist name. This has turned out to be my preferred way of listening to this compilation, as it allows for the distinct styles of the different musicians to really come through.
Saing Saing Maw has the most tracks, all obviously duped from the same totally hammered cassette. I like the patina of grunge on SF tracks--it gives you a sense of where the music's been and how far it's come to find you--though in this case the sonic degradation is pretty severe. Nevertheless, one fact shines through--Saing Saing Maw is fucking great. He writes thoroughly melodic psychedelic pop with inventive musical asides and stronger rhythm players than you find on a lot of old Asian pop. "Lah Ley Cham" has the kind of echoey Asian tremolo picked guitar solo I live for, which crumbles into a perfectly ridiculous non-sequitur jazz drum solo.
Maw's not alone. Lashio Thein Aung has a charming, squeaky-clean Buddy Holly vibe on "You Got What You Got" but moves into a more regional sound for "Don't Say Goodbye." All of his tracks feature excellent tremolo-picked guitar. Khun Paw Yann contributes three perfect psychedelic ballads that sound similar to some of the more haunting tracks from the Thai Beat A Go Go series.
January 02, 2006
Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re | Pregnant Fantasy |Benten | Japan
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Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re is as fun to listen to as their name is to say. Their debut album proves that they are one of the most creative bands on the roster of Japanese girl-band label Benten.
The name is a mere collection of syllables that have an old-fashioned sound in Japanese. This is appropriate since songs on Pregnant Fantasy sometimes start with musical phrases that sound like traditional Japanese folk songs, played almost rudimentarily on electric guitar. Next thing you know, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re is slinking a disco bass/postpunk groove through your earholes or smashing your face with Sabbatical riffs. The throughline is the strong vocals--each member of this trio sings and they are capable of everything from close harmonies to echoing each other's anguished wails.
While not as scary intense as Benten's amazing Kokeshi Doll or as mindblowingly innovative as Yoshimi P-we, they do fearlessly move from menacing noise ("Manhole") to chirpy ska ("Tea Time Ska") in a single bound, incorporating disparate elements such as Parliment-esque background vocals ("Kedama Boogie") and spoken word ("Pregnant Fantasy").
They're already toured the US three times and their sophomore release should be out soon. This is a band to watch in 2006.