YOU FIGURE IT OUT

You can't just stand there and look at a link to a song by a band called Shark Move, titled "Evil War", and do nothing. You bite or move on, Then you find out it's Indonesian psych-prog whatever, Now, that sounds like it just could be the right type of fucked up. It is. It has elements that I love, and some I hate. On top of each other. There are parts that are just mind numbingly repetitive, Then it'll go into a this pretty part and you'll be all "aw c'mon guys, don't do that to me". Then they throw in a few solos. Before you know it you're in the middle of second string Emerson, Lake and Palmer type organ jam, With a buzz saw fuzz guitar. I know, and yes. It is that kind of fucked up.

The other band down there, Haa! is just as all over the place. Their song sounds like it was conceived after a lengthy band meeting, going back and forth about whether to go the trippy Beatles route, or Led Zeppelin. They just threw their hands up and said, "let;s do both". They did their damnedest, I'm sure.

Both of these should be heard in their entirety. You'll hear parts you like and some you hate. They keep changing, like movements. Maybe that's what prog or psych is supposed to do. Whatever, these nuts keep it interesting.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Shark Move - Evil War mp3 at Now Again
Haa! - Panber mp3 at Clumsy and Shy

UCOK MIGHT HAVE A SCREW LOOSE

I don't really know how to describe AKA, not that it matters. They appear on compilations and psych sites described as prog-psych-funk, or something along those lines. Although I'm not sure that's entirely accurate, it's a little more compact than an Indonesian band who listened to period hard rock and funk and tried their damnedest to come up with their own sound. The Jakarta Post, (hosts of the only bio in English to be found online), cites Steppenwolf, Grand Funk Railroad, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream and Three Dog Night as their influences. (Three Dog Night? Oh yeah, it's Indonesia.). There are a few things that I can discern without reading anything. Their foreign, they're a little out there, and they do seem to have put some effort into their..whatever it is they were trying to do. I do like the lead singer, one Ucok Harahap. He seems like the token nut of the band. All four songs below are mix worthy if you're the type that likes to spice things up with Indonesian oddballs. The first two are the funkiest, the other two are the hard rock portion of the show.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

AKA - Shake Me mp3 at 8106

AKA - Crazy Joe mp3 at 8106
AKA - Do What You Like mp3 at 8106
AKA - Skip Away mp3 at 8106
Visit:
Overdue recognition for AKA at Jakarta Post 

MIX MEAT FROM THE EAST

Holy hell, sometimes it starts with just one click. I did not expect to spend half of my evening digging on hopped up sixties tunes from China and Jakarta. It began at Bodega Pop's China A Go Go post, which sucked me right in with the title alone. They had a link to a mix, and three test-run songs streaming. The one that caught my eye was a cover of "Shakin' All Over," by Nancy Sit. C'mon, a cover of that song, by someone with that name, released in China in the sixties? Who wouldn't bite? I dug it enough to post, so I went in search of a photo of the swingin' Ms Sit. I ended up at Garage Hangover, who had a whole post with nine songs of hers, including covers of "Hanky Panky," "Love Potion No. 9," "Hippy Hippy Shake," "Hang On Sloopy," "Wooly Bully," and "I'm a Believer." You'll have to go there to get them (they disable direct linking to mp3s), but it's worth the ride. But that's not even the good part.

When I got to the end of that post, there were links to two other posts by the same guest author. I was ready to call it a night, but figured what the hell. So, I clicked, and was off to Jakarta, to dig on the crazy sounds of Koes Bersaudara (pictured at the top of the post). One song in particular wound me up so much, that I postponed posting it to let it digest, to see if it might be my mood that made it so interesting. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Now, I don't know your taste, but if you know me, or are at all familiar with what kind of oddball records wind my watch, I implore you to go to the post, and take a listen to "Poor Clown" by Koes Bersaudara. While the singer ain't no Gerry Roslie, he's definitely got some sort of Indonesian gravel in his throat. While you're at it, listen to the other cuts, and most definitely read the text. Among other things, you'll learn that the band was locked up for three months for playing "I Saw Her Standing There."

I think I've finally distilled what it is that I get from this sort of music. I'm not going to lie to you. I know that there isn't anything here that, at the end of the day, is earth shattering. I like it because it's challenging. Not in an egghead sort of way, but in a "What the hell is going on here? Let's check this out." sort of way. Enough jibba jabba. There's two more you should check out below, posts on other Indonesian artists, Dara Puspita and Pattie Bersaudara.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Koes Bersaudara - Poor Clown (streaming) at YouTube
Koes Bersaudara - Six songs at Garage Hangover Go there to get them. They have direct linking to mp3s disabled. The same goes for the other Garage Hangover links below. It's worth it.
Nancy Sit - Shakin' All Over mp3 (via DivShare) at Bodega Pop Plus two other songs
Nancy Sit - Nine songs at Garage Hangover
Pattie Bersaudara - Three songs at Garage Hangover
Dara Puspita - Four Songs at Garage Hangover
The mix:
China A Go Go at Bodega Pop