That is a terrible hed, I know. It has nothing to do with this post. But I stand by it. I just think its kinda funny. Anyhow, on to the matter at hand: as usual, Molly Lambert at This Recording offers something nifty, in brisk form, with pictures. Catching my eye this early early early Sunday morning is a tribute (I guess you might call it) to obscure musical subcultures in general, and Indo-Rock in specific. The product of momentary colonial synthesis, Indo-Rock was a surprisingly extensive musical scene wherein Dutch-Indonesian emigres combined everything at their disposal -- Portuguese Saudade, Indo-Malay traditions, and, presumably, rock and roll guitar -- to make something totally awesome. Ah but it was short-loved, lasting only to 1965, when Cambodian Rock picked up the slack. I never heard of Indo-Rock before, but I did have a romance with that Cambodian Rock, which I learned about the old-fashioned way: from a friend, on vinyl, before there was internet. Well, there was internet in 1998, but there wasn't so much Cambodian Rock on it then. Molly makes the point that the astute point that internet erases subcultures, replacing them all with one subculture, called the internet. I don't know how I feel about all this. There was something irretrievably satisfying about having a friend in college take you into the garage to show you a record -- one of 2,500 pressed -- with bootleg psychedelic 60s khmer tracks. Or a self-published book autobiography that has sold nine copies but is nevertheless a work of genius. (Especially when read aloud.) But then again, there is something extremely satisfying about reading up on Indo-Rock and five minutes later tracking down extant recordings of live dutch TV broadcasts of the genre's titans (as I have quickly gleaned), the Tielman Brothers, in glorious display:
Comments