A topnotch new music by sludge sonic architects named Gergasi Api. Majestic, magnificent, and atmospherically gothgeous post-rock. An abrasive wall of sound juggernaut conducted by a petite, beautiful black-dressed lady from Batcave’s early days. Or picture this: Siouxsie Sioux sharing a bottle of Islay whisky with a doomgaze scientist named E.
21 years ago today, Ian Robins Dury, best known as the leader of Ian Dury and the Blockheads, died after a long battle with cancer at age 58.
Fenomena campur sari indie x Top 40 sedang riuh terjadi di Bali belakangan ini. Walau sejatinya sudah ada sejak cukup lama, jajaran pegiat indie mulai dari Zat Kimia, Aray Daulay (alM.), hingga bahkan Navicula, pernah cukup aktif “ngamen” di bar-bar di Bali selatan. Namun “serbuan” para aktivis indie di masa pagebluk ini mengalami peningkatan signifikan. Musisi seperti Manja, Modjorido, Soulfood, Truedy, dsb. silih berganti meramaikan panggung-panggung pertunjukan bar dan restoran di Canggu, Seminyak, Nusa Dua, sampai Uluwatu. Bergantian dengan paguyuban dendang Top 40 veteran seperti, sebut saja misalnya, Ika & the Soul Brothers serta Djampiro. Apakah merupakan aksi terlarang ketika sebuah band indie menyanyikan lagu orang lain? Bisakah dikategorikan dalam perbuatan tidak menyenangkan kala sekelompok grup musik yang mengaku indie namun faktanya kerap tampil menyanyikan tembang-tembang populer/Top 40?
If Bertrand Belin is the French Nick Cave, well, then, Leonardo Ringo is the Indonesian Bertrand Belin. And if you’re big into Waits and Cohen, too, you’ll enjoy this beautiful melancholia.
Viva Hate, the debut solo album by Morrissey, turned 33 today!
Barangkali mengejutkan, tembang power pop “Dunia Belum Berakhir” oleh Shaden yang dirilis di tahun 2000 ini oh-ternyata punya peran lumayan signifikan di skena punk rock Bali Selatan, utamanya Twice Tape Shop (jalan raya Legian). Anak skena macam Superman Is Dead, Jihad (sebelum berubah nama ke The Dji Hard), Emocore Revolver, Commercial Suicide, dsb, mereka adalah saksi kunci.
Forty years ago today, Kim Carnes’ version of “Bette Davis Eyes” won the Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. It also spent nine non-consecutive weeks on top of the US Billboard Hot 100 and became Billboard’s biggest hit of 1981.
Lima paguyuban dendang paling bersinar di Bali saat sekarang. Selain tangguh-tawakal, genre puspawarna, mereka juga mencengangkan secara musikal.
56 years ago today, Malcolm X is assassinated by rival Black Muslims while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity in Washington Heights.
136 years ago today, Mark Twain publishes his famous—and famously controversial—novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (US version).
The oaken baritone singer of The National, one of my most admired singers from this era, a Cary Grant interpretation of Leonard Cohen, the Neil Diamond of indie rock, hit the big 5-0 today.
