Mainstream languishes, indie gets stronger<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
At the outset, 2005 showed little promise for music fans who
\nwere hoping for new sounds and exciting gigs.<\/p>\n
They year started with a three-date benefit concert from
\nScandinavian soft-rock has-beens Michael Learns to Rock -- a
\nfitting omen for worse things to come, namely the release of a
\nself-titled album by the Surabaya, East Java-based pop-rock band,
\nPadi.<\/p>\n
Space in this article is too precious to be reserved for any
\nlengthy comments about Michael Learns To Rock's concert, suffice
\nit to say that the group have never grown up musically -- their
\noutput is, in a word, musak.<\/p>\n
As for Padi, although they had already shipped 300,000 units
\nbefore the official release date, the new self-titled album
\nmarked an artistic impasse in the band's professional career.<\/p>\n
So desperate were Padi for new inspiration that they looked
\nfor help from such old hands as classically-trained violinist
\nIdris Sardi, jazz pianist Bubi Chen and prog-rock veteran
\nkeyboardist Abadi Soesman.<\/p>\n
Despite that help, Padi's fourth album in six years failed to
\nrepeat the success of their previous outing.<\/p>\n
The only single from the album that got decent radio airplay
\nwas Menanti Sebuah Jawaban (Waiting For An Answer), a song on the
\nsoundtrack of the god-awful flick Ungu Violet.<\/p>\n
Other songs in the album failed to chart.<\/p>\n
Twilight of old idols<\/p>\n
A similar predicament has befallen other veteran rock outfits.<\/p>\n
Gigi -- the brainchild of guitarist Dewa Budjana and vocalist
\nArmand Maulana -- has in past years been pushed to the sidelines
\nof pop and in 2005 the group dropped to new depths.<\/p>\n
Seemingly acknowledging their waning popularity in the rock
\nscene, the band released a religious album that glossed up
\ntraditional songs such as Perdamaian (Peace), once sung by
\nIslamic-oriented female group Nasida Ria.<\/p>\n
In a series of concerts billed and hyped as the "U.S. East
\nCoast Tour", Gigi's gigs were actually to small crowds of
\nIndonesian college students enrolled at American universities.<\/p>\n
Later, in what seemed to be a desperate effort to recoup past
\nglories, the band even spun a tale about their own dismemberment.<\/p>\n
A publicist for the band in late May said Gigi was on the
\nverge of a break-up following the decision of Armand to leave for
\nthe U.S. to join a talent show Rockstar: INXS.<\/p>\n
Fans bought the news and flocked to a concert billed as Gigi's
\nlast show at the Hard Rock Cafe. But after vee-jaying for the
\nlocal TV station that aired the talent show -- instead of
\nactually joining the contest -- Armand went back to his pals
\nafter all. None of the fans seemed to mind.<\/p>\n
Sheila On Seven, once a phenomenal force from Yogyakarta who
\nhave sold million records, are almost unheard of now, out touring
\nthe country's remote regions.<\/p>\n
These once-popular bands have had to step aside to make room
\nfor Peterpan, a Bandung-based powerhouse who have cast their
\nspell on millions of fans with their bubble-gum rock tunes.<\/p>\n
With Eddie Vedder-style husky vocals and Stone Roses-meets-
\nPearl Jam melodies, Peterpan carried on with their successes this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Their second album, Bintang di Surga (Stars in Heaven), sold
\nmore than two million copies -- far more than the combined total
\nof Padi and Gigi's recent releases -- and came off the back of
\nthe one million records sold of first album Taman Langit (Sky
\nGarden).<\/p>\n
Cashing on the mass appeal of Peterpan, the band label Musica
\nStudios recently released an EP soundtrack to teen flick
\nAlexandria that contains old material from the band touched up
\nwith the maximum studio wizardry.<\/p>\n
The band broke another record by shifting 500,000 units in the
\nfirst week of Alexandria's release.<\/p>\n
But beyond these commercial successes, there was nothing to
\ncelebrate for fans until a "Big Bang" occurred midway through the
\nyear, punching a big hole in the country's musical consciousness.<\/p>\n
This very positive explosion did not come from the majors but
\nfrom the fringe -- a slew of free-thinking musicians who inhabit
\nthe capital's incestuous indie music scene.<\/p>\n
Since the early 1990s these musicians have performed, made
\ndemos and recorded songs with an earnest do-it-yourself attitude
\n-- but until this year they never had a vehicle to push them to a
\nwider audience.<\/p>\n
Their luck changed with the release of JKT:SKRG by indie label
\nAksara Records -- the country's equivalent of American indie
\npowerhouse Matador records -- a compilation album that set the
\npace for the local indie scene.<\/p>\n
A bigger break came with the soundtrack to the film Janji
\nJoni, an even more polished compilation of indie bands and one of
\nthe best local soundtracks ever to accompany an Indonesian film.<\/p>\n
Then bands such as the Adams, Goodnight Electric, the
\nUpstairs, Sajama Cut and the White Shoes and the Couples Company
\ntook turns to release their albums.<\/p>\n
Rise of Cerebral Rock<\/p>\n
Mostly the brainchild of musically-literate and sometimes
\noverseas-educated musicians, these bands produced some stunningly
\noriginal material.<\/p>\n
Band members of the White Shoes and the Couples Company are
\ngraduates from the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ).<\/p>\n
Some members of Sore were educated in the U.S. and the group
\nsampled Eric Satie's Gymnopedie I for their debut album
\nCentralismo.<\/p>\n
Marcel Thee, lead singer for the Sajama Cut is also the editor
\nfor Deathrockstar.com an online magazine that models itself on
\nPitchforkmedia.com, a left-field music webzine.<\/p>\n
Breaths of fresh air in the record-sale-worshiping, dumbed-
\ndown local music scene, these bands are also getting
\ninternational recognition.<\/p>\n
Centralismo, for instance, was voted as one of five must-buy
\nalbums in Asia by Time magazine.<\/p>\n
This debut has the brilliance of the Beach Boys' baroque pop
\ninclinations and the rich sonic pallette of the Beatles'
\npsychedelic pop.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, garage rock trailblazers the Brandals are billed to
\nperform in Singapore, while Mocca is the one of the first indie
\nbands to achieve commercial success overseas, headlining a
\nJapanese rock festival in November.<\/p>\n
Another noteworthy phenomenon is the perseverance with which
\nprog-rock outfit Discuss stand their ground.<\/p>\n
Little noticed in their home country, the band have traveled
\nabroad and won a cult following overseas.<\/p>\n
They have played ProgDay in the U.S., the Baja Progressive
\nRock Festival and recently wrapped up a European tour.<\/p>\n
But while critics and foreign audiences are impressed with
\nthis slew of new talent, the same cannot be said for many local
\nradio stations.<\/p>\n
Although some indie songs have made it onto station
\nprogrammers' playlists, most of these bands get little airplay
\nand can only dream of equaling Peterpan's record-selling
\nsuccesses.<\/p>\n
But while their innovative music will likely remain on the
\nfringes, perhaps that is as it should be -- their indie output
\nprovides a fresh alternative to the less-than-interesting
\nmainstream.<\/p>",
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