April 20, 2013
APRIL 20 — I think it's pretty much a given for any Malaysian that whenever we have a friend visiting from another country, the first thing we'd want them to sample is the many wonders of Malaysian food.
If that friend is interested in music, we'd probably point them to acts that we think best represent Malaysia according to their musical tastes.
Since I currently have a friend visiting from Indonesia who's interested in independent music, it got me thinking — which local independent albums would I recommend?
By now I think everyone knows who Hujan, Yuna or Bunkface are already. Any Tom, Dick and Harry would've recommended them, which then led me to come up with this list of recent but slightly off-the-(mainstream) radar local independent releases.
My only criterion is that the album has to be independently produced, lacks the proper or usual distribution channels, and of course it has to be good.
Furniture — They Made Me Out Of Dreams You've Forgotten
Out of all the quite recently released local indie albums, this second album by Furniture is my personal pick for the best of them all.
An album full of songs that average at least around five minutes per song is not what you'd normally call a "commercial" album, but if you actually listened to this, you'll be astonished by how melodic all of them are.
Brilliantly merging their start as a post-rock band with their latter tendencies towards indie pop songwriting (and calling their music "snap crackle pop"), the first single False Start, at 7:25 minutes long, exemplifies everything you need to know about the current (and brilliant) incarnation of Furniture.
Criminally overlooked when it was released in 2011, this wonderful album deserves to be heard more.
The Garrison — Subversion
Another 2011 release, this brilliant debut album practically got lost in the shuffle by virtue of it being made by a bunch of kids (and released by a label) from the local DIY punk scene.
A truly world-class punk rock album which will make fans of The Clash jump with joy. Despite more or less being ignored at home, this little 14-song CD has managed to win rave reviews in the international DIY punk scene, including the notoriously hard to please Maximum Rock N Roll fanzine which gave it a glowing review.
If you have any love for 70s punk bands like Stiff Little Fingers, Buzzcocks and The Rich Kids, you'll find it unreal how great and authentic the songs in this album are.
Plague Of Happiness — Kawan
It might be a little bit of a stretch to call Plague Of Happiness underrated or overlooked if you consider the frenzied reaction that they never fail to inspire at each of their "live" shows and their reputation as Malaysia's premier ska punk band, but despite having an undoubtedly large cult following, not many people outside the local independent scene have heard of them.
And this despite the fact that they released a well-recorded and well-produced album chock full of gloriously catchy Malay tunes almost six years ago. In a better world, songs like Malam and Konspirasi would've been automatic radio hits.
OJ Law — Yesterday Is A Distant Dream
OJ Law took the Malaysian hipster/alternative media by storm in 2011 and 2012 with this self-recorded album, which was full of potential radio hits like first single Rooftop, his already quite heavily rotated (on the now defunct XFM) duet with Liyana Fizi Fantastic Adventure and my personal favourite (and his usual gig opener) Lovers' Tiff.
While the singles may be very Weezer-inspired, the rest of the album is a wonderfully confident blend of indie pop and disco (a la Tahiti 80), which may be why it hasn't caught on with the listening masses the way it should have.
But judging by how steadily poppier his albums have grown with each release, maybe the next one will finally break him big?
Pop Shuvit — Amped & Dangerous
If calling Plague Of Happiness underrated or overlooked is a bit of a stretch, then how to justify calling a Pop Shuvit album one? Out of all the big names in the independent music scene, it's quite a common consensus that Pop Shuvit is probably one of those with the least street-cred among them by virtue of the genre they chose to play — rap rock.
But like I wrote earlier, my criteria is simple, and this album fulfils all of them — it's independently produced, self distributed, and it's bloody damn good.
Link-in Park and Limp Bizkit may be embarrassingly lame in the rap rock stakes, but in choosing to go with Rage Against The Machine in this album, Pop Shuvit has made an absolute winner of an album. With this one, they've let the music do the talking.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
The Malaysian Insider :: Food
PETALING JAYA, April 13 ― The Gyuniku Tataki Ponzu was perfect; lightly grilled rare beef slices resting on a bed of arugula and thinly sliced garlic and onions served with a ponzu sauce.It was a long ... Read More 
MANAMA, April 20 — Lewis Hamilton's hopes of a second successive pole position disappeared on Saturday when he was handed a five-place penalty on the Bahrain Grand Prix starting grid for an unscheduled gearbox change. 
KUALA LUMPUR, 20 April — Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) telah mengesahkan ada pertandingan di semua 222 kerusi Parlimen dan 505 kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) pada hari pengundian 5 Mei ini. 
Ong berkata Tan berbuat demikian atas pilihannya sendiri dan beliau tidak boleh menghalangnya.