The following five tracks and artists are inspired by the Year of the Goat and the taste for art, beauty and creativity connected with this sign and the year ahead.
Words by Eliza Lomas
Artist: Rai Ko Ris
Track: Samaaj Ko Keti Samaaj Kaidi
Place: Nepal
Goats inhabit mountains, so what better place to start the list than a band from the epic Himalayas of Nepal? Rai Ko Ris are a DIY anarcho-feminist full-time parent band from Katmandu, whose punk music created a revolutionary soundtrack during the bloody civil war of 96-’06.
●●
Artist: One Man NationTrack: Petites Planetes, Volume 20
Place: Singapore
People who are born in the year of the goat have a good sense of their own power of creativity. I believe one person who really captures this essence is One Man Nation from Singapore – a transgender experimental musician whose identity and work defies boundaries and borders, and is full of creative submersion and upheaval.
●●
Artist: Nipples
Track: 明亮的心情 (Bright Mood)
Place: Taiwan
Taiwan has an interesting undercurrent of indie post-rock bands, mostly circling around the White Rabbit independent label (which is also a niche record shop in Taipei). Goats are associated with true art and beauty that takes risks, and this scene epitomises it, standing apart from the sea of supermarket pop in Taiwan. Also check out: The Peppermints, Aphasia, Bad Daughter.
●●
Artist: SharkmoveTrack: Evil War
Place: Indonesia
I’m really into this band. Indonesia has a fascinating heritage of psych-rock, and if we interpret the year of the Goat as having an eye for fashion, then glossing through photos of bands from this era will be a field day for fashionistas.
●●
Artist: Dengue Fever
Track: Tiger Phone Card
Place: U.S. and Cambodia
For a contemporary pop pick, I’ve chosen Dengue Fever, a thrilling band who combine influences of 60s Cambodian pop with modern U.S. psychedelic rock. Through their covers of famous Cambodian rock tunes, they have breathed new life into this music and shed light on the strength of Cambodia’s musical past.
●●
Artist: Farosty
Track: Bakra Bhangra
Place: India
Whilst I was researching tracks to include in this curated list, I came across this utter gem of a hip-hop track. This is what you get when you think about Goats in songs, literally…
●●
CAMA’s Eliza Lomas is on a mission to find a huge array of great Asian music, digging through different times, countries and genres, with a regular monthly selection.
