The indie sounds of Malaysia
This month’s curated comes courtesy of Fikri Fadzil who runs The-wknd.com, a website dedicated to documenting bands from the South East Asian indie scene. It’s enticingly clean design, effortlessly cool music journalism and slick live session videos can trap you for hours… I’ve already discovered more music from South East Asia in a couple of hours on the site than two years in Hanoi!
Artist: The Impatient Sisters
Track: Comets And Stars (Live on The Wknd Sessions, #40)
Place: Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
A friend of ours first referred us to these 3 sisters, and although the first time we heard them was through their amateur video on YouTube, we immediately got hooked with their harmonizing vocals and songwriting style. After featuring them on our sessions, they went on to play several big music festivals in Malaysia, and have since released their debut album.
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Artist: OJ Law
Track: Introverts
Place: Kuala Lumpur
Over the years, OJ Law has developed his style from straight up guitars power pop to a more elaborate soul / funk infused electronica, and yet he still has his infectious hooks and stabs throughout his songs.
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Artist: Trifecta
Track: Laminar
Place: Kuala Lumpur
This band has recently developed more atmospheric versions of their songs and has included additional live sessionists (brass section, live drums), which brings even more punch to their sound. A nice balance of technicalities, melody, and songwriting.
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Artist: Man Under Zero Effort
Track: Phhbfft
Place: Kuala Lumpur
The band name says it all. Having formed almost a decade ago, this 4-piece instrumental rock group has only released a single. Yet, their arsenal is full of technical and melodic prowess, all of which will see the light of day when they finally release their full length sometime this year.
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Artist: Dirgahayu
Track: Bahawasa-nya
Place: Kuala Lumpur
This is one of the most exciting and proper math rock bands to come out of Kuala Lumpur in a while. Technically proficient, the unit released their first single, ‘Bahawasa-nya’, and has since toured Malaysia and Japan while they’re full-length record is being pressed.
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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.
