NOISE ORDINANCE - WEEK 2
japanese shoegaze, khmer twists on reggae, nepali 90s pop, mambo, and more.
monday-
so savouen - សុខចិត្តនៅសៅកែ
the psychedelic aliens - blofonyobi wo atale
javad maroufi - jila
ali samadpour - the original past memories 2
aishah - menanti
leslie cheung - 想你
tuesday-
puleflor - 余熱
moon in june - eurasia dead spark
polly - 花束
elsie sue - she left
andi meriem mattalatta - langkah kemuka
asha bhosle, r.d. burman - ekta deshlai kathi jwalao
wednesday-
xavier cugat - maria elena
harari - set me free
stimela - come to me (zwakala)
the boogie man, sipho gumede - jika jika
the jones girls - i’m at your mercy
yurie kokubu - スノッブな夜へ
mukhtar ramadan idii - baayo (hey woman)
thursday-
1983 - into the gold (part 2)
sunny day service - baby blue
ワールド・スタンダード - glow worms
taiko super kicks - たましい
friday-
jake hottell - horizon
electribe 101 - talking with myself
nazia hassan - boom boom
เพชร โอสถานุเคราะห์ - เพียงชายคนนี้ (ไม่ใช่ผู้วิเศษ)
ประวิตร , เพ็ญโพยม, รวมศิลปิน (รวมดาว) - วิมานรัก ห้วยแก้ว
saturday-
roedelius - wenn der südwind weht
the fifth avenue band - in hollywood
sadhana sargam - sapanabhai aankhama
ngoc lan - xin thời gian ngừng trôi
kieu nga - giang ngoc
sunday-
evinha - teto de louca
the rising storm - frozen laughter
helene smith - sure thing
jody reynolds - fire of love
recap -
welcome to week 2! this week was a little more cohesive and stuck to some central themes- japanese shoegaze, 80s ballads, mellow folk, some soul, a little disco, a little miscellaneous. there were some good finds, some songs that i’ve been playing on repeat to an insufferable level, some bands that i’ve now become obsessed with, some new-to-me finds from artists i already knew. let’s go.
monday started out strong. anyone who has known me longer than 30 seconds will attest that my heart belongs to cambodian music from the 60s and 70s. i heard “cambodian rocks,” a compilation of tapes from this era, when i was fifteen. it changed something in me permanently.
while it would be remiss to discuss this music without mentioning the horrific genocide that claimed the lives of most artists of that era, i find that many westerners approach this music through the lens of “tragedy porn” only, without appreciating or recognizing its artistry. 60s/70s cambodian music was host to many incomparably talented and creative musicians, blending styles from sarawan and historical khmer vocal performance with afro-cuban beats, jazz, western psych rock, and soul. singers like huoy meas, pen ran, ros serey sothea, mao sareth are some of the most impressive vocalists i’ve ever heard, with operatic soprano registers that could bring even the most hardened, difficult to please motherfuckers alive to tears.
so savouen is no different. “សុខចិត្តនៅសៅកែ,” “willing to stay,” is a uniquely khmer fusion of sarawan vocals, modern and classical elements. savouen’s voice accompanies bright brass and harmonized backing to create a sound that is truly hypnotic, aided by an infectious drum beat that grabs you and wills you to sway along. so, let’s talk about the beat.
it’s reminiscent of caribbean debow, the key drumbeat of reggaeton and dub, “a 3+3+2 cross-rhythm that places a slight syncopation on every other half-beat”, hailing historically from africa, specifically gahu in ghana and makinu in congo, where it has been a staple for centuries. it was brought to latin america through enslaved people, where it became a feature of afro-caribbean music, eventually spreading throughout the world with the popularity of specifically afro-cuban music.
in “don’t think i’ve forgotten,” a documentary about the cambodian music scene of the 60s and 70s, this influence is highlighted- afro-caribbean music was imported to cambodia by way of cuba in the 50s and 60s, and the spark caught on. you can hear it in many other songs from the era, especially the dancey, reggae-influenced “give me one kiss” by dara chom chan and ros serey sothea. the result is like nothing else you’ve heard.
monday showed me several songs that have kept me in a chokehold. more on that later. another was leslie cheung’s “想你”, “miss you.” i’ve been a fan of leslie cheung for years, having first been introduced to him through his work with wong kar wai, but with a discography as massive as his, there is still a lot i’ve yet to hear. “想你” is a quintessential 80s cantopop ballad, with dreamy synths, punchy, reverb-y drum machine beats, a saxophone solo, and leslie’s voice holding the center steady while the instrumentation seems to float around him. it’s everything i love about cantopop, about leslie cheung.
tuesday was one of two days this week that was almost exclusively dedicated to japanese shoegaze. i’ll establish this now- japan has cornered the market on shoegaze. the best shoegaze bands of the last twenty years, since the original inception of the genre in the 80s, have come out of japan. this week is full of several of them. for me, there’s no competition. shoegaze has been a favorite genre of mine for over a decade, and as much as i love the bands of the original movement, no one is doing modern shoegaze like japan. there are hundreds of bands producing the best of the genre- atmospheric, melancholic, euphoric, dancey, mellow, understated. if you’re looking for a specific vibe from a shoegaze band, you’ll find it in japan, and they’ll be doing it better than you’ve ever heard it.
wednesday… okay. i’ll confess this. knowing all that i know about music, being the person i am… i had never heard xavier cugat’s “maria elena.” not outside of the clip used in wong kar wai’s days of being wild, in which leslie cheung’s character dances to this song around his apartment. it’s a perfect encapsulation of the mambo genre, bright and bold, impossible to sit still while listening to it, with a xylophone solo that’s guaranteed to make you scrunch your face up like you’ve just bitten into a lemon because goddamn, that’s good. interestingly, the original version of “maria elena” is credited to hermanos castillas, from 1934, and it bears virtually no resemblance. give it a listen.
i love disco. i am also incredibly picky about disco. and i will swear before all of you that you are being robbed of the best disco by sticking within the confines of what’s american. harari’s “set me free” is a great example of this. punchy synth basslines, vocal tracks that are almost like gospel. it demands to be danced to.
the later days of the week saw more japanese shoegaze, some dreamy 80s thai ballads. many thai songs of that era lean into an echoing vocal reverb that give them a nostalgic, expansive quality. i fell in love with this genre of music from hearing it played in grocery stores, over old crackly PA systems. it’s almost liminal in nature, far away and familiar at the same time.
jake hottell’s “horizon,” from friday, is a stripped down, minimalist spoken word, guitar, and synth track that calls to mind early moog electronic musicians like mort garson and the space lady. it’s a genre that i love for its kind of inherent freakiness. roedelius’s “wenn der südwind weht” is everything i love about late 70s ambient electronic music. sweeping synths that are still a little orchestral over a simple, placid beat. if you like early brian eno, you’ll like this.
20th century vietnamese music can do no wrong. from the sharp, distorted fuzz of the 60s and 70s to the sparkly synths of the 80s and 90s, to early jazz, all of it is pure gold. there are several good compilations (individual links) to introduce you if you’ve never heard it. to say that i strongly recommend it is an understatement. it’s more accurate to say that if a robber broke into my house, i would hold them up and force them to listen.
my favorites from this week -
aishah - menanti
i am sorry for the person i’ve become since hearing aishah’s “menanti.” which is to say, i have basically listened to nothing else. i’ve played this song probably a minimum of 20 times a day, every day since i first heard it on monday. you could create a montage of my week to this song alone, because it’s been on a near constant loop.
this is 90s malay pop at its absolute best. it has the same kind of joyful, atmospheric quality of songs like the cranberries’ “dreams,” the kind of song that makes you want to spin around in the middle of the street with your arms held out, smiling from ear to ear. it has a euphoric nostalgia that feels like a moment that you know will become one of your most treasured memories later. you’re looking around and thinking, “this is exactly how i want to remember it, just like this.” it’s the kind of song that becomes affectionately referred to as “The Song,” the kind that once you hear that first synth line you break into a smile because it conjures a beautiful memory, a beautiful moment, a time of complete bliss. hearing it is a blessing- every time feels like the first time all over again. it pulls you in and won’t let go. it demands that you give in to joy.
puleflor - 余熱
this was my first time hearing puleflor, and they’ve already become one of my favorite japanese bands. their sound is slow and melancholic, but with an undercurrent of optimism in shimmering guitar melodies and vocalist akane’s soft, floating voice.
on “余熱” “residual heat”, wavy, reverb-y rhythm guitar accompanies sparkling, glittery lead guitar that begins soft and slow but builds over the course of the song, finding its way into your chest and swelling until the moment of breaking, at the very end of the song. it leaves you wanting more, rushing to repeat it, not wanting it to be over.
currently, they’ve released one EP, “timeless,” and the singles “余熱” and “fragment.” i’ve listened to it all insatiably- their music is an experience that you never want to end, and it’s almost agonizing that currently their available discography only consists of about 30 minutes. other songs of theirs experiment with guitar tones ranging from twinkly to distorted, to a roland jazz chorus kind of tone on “blue”, a swirling torrent of a song that feels like being caught in a rainstorm.
puleflor is one to watch. and only judging from what i’ve heard thus far, i’d follow them anywhere.