Today’s bonus is that not only have I discovered this cool track, but that its also led me to a compilation that looks and sounds rather exciting – though I’ve yet to go through it all!!
Almost a year ago to the day, Soundway Records put out a compilation entitled, Padang Moonrise: The Birth of the Modern Indonesian Recording Industry (1955-69). Tracing the story of modern Indonesian music that emerged from under the volcanos of Java and Sumartra, this record was born from in a place where politics and music merged.
As described on the records Bandcamp page: “Traditional songs from Java, Sumatra, Bali and beyond were re-imagined by a small group of state-sponsored musicians that also composed and arranged new music. These songs aimed at consolidating a geographically disparate country with a new language and new ideas of national character. This compilation brings together a handful of these recordings that combine elements of regional popular music, Islamic Gambus, Javanese & Balinese Gamelan and Kroncong, with jazz, Afro-latin music & instrumentation, and vocal harmonies influenced by banned American doo-wop and rock & roll….
The results are a unique blend of styles that have remained mostly insulated from the world outside of Indonesia until a recent worldwide resurgence in the interest of recorded music of all forms has shone a new light on these nearly forgotten recordings”
I can only commend the labels that search and reissue this (almost) forgotten music, for if it was not for the likes of collections like this, the wonder of this sound would never have made it to the outside world! This is such a lovely record and so far I cannot fault any of the songs I’ve heard – Track 4 is a beauty, so I’ve included that below too!
In fact, I’ve had to paste the whole album below, it’s so good and needs to be shared (from this you can click on the record and purchase too!)
With quite an extensive discography of their own, Orkes Teruna Ria were the band that led me to this Soundway compilation. Tak Ton Tong is instantly likeable (loveable) with its vibrant melody and wholly magical percussive element. A zippy little pace with buoyant vocals to match, this uplifts and makes me smile, I love its sound! I’m not quite sure what year the track was first released, but the band were active from the early 1960’s to 1970 (I believe), so at least we can narrow it down to sometime then! I hope you enjoy and if you like this, PLEASE do listen to the whole comp, it’s one I can recommend!!
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