Still with us? Excellent. I’m writing this on our balcony in Bali. Gosh it’s so hot here! Thankfully our room has air con, but you have to venture outside rather than stay cool all day. Doubtless later Emma will want to catch some on beach tanning action, whilst I sit in the shade supping a Bintang lager. It’s a hard life Eh?
Anyhow, back in Melaka, we decided to visit the Maritime Museum, which prompted a wry smile from me, as years ago I went on a predictably hedonistic weekend holiday to Amsterdam with friends, one of whom told his girlfriend he was “going to the Maritime Museum” on each occasion that he popped off to illicit the services of a prostitute!
It actually became a bit embarrassing for the rest of us, as we knew what he was up to, especially when he was up to his third visit to the ‘Maritime Museum’, and his long suffering girlfriend was still in the dark as to what was going on. But I digress, Melaka genuinely has a Maritime Museum, housed in a replica boat:-
A collection of coins used by mariners, we loved the crocodile ones.
Trent surveys a British Frigate
Next up, we visited the Customs and Excise Museum, which I thought was great! The museum contains a variety of smuggling devices and contraband confiscated by the Malaysian authorities over the years – everything from pornography, opium paraphernalia, alcohol and animal skins.
This was the skin of a Clouded Leopard. Coincidentally, that morning, we had read they had been declared extinct!
Bizarrely, there was also exhibited confiscated Islamic items, specifically daggers and swords with extracts from the Koran printed on them, which one suspects may have been viewed as promoting religious hatred/conflict. However, we were unsure why clothes with verses from the Koran depicted on them had been seized? Perhaps to do so was viewed as blasphemy? Maybe some of our Muslim readers can cast some light on this for us?
Something in the Museum which amused us was the confiscated items which were viewed as pornographic, as none of the items displayed were that raunchy, and in fact, appeared quite tame in comparison with some of the stuff that you routinely see for sale in the west. I suppose all of these things are relative to the standards of the day, culturally and morally.
All the naughty bits had been covered up!
Incidentally, although Malaysia is a Muslim country, and of course the call to prayer echoes across the land from the vast array of Mosques all around, overall it is quite a liberal place. Indeed, Islam as a state religion is more akin to Christianity being the state religion in Europe.
Doubtless fundamentalists and hardliners exist as they do within every belief system, but day to day people are easy going, and certainly there is no need to be concerned with offending peoples religious sensitivities, provided you pay the appropriate levels of respect, and live in accordance with their beliefs.
None the less, a conversation with John 2 revealed that as far as western music and films are concerned, until very recently movies were heavily censored in Malaysia, to the extent that many young people would simply buy bootlegged movies from the Chinese community, and watch them at home on DVD, rather than go to the cinema.
Similarly, western music acts rarely get to perform in Malaysia, with the exception of staple bubblegum pop artists, such as Justin Bieber! John 2 was able to recall Metallica performing a concert, but said that was a real coup, and unusual in the extreme. Indeed, he explained that if a western band were to play, they would be tagged on the back of a major sporting event, such as the Grand Prix, when many foreign tourists were visiting the country.
Meeting the two Johns was great, as they gave us insight to Malaysia which we would have otherwise missed, but they both had comparable music and movie interests to our own. None the less, John 1 used to make John 2 and I feel old sometimes, as his perception of the chronology of music was slightly different to ours!
John 1 would mention acts like Rancid or the Beastie Boys and describe them as “old school”.
Old school?! I might be showing my age, but it feels like those bands were only releasing records last week!
It’s a bit like Emma’s friend Nigel dismissing anything beyond ‘2nd Gen Punk’, post 1980.
With the advent of Taqwacore punk and such like, God alone knows what generation of punk we’re up to now.
53,000th most likely – LoL!!
Trent X/*
Lows, heights and mosquito bites! 
“Nigel dismissing anything beyond ’2nd Gen Punk’, post 1980.”
I think I have been misrepresented, as you are well aware I am an inveterate “I was there” punk rock snob of the first water – therefore please amend the above to read” anything beyond first generation punk”.
It was all over bar the plagiarism by 1978!
see here for list of bands formed after then: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_punk_rock
The great irony of punk rock is that the further it moves away from the white hot crucible of its creation the less cool it becomes… and by 1985 (according to the interweb when 2nd gen started) a chill wind was blowing through the multi coloured mohicans all across the teenage wasteland of punk rock…
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Second%20Wave%20Punk
“I found that essence rare, it’s what I looked for
I knew I’d get what I asked for
I found that essence rare, it’s what I looked for
I knew I’d get what I asked for”
Mmmmmm, you seem to be showing your age here, old man.
There have been a billion awesome fantastic punk bands beyond the post punk new wave bands to which you refer, many of which I like, to be fair.
That said, the eighties were a desolate time for punk, save for what was going on in America, with acts such as the Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, Black Flag, Bad Brains etc etc.
As far as I was concerned, the UK pretty much had the likes of the Subhumans and old stalwarts like the UK Subs, and to a lesser extent, The Exploited, who kept the scene alive.
Thankfully, the 1990s brought an excellent array of new guitar orientated punk bands to the fore, who complimented the New Age Traveller protest groups, who were raging against the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act at that time – Scum of Toytown, AOS3, Radical Dance Faction, Citizen Fish and Blaggers ITA all leap to mind.
Certainly, it is a great shame that many extreme right wing bands started hijacking the punk scene, but Hey! Any self respecting punk knows exactly who those groups are, so I won’t waste my breath repeating their names here.
In any event, “Punk is a state of mind, not a type of music…”
– Sid Vicious (1978)
Shalom/Salaam
*
its nothing to do with age – its to do with rational appraisal – such a shame when nostalgia and loyalty replace critical objectivity – punk just ate itself same old same old over and over and over again, the thing that made it so great – inspired – relevant and original are exactly what makes the uk subs etc tired and repetitive last years men in last years clothes playing last years tunes – Id rather listen to the PInk Floyd! ( ok the last statement was a lie as i’d rather lick my own arse clean if i had Amoebic dysentery than listen to the pink ones but you get my point)
Oh and quoting Sid on punk is like quoting Katie Price on Feminism:)
this is perhaps nearer the mark: “I don’t have any heroes, they’re all useless” Johnny Rotten
Well, I totally disagree with many of your subjective judgements to be frank.
For one thing, UK Subs have continued to release excellent albums which are anthemic for the disenfranchised over recent years, I would expressly guide you to ‘Quintessentials’, ‘Riot’, ‘Occupied’, ‘Universal’ and most recently, ‘Xxiv’. My friend Andy would probably cite their album ‘Work in Progress’ to boot.
Whilst I accept that punk (and rock n roll generally) are incestuous and plagiaristic forms of art, to some extent that is an inevitable by product of the human condition.
Indeed, my late father used to make the point that there are a finite number of stories in the world, but an infinite number of different ways of telling them. Moreover, he reckoned that the vast majority of them were lifted from two books, namely The Bible, and The Arabian Knights. To that end, it is arguable that music is of a similar nature in its construction. Food for thought indeed.
But I digress, the quote from Sid Vicious is entirely relevant, as punk is far more than a musical phenomenon, it is an entire subculture and belief system. Indeed, for many people I know who are entirely despondent with capitalism and its failings, punk is one of the few things on the planet which makes life tolerable, and its many mutations keep us all very much alive.
Fortuitously, musical appreciation is a very subjective and diverse affair. For example, you dislike Pink Floyd, but I like them. The only albums of theirs I dislike are ‘The Final Cut’ and ‘The Division Bell’. Their early psychedelia with Syd Barrett still stands the test of time, and ‘Wish You Were Here’, ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ and ‘The Wall’ are all rock album classics.
But returning to punk as a subcultural genre, I suppose from an existential lifecourse perspective, age is a factor, as my generation was not fortuitous enough to ride the crest of the capitalist wave of the 1980’s credit boom, other than what our parents were able to earn at that time to raise us.
No, what we got was an education which largely failed us due to the inevitable devaluation of the qualifications which we attained, unemployment, a Liberal party which sold us down the road by getting into bed with the Conservatives, and a Labour party which is now so right wing you can barely differentiate them from the Tories. Little wonder Marx wrote of a ‘No choice democracy’. It’s almost prophetic.
The Coalition government is currently attempting to dismantle the welfare state utilising Universal Credit, slashing legal aid, and victimising the poor, the vulnerable and the destitute generally.
Talk about history repeating – the socio economic and political climate in the UK is fast heading right back to where it was in punks heyday!! *
However, I should also point out that I’m not one to endorse self validating belief systems, punk, political, religious or otherwise.
On that note, I’m just off out to round up a few of my hard mates, and then we’re all going down town to take over a local shopping mall.
If we find anyone in there who can’t name at least four ex members of the UK Subs, then we’re going to execute them all before the police and the army arrive, to blow up the entire building.
That’ll show them Eh?!!
Ho Hum 😉
Kind Regards, Trent*
is the a belief system that isn’t self validating? Do you know something I don’t? 🙂
isn’t punk a philosophy not a belief system? hmmmmm 🙂
“Punk was mostly just about inventing yourself from nothing” – Siouxsie Sioux (1994).
Not sure I’d describe punk as a philosophy, but perhaps it could be described as such.
Like you, I have ecclectic tastes in music, but I loathe the big corporates trying to prescribe what I should, or shouldn’t, be listening to.
Will check out your links when the Wi-Fi is better. Struggling to construct a blog post at the mo.
Regards, LooM 🙂
I’m not sure there are (m) any judgements of musical merit that are not by definition “subjective”? Though your use of “anthemic” to describe their content is perhaps indicative of their simplicity and repetition – and though a subjective judgement – I know what I like – I have spent years working out why I like – what I like. I like to be surprised when I listen to music – but the more you listen the harder it gets to find that essence rare – I could list musical things that have surprised me but that would just turn the discussion into a list then into a “my list is better than your list” boo yah sucks discussion – in which case that would be as interesting as talking about football.
By correctly ascertaining the similarity of anything created by a human ( you might enjoy 7 basic plots by Christopher Booker – though he is forever Jung (Bob Dylan joke) and to save you the heft of plodding through its enormity an excellent synopsis is here:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSevenBasicPlots
You identify why I think it so important to come up with something new, because to do anything else is to merely exploit devoted fan loyalty. Which brings me on to why I think we have such different criteria for judging music – I think it is the music criticism we grew up on – the NME was once home to people like Farren, Bangs, Kent, Murray, even Parsons N Burchill who would look to savage the clichéd, the predictable, the lazy, the dull and boring – it held the bar high – not always in the right place but it held it high. “The Clash are the kind of garage band who should be returned to the garage immediately, preferably with the engine running, which would undoubtedly be more of a loss to their friends and families than to either rock or roll. the extreme left, allegedly known as Joe Strummer, has good moves but he and the band are a little shaky on ground that involves starting, stopping and changing chords at approximately the same time.”
Today the “Q” (the magazine that took the critical out of criticism ) generation seem to know nothing of writing that holds its subject to account such as bangs on reed : “Bangs encountered the “Walk on the Wild Side” singer in the cocktail lounge of a Holiday Inn while on tour, describing him as a “vaguely uncomfortable fat man” whose boozehound face has taken on a “nursing-home pallor” and whose jittery hand can hardly lift his glass of Johnnie Walker Black for all the shaking. “
Every review is like a fucking hagiography as the reviewers dare not upset the mighty corporate giants that buy the full page adverts in the coffee table glossy bland laddish life style crap, a Top Gear of music magazines for people who buy 5 cds a year. That “lets not be horrid” to the talent attitude has now infected music reviewing to the point I can hardly bear to read any of it. So the habit of rigorous critical evaluation as evolved into a plodding acceptance of the mundane as “its ok for mid period Jonknee Bollock and the Gonads they’ve brought the harmonium up in the mix”
There is not one artist from my early years that I like that has an unblemished catalogue – just the opposite – most of them haven’t made a decent record for 20 years – I’ve just found an old bob Dylan review I wrote about a recent release and the lack of proper criticism I found it like “Van Gough throwing away his chromium yellow and replacing it with custard”
http://blogcritics.org/music-review-bob-dylan-together-through1/
says what I have been alluding to here about modern critical writing but in a bit more detail and logic as it was done when I was a student so a little more time rich.
Pink Floyd – I’m not going to repeat what I have already said many times – it is in short just so dull and lifeless and worst of all soulless urgh…
A few quotes of what others have said:
• Pink Floyd is the ultimate in smarmy, mellowed-out, overproduced, self-indulgent, snide elevator-music studio drivel for people who really don’t likePink Floyd is the ultimate in smarmy, mellowed-out, overproduced, self-indulgent, snide elevator-music studio drivel for people who really don’t like rock and roll in the first place.
• rock and roll in the first place.
I’m not sure I saw a credit boom in the 1980s and yes you are right with your synopsis of Modern Times – however, sadly I think it is unlikely we will get the same explosion of talent, people too busy playing GTA or Guitar Hero for that…
Anyway this is a week in a record shop distilled into 3 minutes – so true and given how long I have done the same probably explains a lot – once a punk snob always a punk snob ☺
Lol!
I like coffee, you like tea. One man’s pride is another’s scourge.
I don’t actually mind Modern Times (I’ve been dreamin’ about Alicia Keys…) as in the Dylan album. It’s 30% great. Let’s face it a lot of albums get lost in the studio. Boys and their toys and all that…
I read a song by song run down of Never mind the bollocks today:
http://www.sexpistolsofficial.com/nmtb-track-by-track/
Quite a fun read. It’s nice hearing what the authors have to say about their own songs.
Notice how a lot of interviews just seem to avoid asking anything pertinent whatsoever? Maybe artists are gagged by record companies? Or maybe they don’t want to give too much away. Is it better to leave their music in a shroud of mysticism? Or in the mind and ear of the beholder?
Fan reviews and questions make a better read.
It’s easy to pervert your own tastes anyway. And sometimes I haven’t got time for music that I’ve liked for years. Artists can just appear crass and infantile one day, while on another, I’ll be singing along.
That last Stranglers album to me was just some pathetic rehash of what was once. It’s the worst kind of Dad rock imaginable. And yet musically the band is in fine fettle. This feels like nostalgia in overdrive. Is this for the fans, for the fun of it, for the money, or all of the above?
I won’t dismiss over the top production in it’s entirety. I’ve even come round to Duran Duran’s Rio!
Right now I have an Unwired eclectic acoustic album compiled for Amnesty sitting in the CD player – and some of it – is just mind blowing! Oh and I do like a harmonium.
Hey Bill, thanks for your comment 🙂
I enjoyed to read the Sex Pistols comments on the construction of their songs again, if I’m not mistaken, they’re reproduced from the ‘Kiss This’ compilation linear notes.
I also think I’m correct in stating that Nigel actually knew, or at least met, the mad Pauline referred to in the ‘Bodies’ song lyrics.
I too have reservations about the new Stranglers album, ‘Giants’. That said, the song ‘My Fickle Resolve’ shines on through on it.
To be honest, I bought an early edition, which includes a bonus live acoustic disc, recorded at one of their recent ‘Stranglers Conventions’. It is actually far superior to the studio album!!
I also have a guilty pleasure in a fondness for ‘Rio’, but being a child of the eighties, I like a lot of post-punk electonica of the early years of that decade.
At least much of it was reasonably innovative, if not self indulgent. Beyond 1982, British pop music became, and remains, fairly atrocious in my humble view.
Thank God there is a still a huge plethora of new music coming out on far less commercial platforms Eh?
As for the music buying public, is it still a case of ‘This is what you want, This is what you get….’ ??!!!
Trent 😉 X