Interest in recorded music, led by DJs and "crate-diggers", has shone a light on some fascinating popular music genres over the past 20-odd years. Soundway Records, set up by Miles Claret in the UK, released its first compilation in 2002 on Afrobeat, funk and fusion from Ghana in the 1970s, and since then has released compilations on African, Caribbean, Latin and Asian music (mainly focusing on the period from 1950s to 1980s, when popular genres were being created by newly independent countries).
Claret, who used to live in Bali, hit the DJ decks at Studio Lam some years back and told me during a break that he was keen to make a compilation on Indonesian popular music. It has taken some time, but the new release from the record label, Padang Moonrise – The Birth Of The Modern Indonesian Recording Industry (1955-69), will be of great interest to fans of Southeast Asian popular music. The album was released on Nov 25 in vinyl and download formats.
