22 Comments on “Dangdut Never Dies Awards”

1. diego says:

   December 14, 2010 at 2:50 am

   “Most Shockingly Dressed” – Julia Perez.

   Dressed?

2. Lairedion says:

   December 14, 2010 at 3:36 am

   Dangdut is one thing I don’t miss about Indonesia. What a sh*te music!

3. ET says:

   December 14, 2010 at 10:18 am

   Lairedion

   Dangdut is one thing I don’t miss about Indonesia. What a sh*te music!

   De gustibus et coloribus non disputandum but here I have to disagree. If there is nowadays an expression of grassroots Indonesian culture it certainly is dangdut, comparable to Country and Western in the US. Whether it is always of good taste is a matter of debate but good taste isn’t an absolute requirement to pump up your heartbeat.
   I believe dangdut is a more important factor in forging Indonesian unity than any pidato of some self-inflated politician.

4. timdog says:

   December 14, 2010 at 10:40 am

   If there is nowadays an expression of grassroots Indonesian culture it certainly is dangdut, comparable to Country and Western in the US

   Ever been to NTT, ET? They have their own (bad) country and western there; Kupang’s quite famous for it.
   But otherwise, I agree with you…

   If I don’t go to India for a long time, I start to +imagine+ that I actually like Bollywood pop, I catch a little snippet of it in an Indian restaurant, and it brings back lots of evocative memories. But then I actually go, and the first bus ride? Aiiieeeeeee!!!!

   I suspect if I spent long enough away from Indonesia I would get the same thing with dangdut. I mean, I do love the joyous, earthy silliness of it, the total lack of pretension, the way it’s all a bit rough around the edges, but if I actually have to listen to it? Aiiiiieeeeeee!!!!

   That said, at least it is really Indonesian, and infinitely better than earnest soft rock from men with feelings and big voices, or mega-drippy balladry, which seems to typify most non-dangdut pop in Indonesia.

   And although she’s not really pure dangdut, you’ve just got to love Jupe for her sheer, wanton filthiness. Have you listened to that song?

5. ET says:

   December 14, 2010 at 11:12 am

   Have you listened to that song?

   I tried but my eyes got in the way.

6. Lairedion says:

   December 14, 2010 at 1:21 pm

   ET. timdog,

   Diving into it too deep again.

   I just dislike dangdut. Can’t really bother about other purposes it may serve.

7. Arie Brand says:

   December 15, 2010 at 3:44 am

   It would take some effort to get me to listen to this for longer than five minutes. Must be an acquired taste. According to the cognoscenti one can find all kinds of musical influences here, but it makes me think of nothing so much as Bollywood music – except that the maidens in those performances move a bit more gracefully.

8. angelk says:

   December 15, 2010 at 4:27 am

   Thumbs up for No.1. This was when dangdut was cheekily romantic, as opposed to… pornographic? sexually oriented? something along that line.

9. Arie Brand says:

   December 15, 2010 at 5:41 am

   Here is a bit of Pinoy Rock.

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IYyp59nXyM

   I suppose that that guy’s dirty feet are meant to be a sign of “earthy realism”, except that the average Juan de la Cruz would rather be caught with his pants down than show you his dirty feet. It is far more common to see him in the ‘hair salon’ getting his toes lacquered.

10. madrotter says:

    December 15, 2010 at 2:14 pm

    i’m not into any of the stuff posted really but i do get a kick out of end of 60’s beginning of 70’s classic dangdut these days, orkes melayu pancaran muda, orkes melayu irama seni, a. kadir and his orkes sinar kemala, ida laila, older work from elvy sukaesih and a lot of the gambus/qasidah stuff that sometimes comes pretty close to this genre like rofiqoh dharto whab, h. nur asiah djamil, orkes gambus al fata, orkes gambus el jihad, that kind of stuff…

    here’s a nice one:

    http://madrotter.blogspot.com/2010/12/om-suyata-dunia.html

    lovely cover from the beatles’ paperback writer called mariyuana on this one….

    and here’s an amazing album from rofiqoh with o.g. al fata, incredible stuff this:

    http://madrotter.blogspot.com/2010/06/rofiqoh-orkes-gambus-al-fata-yasalam.html

    there’s all kinds of dangdut, it’s just that, like with most music, the crappy stuff makes it to the top and on tv while the beautiful stuff is mostly only known to folks that dig a little bit deeper…

11. timdog says:

    December 15, 2010 at 4:25 pm

    lovely cover from the beatles’ paperback writer called mariyuana on this one….

    Yeah, dangdut covers of non-dangdut songs… The other day I stopped for a bowl of noodles somewhere, and as I was eating I realised that playing in the background was a versi dangdut of the ubiquitous keong racun song. It was pure dangdut too, none of this Jupe-style nu-dangdut… nu-dangdut – I just spotted the saucy pun there as I typed it… snigger…
    Anyway, it was pure dangdut, but it was bloody awful…

    Lairedion:

    Diving into it too deep again.

    So you’re not interested in diving into Jupe’s – ahem – belah duren, then?

12. David says:

    December 17, 2010 at 1:13 pm

    There is now a scholarly tome on the subject – Dangdut Stories: A Social and Musical History of Indonesia’s Most Popular Music

    

13. madrotter says:

    December 17, 2010 at 2:45 pm

    yeah i know about this book, i got into contact with andrew a few months ago, i’m really curious about this book, it should arrive soon, andrew’s sending me a copy, now hoping that it doesn’t get stolen like so much stuff gets stolen in the post here, when people send me cd’s often i only get the cover (if that) or they don’t arrive at all. i even had cd’s coming in where they tore the label off the cd rendering it worthless the bloody bastards

14. ET says:

    December 17, 2010 at 5:02 pm

    madrotter

    now hoping that it doesn’t get stolen like so much stuff gets stolen in the post here,

    It is this grabbing monkey mentality of everything wearing the uniform of officialdom, together with the nrimo aja attitude of the general public that continues to make Indonesia a failed state.

15. madrotter says:

    December 17, 2010 at 6:22 pm

    always wondered why they would tear off the labels from c’s, what can they possibly look for there?

16. ET says:

    December 17, 2010 at 7:22 pm

    always wondered why they would tear off the labels from c’s, what can they possibly look for there?

    Probably copy them for their own pirated cd’s.

17. madrotter says:

    December 17, 2010 at 8:04 pm

    at least they never confiscated my chocolate surprise eggs!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Surprise

    those things can work wonders in indonesia! they can get you out of almost any situation! where you had to bribe your way through piles of money, once you start giving out these things you walk out of anywhere without paying a dime!

    but god help you if you come in without ’em the next year!

18. budies says:

    January 5, 2011 at 5:37 am

    i like dangdut

19. diego says:

    January 5, 2011 at 11:27 pm

    @madrotter: do you want to suggest that indonesians in general are infantiles?

    God, if that’s true, I have to say this is what I dislike from bule’s mentality, seeing the locals as somekind of speciments they can laugh at, mad at, feel pity at, but never to create a bond with. Just the way sociologists & anthropologists see their subjects.

20. rofik says:

    January 18, 2011 at 5:24 am

    my Favorit Song 🙂

21. madrotter says:

    January 18, 2011 at 4:28 pm

    don’t know where you’re coming from diego but i think your brain is bleeding

22. Endo Hanafi says:

    July 31, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    @Lairedion,

    Dangdut is one of many things I miss about Indonesia. What a sick music! RT5 RW3 is one of my favorites.