Yes, an old dream given up years ago but somehow turning up unexpectedly and it seems to be coming true. I think the first tune I heard of Buzzcocks was “Breakdown”, the first tune from the band’s debut EP “Spiral Scratch”, 30 years ago. It was love at first listen…

Anyway, each support band is supposed to play a 15 minutes set, nothing more, which is cool since i’d be gagging for Buzzcocks anyway. SO we thought maybe we plan for a revisit of old tunes, playing four songs from the old days. Or maybe we should write a new song to spice up the rehearsal a bit. hmmm.

The plan is now in motion. Hopefully it’ll work out! We gonna visit our friends there and play a few shows all around the state. It could be for a few days, or it could be 7 to 10 days, depending on where we’re playing. At this point we are looking at heading there in early December. Fingers crossed!

That is the Dream is now available for download:

You can download the 128k mp3 version for FREE, or get the high-quality 320k mp3 (or higher bit-rates) for USD1.

go here! sumbang.bandcamp.com

Production Notes:

This song is written and recorded immediately on one quiet day at the house (4th of February 2007). It was done using a small stereo mike attached to a Sony Mini-Disc recorder (an old banged-up one, you can hear the whirring gears in the background).

The audio was then brought out into my computer, ripped and shared as a 96k mp3 file for two years on this page.

Today, I thought I should check out bandcamp.com and test it out by building a Sumbang page there.

But before that I tweaked the recording a bit:

1. Leveled and mastered the song using T-Racks, just using the presets actually.
2. Brought it into another software, SoundSoap, to clean-up the hiss and the whirring noises.
3. Edit in fade-in and fade-out using SoundStudio.

I like Bandcamp so far, and if everything goes well with this experiment, Carburetor Dung will start sharing our tracks with you through it.

Cheers!

A few years ago we wrote and recorded a simple song; a short, fast burst of a dirty ditty, heavy with exasperate anger. It’s called simply Mata Buta or roughly translated as “blind eye”, basically it means “blinded”.

Many asked what the song is about. We believe it’s not something we need to explain, since everything is already laid out there in the lyrics:

listen & singalong!

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MATA BUTA

Ini memang cerita lama [this is truly an ancient tale]
Dari jaman dulu kala [from the days of yore]
Orang kaya cekik darah [the rich wrings blood]
Orang besar makan budak [the elite devours the young]

Gadis cantik dijadi gundik [pretty girls taken as concubines]
Patik rakyat ikut saja [we, the lowly citizenry, submitted and obeyed]
Bila kita akan celik? [when are we going to open up our eyes]
Cerita lama, cerita sama [ancient tales recurring]

Mata buta! [blinded]
Bukak! [open up!]
Bukak! [open up!]
Bukak! [open up!]

The truth is, we don’t really know how to explain it at length, other from the fact that all of us have been facing the same problems, over and over again, without learning from experiences and try to change the situation which brought all of us into this vicious cycle. We kept repeating it, allowing it to happen again and again, generations after generations.

In this instance, the situation related in the song is linked to our collective embedded DNA-memory of being a bunch of submissive cowards, bowed down and allowed ourselves to be subjected to abuses and transgressions by the powers that be, the elite, the orang besar, as if we are subhumans unfit to live with dignity and liberty.

Below is an article which somehow explains it better, or at least in parts of it, and features the same exasperation which we have and wanted to convey in Mata Buta. It is rather “academic”, but do read on:

Rethinking The Malay Problem
by Azly Rahman – as published on malaysiakini.com on the 18th of August 2009

“…the scholar is not he who gives the right answers, but he who asks the right questions…” Claude Levi-Strauss, French structural anthropologist.

Where does the predicament of the contemporary Malays lie? How must one study the ongoing crisis in multiethnic Malaysia? These are daunting and nagging questions for scholars interested in studying the complexity of race relations in this hypermodern country. Here are a few thoughts and suggestions.
[Read more]

This will be our second show in Terengganu, the last one was, ughhh, a looong time ago boss!!

OWC played first on a bill featuring Bandung’s visiting punks KONTRASOSIAL & TURTLES JR on Sunday, 26th July 2009. We had one short jam the night before and whacked a set the next day. The set-list stayed the same but we added a version of UK SUBS’ Party in Paris for a measure. The band really need to jam a lot more and start jumping about very soon. At the moment it’s still rather lame!

Pixs by Zaza:
[Read more]

June 27th 2009 – Cloth’n'Clef, Changkat Bukit Bintang, KL

July 4th 2009 – 09_kuala_kangsar.jpg, Kuala Kangsar RAINHOUSE, Taiping Perak

July 11th 2009 – Dewan MPS, Seremban, KOMPLEKS BELIA DAN SUKAN PAROI, Negeri Sembilan

CANCELLED!! We can’t play the show. We thought we can play there later at night but the venue only allows for the show to go til 8 pm, and our drummer Bullet can’t make it to Seremban before that. Apologies to all… we’ll make it there one day.

We’re gonna be playing with Philippines’ veteran bands Bad Omen & TSA and it will be our first time being in the “sauna” that is Gudang Noisy.

MAP: here