Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
you had a busy day today
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
you had a busy day today
An Idiom and What I Call My Private Part - Butterfingers
Like most 14 year olds, I was initially confused by the release of Butterfingers' 2001 album 'Malayneum' after a very successful full fledged hard rock 1999 album of bedlam, 'Transcendence'. It's what I learned from Eddie Izzard called the 'cake baking conundrum' which questions the reasons for baking the cake when it comes out of the oven tastes less good than the cake batter. Of course for the aforementioned theory to be true, 'Malayneum' has to be proven an inferior of the two, but in truth, it's not. I mean, for a 14 year old the harder it rocks (in this case, extensive use of feedback, heavily distorted fast guitar riffs and a wicked epic album cover) the better it is. But it's different with 'Malayneum'. It's like Dave Matthews innocently murdered Kurt Cobain to front the band and release his own Nirvana album. A cheeky one at that.
It's not easy to categorise Butterfingers' music; more than any other group, their sound can be describe as "Butteresque" or as the band themselves would call it, "Butter Sound". It's akin to a combination of Silverchair (or maybe the usual, obvious comparison-Nirvana), Oasis, 1995 Alanis Morisette, The Pixies and everyother rock band that's ever existed. The abstruse art of the band is derived from the four different distinct derivative force. There's Loque (now reborn as the quasi-alter ego of early-mid-nineties Beck), Emmett (the self-centred, self-proclaimed rocket scientist), Kadak (the hard-headed, inner-sensitive funktastic bass player) and drummer Loco (well, the drum machine). Alike The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Killers and Radiohead, they refuse to conform to society's paradigm of producing non-evolving symphonies .Even the most casual audiences would notice the overwhelming degree of change in their still counting 14 years of recording. A span that covers their experimentation in music from the lo-fi recording of raw angst, pseudo pop, hard rock, a tinge of blues, indie, keroncong and folk songs. A period only complicated by the band being shunned by the media when playing on live national television barefooted, acted as pretentiously disorganised children and kicking the mic stand (in Layman's terms, THEY ROCKED OUR FACES OFF!).
It may be redundant to call them as the greatest band Malaysia have ever seen but when they're notoriously known for playing ingenious live performances and holds up a brilliant discography one might want to think twice before taking such honours off of their resume.
After Kurt Cobain killed himself by embedding shotgun shells in his head in April 1994, Loque decided to plugged in his guitar and engaged in a mercurial menage a trois jam session with Eddie Vedder and the ghost of Kurt Cobain. While the ghost of Mr. Cobain acted as the ruefully tormented soul and always disagreeing with the other two's jam selections, Eddie was the lesser tormented of the two (because of the not-committing-suicide factor) but for some obscure reasons was very very furious and Loque was just happy to be there, but eventually succumbs to the teen angst driven guitar riffs fingered by the forsaken ghost and the ghastly wailing of Mr. Vedder. Then as we know it, there was 1.2 Milligrams ready for us locals teens' to sing our crucified heart out with mediocre English lexicons.
There are eleven songs on this originally released cassette tape of which seem to be like conversations between teenagers who spend a lot time slacking off at work with an in-depth understanding of life. The album opens with a frivolous commentary by Mr. Emmett, "Feeling uneasy definitely ugly/And it makes me feel guilty/Don't you feel sorry in between polarity" sounds a bit like an unfortunate episode of a genteel man having a digestive gas problem in a public place. Then he continues to say something of cohesive resemblance to what John Lennon sings in the song "Imagine"- Nutopia: a country of peace, "Never been to a place like here/Never seen it anywhere/Since it's new it has no tangles/Isolations have no flower/ Very sincere..". Virtually every song they wrote during this period focuses on the establishment of teenagers' melodrama, rebellious addiction ("Nicc O' Tynne"), utter confusion ("Royal Jelly"), innocent dream ("Wet Blanket") or sometimes by means of random titles in ascending number of syllables ("Me", "Ugly" and "In the Calm"). It's the perfect debut album with not a single dull moment. A well deserved A.
Things escalated with 'Butter Worth Pushful' especially for Oasis fans who craved for a pop saturated rock album that actually rocks. After they finally have the chops to hire a person who can command all the little buttons in the recording studio, the band stacked up a set of which may not be radio friendly ("Still River", "Skew", "E") but more conservative ("Delirium", "Ruin by the Selling Out") compositions for the local scene's liking. This album is to Butterfingers as 'The Bends' is to Radiohead. It's not defective but not impressive either. It's the most average rock album released by any local band in the nineties. It's got the necessary charms ("Girl Friday") and originality ("Fire is a Curse") but still maintains it's inspiring roots ("Stolen", "Garden City of Lights"). But being only involved with the underground scene and sings in English, the music press never covered the band justly. They were apparently enchanted by the revelation of KRU (three Malay dudes who tried rapping like the Beastie Boys (who is actually three white Jewish dudes who tried rapping and nailed it) but failed miserably). Still, putting bad rapping aside, "Butter Sound" has never been better yet it's a weary one to succeed it's predecessor. 'Butter Worth Pushful' earns an A-.
When Led Zeppelin IV came out in 1971, they have practically conquered the United States and the world. 'Transcendence' could be put in the same manner as the English rock band's achievement in relative to a more local milestone. It marks the band third studio album, an album mostly remembered for it's black and white album cover. Butterfingers get darker and literally transcends any expectations for a rock album. The album starts off with "The Chemistry (Between Us)" and never gets any worse. It's like they're still angered by the same reasons in 1.2 mg but are amplified by certain rationalisations and they still have no idea what the they are, but they were clearly learning lessons about life. It was a period of inner growth and introspection. If there is ever a parallel universe where the album can be compared to a Beatles' album, it'd be 'Revolver'. It embodies the essential qualities as they both were maturing in experimenting music and songwriting. They single handedly showcased a massive potential and talent in a twelve-songs album of which they pondered about the complications of relationships in the opening track, "Why?/It's so real/Fall in love again?/It's all we have to live/Whenever I'm unseen/I blame it on myself", the effects of hallucinogens ("Faculties of the Mind") when Mr. Emmett repeatedly sings, "On and on the days go on/ On and on for what I've made wrong/For all this time the times are useless/Have you been through the wonderful mind?" and mysteries ("Mystery") of which then they cleared that it was of nothing, "Mystery hey hey hey/Mystery of nothing". The album gets an A.
2001 proved to be a turning point for Butterfingers as it was the year the previously mentioned revelatory album, 'Malayneum' was released. In an interview with DJ George in the album 'Butter Late Than Never', when was asked about why did they call the album 'Malayneum', Emmett calmly replied, "It seems to represent the whole album. You know, more to psychedelic Malay music, 60s Malay.". Which can be explained by means of a collaboration between A. Rahman Hassan and Jeffry Din after consuming 500 sheets of mediocre acid. Essentially this is a stripped-down rock album with every touchstone of great aspect of music playing covered: The arrogant bass line of "Malayneum", the innocence of "Pacific", the audacity of "Ginseng" and the melodic nous of "Suddenly" though it sounded more alike of Thom Yorke's mumblings with every listening session of the song. The first 79 seconds of the opening track, "Malayneum" proves that eloquency and sheer tenacity can coexists (as God intended) in a same entity. And the knock-out punch is saved for last. Nowhere is the avidity of redemption more pronounced than on the song "Suddenly" (Emmett: "Splat in the ceiling/Shaping a tear/Unhappy with the slightest stain on your soul/Flooded with choices/So people will love you/Some people you'll see") accompanied by a hauntingly beautiful guitar solo through the end. Though it's still channelling a bit of early Dinosaur Jr. style (their distinct sound, characterised by high gain, extensive use of feedback and distortion), but they have clearly grown weary of such element considering they did a charming re-imagination of a popular children song, "Pretty Rain". An A+, especially for the ingenious use of a dead person's expiation on the last track of the album.
The lack of public interest in the album 'Malayneum' was evident by the decreased in sales of the album hugely due to the lack of imagination and appreciation of art. A good album that nobody actually likes much like Wilco's 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' (or any other of their album for that matter). This subconsciously drove the band to release their first Malay language album 'Selamat Tinggal Dunia' which literally translated to "Goodbye World". For better or worse, 'Selamat Tinggal Dunia' have been about something, be it self-indulgence ("Nyilu (hidup makan tidur mati muzik)" and "Taman Tasik Perdana"), rebellion against iniquitous use of power and genitals by the beau mondes ("Daulat Tuanku", Emmett: "Parti hujung minggu/Kereta BMW/Cari gebu-gebu/Teman beradu".). But the title song is a nonetheless persuasive litany of reclusion, contemplation and salvation. Emmett sings it like he means it - "Pasir jerlus/Litar pintas/Jerangkap samar/Selamat tinggal dunia/Semangatku takkan luntur/Marilah pulang kepangkuan". And the icing on the cake is the cryptic lyrics in "Kabus Ribut" - like Bob Dylan, you're never quite sure of what they're actually on when Emmett sings, "Terusan kabus ribut yang melimpah/Yang mengucap tiba/Ku ingin bersamamu/Sehingga akhirnya/Kabus, kabus ribut/Indah berseri-seri" - and suddenly we realised that Butterfingers' agenda doesn't even need a defined form to entrance or creep you out. And for that sole reason, it gets an A. That, and the scream at the beginning of the song "Merpati Sejoli".
After the successful transition in their last album, 'Kembali' comes next. The unbearable heaviness of being Butterfingers continues. Now, predictably, in an attempt to reinvent themselves as a more elusive entity, they've made an album that by it's mere existence will only heighten the curiosity of their devotees. By far, they succeeded exceptionally. We are curious indeed. Seemingly overwhelmed by the exorbitant praise heaped upon the very dark "Malayneum" and "Selamat Tinggal Dunia", Butterfingers decided to get in touch with the the Malay culture's syair, prose, joget and keroncong and produced an avant-garde-like 'Kembali'. I used the term avant-garde-like because as what the terms represents, 'Kembali' is an unconventional and is ahead of it's time. Nobody understands why it's the way it is. In an interview taken from their Youtube channel, Emmett said, "the theme is like a lagu rakyat. Lagu rakyat untuk rakyat." and for what it's worth, Kadak also corrected the fact that it's not a straight-up keroncong album, but "pop-keroncong". And they spend the second half of the interview trying to explain what keroncong is to the interviewer. I mean, have there ever been a successful pop-keroncong or keroncong album in the past four decades? And with the rapid surges of bands representing new-age musics (Komplot, the-know-defunct Laila's Lounge, Hujan and Yuna), can they really pull this off?
Thus far, 'Kembali' has provided stuff old, new, borrowed and suprisingly jolly than ever. Our grandad would surely love this album which is also one of their goal - to attract the old-timers. The deadpan singing reminds me of the later years of Lou Reed (I resort to Lou Reed because while everybody compares it to our late R. Azmi, I was never familiar with the guy). It opens with Emmett greeting the listeners with "Selamat datang ke masa depan" ("Welcome to the future") and in the future is where we are. The song "Merdeka" is the one song where the keroncong effect really shows off though someone mentioned that it came off a bit like ska. But with a little help from music legend Pak Kassim Masdor who once worked with the late P. Ramlee (which makes me wonder whether did Pak Kassim's name inspired the renown auteur to name our beloved character 'Pendekar Mastur' in the movie 'Pendekar Bujang Lapuk'. Or was it 'Pendekar Mustar'?), pretty much reassures us that the Butterfingers are competent as ever. Like it's predecessor, this album is obsessed with hopes and dreams. But with "Joget Global", "Air Liur di Kuala Lumpur", "Maharani" and "Bebas", the real world keeps intruding in all it's glory. At best, It deserves a B+ especially because of the song "Mati Hidup Kembali", a song that accompanies a music video that implies our war veterans are capable of singing a beautiful ballad while being abused by ferocious yet deceiving Marxist disciples.
It's bleak and subtle, but the Butterfingers has done more than making great musics, they have captured our hearts. They bind us up in a freaky-fetish kinda way, kidnapped and fed us epinephrine before throwing us off a bridge by a bungee cord. They overwhelmed us with their energy and bombast which have put us through an emotional mangle. It's the best kind of a rock story. One which mixes impossible glamour with brief excursions to the wild side. Which starts from a meager high school band and ends in huge acclaim. And that is why Butterfingers is the only band that can welcome us to the future.
____________
Sources are taken from;
1) Interviews from Butterfingerstheband Youtube channel
2) Butterfingers (Malaysian Band) Wikipedia page
3) Butterfingers discography
4) The ever-evolving interweb
It's not easy to categorise Butterfingers' music; more than any other group, their sound can be describe as "Butteresque" or as the band themselves would call it, "Butter Sound". It's akin to a combination of Silverchair (or maybe the usual, obvious comparison-Nirvana), Oasis, 1995 Alanis Morisette, The Pixies and everyother rock band that's ever existed. The abstruse art of the band is derived from the four different distinct derivative force. There's Loque (now reborn as the quasi-alter ego of early-mid-nineties Beck), Emmett (the self-centred, self-proclaimed rocket scientist), Kadak (the hard-headed, inner-sensitive funktastic bass player) and drummer Loco (well, the drum machine). Alike The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Killers and Radiohead, they refuse to conform to society's paradigm of producing non-evolving symphonies .Even the most casual audiences would notice the overwhelming degree of change in their still counting 14 years of recording. A span that covers their experimentation in music from the lo-fi recording of raw angst, pseudo pop, hard rock, a tinge of blues, indie, keroncong and folk songs. A period only complicated by the band being shunned by the media when playing on live national television barefooted, acted as pretentiously disorganised children and kicking the mic stand (in Layman's terms, THEY ROCKED OUR FACES OFF!).
It may be redundant to call them as the greatest band Malaysia have ever seen but when they're notoriously known for playing ingenious live performances and holds up a brilliant discography one might want to think twice before taking such honours off of their resume.
After Kurt Cobain killed himself by embedding shotgun shells in his head in April 1994, Loque decided to plugged in his guitar and engaged in a mercurial menage a trois jam session with Eddie Vedder and the ghost of Kurt Cobain. While the ghost of Mr. Cobain acted as the ruefully tormented soul and always disagreeing with the other two's jam selections, Eddie was the lesser tormented of the two (because of the not-committing-suicide factor) but for some obscure reasons was very very furious and Loque was just happy to be there, but eventually succumbs to the teen angst driven guitar riffs fingered by the forsaken ghost and the ghastly wailing of Mr. Vedder. Then as we know it, there was 1.2 Milligrams ready for us locals teens' to sing our crucified heart out with mediocre English lexicons.
There are eleven songs on this originally released cassette tape of which seem to be like conversations between teenagers who spend a lot time slacking off at work with an in-depth understanding of life. The album opens with a frivolous commentary by Mr. Emmett, "Feeling uneasy definitely ugly/And it makes me feel guilty/Don't you feel sorry in between polarity" sounds a bit like an unfortunate episode of a genteel man having a digestive gas problem in a public place. Then he continues to say something of cohesive resemblance to what John Lennon sings in the song "Imagine"- Nutopia: a country of peace, "Never been to a place like here/Never seen it anywhere/Since it's new it has no tangles/Isolations have no flower/ Very sincere..". Virtually every song they wrote during this period focuses on the establishment of teenagers' melodrama, rebellious addiction ("Nicc O' Tynne"), utter confusion ("Royal Jelly"), innocent dream ("Wet Blanket") or sometimes by means of random titles in ascending number of syllables ("Me", "Ugly" and "In the Calm"). It's the perfect debut album with not a single dull moment. A well deserved A.
Things escalated with 'Butter Worth Pushful' especially for Oasis fans who craved for a pop saturated rock album that actually rocks. After they finally have the chops to hire a person who can command all the little buttons in the recording studio, the band stacked up a set of which may not be radio friendly ("Still River", "Skew", "E") but more conservative ("Delirium", "Ruin by the Selling Out") compositions for the local scene's liking. This album is to Butterfingers as 'The Bends' is to Radiohead. It's not defective but not impressive either. It's the most average rock album released by any local band in the nineties. It's got the necessary charms ("Girl Friday") and originality ("Fire is a Curse") but still maintains it's inspiring roots ("Stolen", "Garden City of Lights"). But being only involved with the underground scene and sings in English, the music press never covered the band justly. They were apparently enchanted by the revelation of KRU (three Malay dudes who tried rapping like the Beastie Boys (who is actually three white Jewish dudes who tried rapping and nailed it) but failed miserably). Still, putting bad rapping aside, "Butter Sound" has never been better yet it's a weary one to succeed it's predecessor. 'Butter Worth Pushful' earns an A-.
When Led Zeppelin IV came out in 1971, they have practically conquered the United States and the world. 'Transcendence' could be put in the same manner as the English rock band's achievement in relative to a more local milestone. It marks the band third studio album, an album mostly remembered for it's black and white album cover. Butterfingers get darker and literally transcends any expectations for a rock album. The album starts off with "The Chemistry (Between Us)" and never gets any worse. It's like they're still angered by the same reasons in 1.2 mg but are amplified by certain rationalisations and they still have no idea what the they are, but they were clearly learning lessons about life. It was a period of inner growth and introspection. If there is ever a parallel universe where the album can be compared to a Beatles' album, it'd be 'Revolver'. It embodies the essential qualities as they both were maturing in experimenting music and songwriting. They single handedly showcased a massive potential and talent in a twelve-songs album of which they pondered about the complications of relationships in the opening track, "Why?/It's so real/Fall in love again?/It's all we have to live/Whenever I'm unseen/I blame it on myself", the effects of hallucinogens ("Faculties of the Mind") when Mr. Emmett repeatedly sings, "On and on the days go on/ On and on for what I've made wrong/For all this time the times are useless/Have you been through the wonderful mind?" and mysteries ("Mystery") of which then they cleared that it was of nothing, "Mystery hey hey hey/Mystery of nothing". The album gets an A.
2001 proved to be a turning point for Butterfingers as it was the year the previously mentioned revelatory album, 'Malayneum' was released. In an interview with DJ George in the album 'Butter Late Than Never', when was asked about why did they call the album 'Malayneum', Emmett calmly replied, "It seems to represent the whole album. You know, more to psychedelic Malay music, 60s Malay.". Which can be explained by means of a collaboration between A. Rahman Hassan and Jeffry Din after consuming 500 sheets of mediocre acid. Essentially this is a stripped-down rock album with every touchstone of great aspect of music playing covered: The arrogant bass line of "Malayneum", the innocence of "Pacific", the audacity of "Ginseng" and the melodic nous of "Suddenly" though it sounded more alike of Thom Yorke's mumblings with every listening session of the song. The first 79 seconds of the opening track, "Malayneum" proves that eloquency and sheer tenacity can coexists (as God intended) in a same entity. And the knock-out punch is saved for last. Nowhere is the avidity of redemption more pronounced than on the song "Suddenly" (Emmett: "Splat in the ceiling/Shaping a tear/Unhappy with the slightest stain on your soul/Flooded with choices/So people will love you/Some people you'll see") accompanied by a hauntingly beautiful guitar solo through the end. Though it's still channelling a bit of early Dinosaur Jr. style (their distinct sound, characterised by high gain, extensive use of feedback and distortion), but they have clearly grown weary of such element considering they did a charming re-imagination of a popular children song, "Pretty Rain". An A+, especially for the ingenious use of a dead person's expiation on the last track of the album.
The lack of public interest in the album 'Malayneum' was evident by the decreased in sales of the album hugely due to the lack of imagination and appreciation of art. A good album that nobody actually likes much like Wilco's 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' (or any other of their album for that matter). This subconsciously drove the band to release their first Malay language album 'Selamat Tinggal Dunia' which literally translated to "Goodbye World". For better or worse, 'Selamat Tinggal Dunia' have been about something, be it self-indulgence ("Nyilu (hidup makan tidur mati muzik)" and "Taman Tasik Perdana"), rebellion against iniquitous use of power and genitals by the beau mondes ("Daulat Tuanku", Emmett: "Parti hujung minggu/Kereta BMW/Cari gebu-gebu/Teman beradu".). But the title song is a nonetheless persuasive litany of reclusion, contemplation and salvation. Emmett sings it like he means it - "Pasir jerlus/Litar pintas/Jerangkap samar/Selamat tinggal dunia/Semangatku takkan luntur/Marilah pulang kepangkuan". And the icing on the cake is the cryptic lyrics in "Kabus Ribut" - like Bob Dylan, you're never quite sure of what they're actually on when Emmett sings, "Terusan kabus ribut yang melimpah/Yang mengucap tiba/Ku ingin bersamamu/Sehingga akhirnya/Kabus, kabus ribut/Indah berseri-seri" - and suddenly we realised that Butterfingers' agenda doesn't even need a defined form to entrance or creep you out. And for that sole reason, it gets an A. That, and the scream at the beginning of the song "Merpati Sejoli".
After the successful transition in their last album, 'Kembali' comes next. The unbearable heaviness of being Butterfingers continues. Now, predictably, in an attempt to reinvent themselves as a more elusive entity, they've made an album that by it's mere existence will only heighten the curiosity of their devotees. By far, they succeeded exceptionally. We are curious indeed. Seemingly overwhelmed by the exorbitant praise heaped upon the very dark "Malayneum" and "Selamat Tinggal Dunia", Butterfingers decided to get in touch with the the Malay culture's syair, prose, joget and keroncong and produced an avant-garde-like 'Kembali'. I used the term avant-garde-like because as what the terms represents, 'Kembali' is an unconventional and is ahead of it's time. Nobody understands why it's the way it is. In an interview taken from their Youtube channel, Emmett said, "the theme is like a lagu rakyat. Lagu rakyat untuk rakyat." and for what it's worth, Kadak also corrected the fact that it's not a straight-up keroncong album, but "pop-keroncong". And they spend the second half of the interview trying to explain what keroncong is to the interviewer. I mean, have there ever been a successful pop-keroncong or keroncong album in the past four decades? And with the rapid surges of bands representing new-age musics (Komplot, the-know-defunct Laila's Lounge, Hujan and Yuna), can they really pull this off?
Thus far, 'Kembali' has provided stuff old, new, borrowed and suprisingly jolly than ever. Our grandad would surely love this album which is also one of their goal - to attract the old-timers. The deadpan singing reminds me of the later years of Lou Reed (I resort to Lou Reed because while everybody compares it to our late R. Azmi, I was never familiar with the guy). It opens with Emmett greeting the listeners with "Selamat datang ke masa depan" ("Welcome to the future") and in the future is where we are. The song "Merdeka" is the one song where the keroncong effect really shows off though someone mentioned that it came off a bit like ska. But with a little help from music legend Pak Kassim Masdor who once worked with the late P. Ramlee (which makes me wonder whether did Pak Kassim's name inspired the renown auteur to name our beloved character 'Pendekar Mastur' in the movie 'Pendekar Bujang Lapuk'. Or was it 'Pendekar Mustar'?), pretty much reassures us that the Butterfingers are competent as ever. Like it's predecessor, this album is obsessed with hopes and dreams. But with "Joget Global", "Air Liur di Kuala Lumpur", "Maharani" and "Bebas", the real world keeps intruding in all it's glory. At best, It deserves a B+ especially because of the song "Mati Hidup Kembali", a song that accompanies a music video that implies our war veterans are capable of singing a beautiful ballad while being abused by ferocious yet deceiving Marxist disciples.
It's bleak and subtle, but the Butterfingers has done more than making great musics, they have captured our hearts. They bind us up in a freaky-fetish kinda way, kidnapped and fed us epinephrine before throwing us off a bridge by a bungee cord. They overwhelmed us with their energy and bombast which have put us through an emotional mangle. It's the best kind of a rock story. One which mixes impossible glamour with brief excursions to the wild side. Which starts from a meager high school band and ends in huge acclaim. And that is why Butterfingers is the only band that can welcome us to the future.
____________
Sources are taken from;
1) Interviews from Butterfingerstheband Youtube channel
2) Butterfingers (Malaysian Band) Wikipedia page
3) Butterfingers discography
4) The ever-evolving interweb
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