speed of dark

You know the song Tribute by Tenacious D, where a demon stops the duo on a dusty road and demands that they play the best song in the world? And they do it! They play the best song in the world and beat the furry pants off the demon. The video is hilarious. But the song where they relate this story is NOT the best song in the world. Its just a TRIBUTE to that song. This post is not about that song.

On September 1, I was shopping in Cost Plus World Market when I was stopped dead in my tracks by some gorgeous acoustic guitar chords coming over the store speakers. Then to my amazement, an Oriental woman’s voice began to wail spookily over this completely non-Oriental guitar. Although the vocals were clearly Asian, the words were neither Chinese nor Japanese. The contrast between the music and the singing was totally arresting. I love contrasts. I asked two store people what it was, but all they could tell me is that it is something on their new fall mix. They don’t get any info, apparently.

So I went home and got on iTunes to begin the hopeless search for a song that I had heard only once and did not know either the name or the artist or even the language it is sung in. I spent five hours of clicking through their entire genre of World music. Welcome to the wacky world of Alt-Gramma.

The song I have posted here, Kemayoran, is NOT that song. It is only a TRIBUTE to that song. Now you get it, huh? But I do like it very much. It has some very similar elements to the mystery song from Cost Plus. The guitar is not like typical Asian string instruments you have heard before. The picking style is almost folky Appalachian. The male and female vocals are most definitely Asian—it’s Indonesian.

I may never find the mystery song. I have e-mailed the California main office of Cost Plus, only to receive a reply that I would have to write a letter (actual PAPER--how antiquated!) to the national corporate office.

I don’t expect many people to like this song as much as I do, but please try it. It’s good to try new things, like vegetables. There is only one other song by this group that is available, and you can find it on iTunes. The name is Los Quin Tallu-tallu. You can almost hear bluegrass in it. Are Grup Bamba Puang the Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty of Indonesia? Who knows. Excuse me, I have to go hang out in Cost Plus now in case that song comes up on the rotation.

Grup Bamba Puang - Kemayoran