In April I went to Indonesia with Young and Restless. We saw a lot of bands but this is my pick for the best indie band in the country.
White Shoes & The Couples Company - Tentang Cinta (mp3)
White Shoes & The Couples Company - Aksi Kucing (mp3)
White Shoes & The Couples Company are a six piece indie/70s pop band from Jakarta, formed in 2005. Their music is neither contemporary nor traditional but is distinctly Indonesian retro pop, inspired by the country’s 1970s era movie soundtracks and old school composers such as Ismail Marzuki. This band can’t possibly come from anywhere; their look of batik tops and white trousers and shoes is truly one of a kind and remind me of 1970s feature films that my parents made me watch when I was growing up.
White Shoes’ appeal go beyond the Indonesian expatriate diaspora, the band’s appearance at South By Southwest this year clearly charmed the music press scrums:
“White Shoes & the Couples Company, a Jakarta-based six-piece, have parlayed not only a musical but sartorial fascination with their nation’s pop culture into a sound and look that have seen them hailed as one of the most “crush worthy” bands of 2006…” - Time Magazine
“…a masterful debut from a band overflowing with ideas and blessed with the talent to bring them to life.” 4.5 stars - allmusic.com
“…I caught White Shoes and the Couples Company, a group from Indonesia that dresses in crisp white suits and skirts, sounds like a house band on “The Love Boat”… But what made its set at La Habana Annex so refreshing was a straightforwardness that had no obscure reference points and caused no skeptical head-scratching.” -The New York Times
“..White Shoes’ take on the form is a refined, spicier one, with Apsari’s vocals trilling in English and her home tongue and classical music instruments and phrasings.” - spin.com’s band of the day
“Best Dressed Band: White Shoes and the Couples Company. I can’t believe I missed this band, who were in town from Jakarta and mingling with Elijah Wood after the BUST magazine party.“- vanityfair.com
“…White Shoes & the Couples Company (minus a guitarist here) came from halfway around the world to entertain, and entertain they did. Between the slick matching wedding band getup, the highly danceable retro pop stylings, and the picture-perfect poise of charismatic vocalist Aprilia Apsari, there was much to love about this Minty Fresh-signed act.” - pitchforkmedia.com
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