Peace,
Reflecting on my trip to Malaysia, I am reminded of the late night hunts for food through endless hawker stalls in Penang, the vibrant and thoughtful people greeting me at the turn of every corner, colonial style buildings nestled next to Buddhist temples next mosques, malls filled with electronic gear kiosks and flea markets offering everything under the sun. The intermixing of Malay, Chinese and Indian people and traditions made available for me an amazing array of flavor palettes, tonalities, style and rhythms quite unlike anything I have ever experienced in my travels through the world. You can’t ask for a better case study to get schooled in everything from geopolitics to the various versions of the national dish, nasi lemak........all of which are telling about the music that I discovered in this magical place. From wandering around in 100 degree humidity with my field recorder picking up street sounds to tracking down the legendary Joe of Joe’s Mac at Amcorp Mall right outside of Kuala Lumpur. It was experiences like these that offered me the first visions for this project that I’ve come to call Field Research.
Field Research: Malaysia chronicles my hunt for record shops, sellers and collections in the country. It’s the haul of over 100 albums that I purchased out there; a cross section of local folk music, Bollywood, and East and South Asian funk, disco and rock. It's the countless hours of the Islamic call to prayer recorded from my window, street vendors and other built and natural environments that I passed by on foot. I hope you’ll dig the tracks, but more importantly hear the sounds that are complex and unique to the story of this beautiful country. And before I sign off, I invite you to be my travel companion as I bring you elsewhere around the world. Until next time.
Salaams,
Malik Abdul-Rahmaan
released May 5, 2017
Audio by Malik Abdul Rahmaan
Mastering by D. Focis
Design by Seth Yamasaki shefmadeit.com
A&R by Chris Hund
Ⓟ & © Paxico Records 2017
Field Research: Malaysia on Bandcamp
