Browse by Label: STRAWBERRY RAIN

Artist:	AKA
Title:	Hard Beat
Label:	STRAWBERRY RAIN
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	STRAW 001CD

"First anthology from Indonesia's heaviest psychedelic and progressive funk rock group. CD housed in 'old school' gatefold sleeve with insert. AKA featured on Now Again's Those Shocking Shaking Days compilation (2011). Originating from Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya, East Java, AKA is an acronym of Apotik Kali Asin. Starting off their careers as an infamous local band with notorious crowd pleasing antics, AKA regularly went through repertoires of Steppenwolf, Grand Funk Railroad, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Cream and Three Dog Night before finding a significant audience outside their home city. It was soon after that the band signed with a Jakarta based label, Indra Records that they started producing a steady release of albums, including 11 studio LPs and a couple of compilations. The lead singer Ucok Harahap - who famously idolizes James Brown- is perhaps the most notorious rock performer in Indonesia's pop history, infamous for brandishing (amongst others) coffins, whips and stripping naked on stage during performances. Sadly due to recording English based, heavy psychedelic/progressive funk, AKA's music failed to gain popularity at the time of its release. Today, AKA is recognized as one of Indonesia's top rock bands of all time, and for good reason. With this release, we are proud to offer an Anthology encompassing AKA's heaviest & funkiest moments."

Artist:	SOEBARDJA, BENNY
Title:	The Lizard Years
Label:	STRAWBERRY RAIN
Format:	2CD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	STRAW 002CD

"The self-proclaimed founder of the private press scene, Benny Soebardja is one of the most important figures from the Indonesian music industry. Having been a member of bands such as The Peels, Shark Move and the infamous Giant Step, Benny left his mark across many memorable albums throughout the years, including his contributions to the recent Those Shocking, Shaking Days compilation on Now Again. During the mid '70s, Benny also recorded solo efforts, which many regard as some of the best music to ever surface from the region. With the help of British poet Bob Dook, Benny recorded numerous English based songs filled with incredible musicianship and melodies that have an underlying progressive nature. Backed by the almost unknown Lizard (which contained members of both Giant Step and Harry Roesli's Philosophy Gang), his solo efforts are in line with the sound of his other bands, yet stand on their own as a unique progressive offering. Having almost been signed to Virgin Records UK in the '70s as a part of Giant Step, his talents were apparent and would be world renown by this time if not for his music being lost within Indonesia all these years. Here, for the first time we present to you his first three private press solo efforts, Lizard, Gut Rock and Night Train. Unlike many bands within the Indonesian scene, Benny had no label influence while recording these offerings, making them true private press recordings without any filler. All three albums are compiled as a deluxe-packaged 2CD set with a 36-page booklet full of concert photos, album covers, and information about Benny's musical history."

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