Malaysian Hardcore

We might say, therefore, that Barthes envisioned musica practica to have been a site of self-determination and autonomy for the individual-player. However, Barthes (mistakenly?) believed that practical music was on the wane. “This type of music has disappeared...To find practical music in the West, one has now to look to another public, anot

Such cultural mimicry is perhaps symptomatic of a more general malady infecting the Malaysian punk/HC movement. We might be able to call this problem a type of “inferiority complex” affecting the individuals in the scene. For example, Abira Mohd repeatedly notes that:

Compared to some of the other countries in Southeast Asia, the punk/HC movement in Malaysia is fairly well-developed—with its own storied history and noteworthy figures. Carburetor Dung, for example, is considered to be one of the most important and foundational punk bands of the scene—Malaysia’s “punk rock heroes.” Moreover, touring and recording networks—punk’s vital infrastructure—is also well-established, allowing many bands to book their own shows and release their own CDs, tapes, and records (of notably good quality). Malaysia also has a plethora of independently published magazines (“zines”) from the punk/HC underground, which act as a sort of informational network and media for the movement at large. Yet, more importantly, these zines open up a space for both personal expression (of the editor and the contributors) and public discourse. The culture of punk/HC can perhaps only be realized through the workings of these zines.

Since its inception, punk/HC has always been something considered to be “more than music” (to use a popular slogan of the hardcore scene). Sociologist Dick Hebdige, for example, analyzed British punk fashion—popularized and commoditized by bands such as the Sex Pistols—as symbolically conveying politically and ideologically subversive meaning. Punk (for Hebdige) operated as a closed, subcultural entity within a specific national (British) configuration of class, race, and generation. Yet, punk/HC must be understood as something more than a mere “music and fashion” national youth subculture. It now operates at a level which transcends national, ethnic, and class boundaries. At the time of Hebdige’s writing, punk was still in its nascent, formative period. In the past twenty-five years, however, punk has experienced a remarkable growth and development on an almost worldwide scale. The spread of punk to new locations around the globe perhaps parallels the phenomenon of globalization since the 1980s—in many ways, the spread of punk/HC is a direct result of globalization itself. If we were to compare the flows of Western capital with the movements of punk/HC, I believe we would find a remarkable correlation between the two.

her repertoire, another instrument (the young generation, vocal music, the guitar).” At this juncture, I feel it imperative to pose a few questions: What does it mean to say that practical music is both “disappearing” and able to be found “in another public?” And why would we want to look for musica practica only in the West? Apparently, any music that is not encountered in the concert halls of the West passes under the radar of the semiologist; inasmuch, non-Western music and the music of those other “publics” become dismissible, unworthy of analysis.

Some topics in this essay:
Punk/HC Malaysia, Imperialism Western, Carburetor Dung, Selangor Dam, Roland Barthes, Punk Hebdige, West Apparently, American European, Malay Muslim, Timothy Sheehan, punk/hc movement, punk hardcore, practical music, punk/hc malaysia, musica practica, mainstream malaysian, malaysian culture, malaysian punk/hc, worldwide movement, culture punk/hc, malaysian punk/hc movement, mainstream malaysian culture, malaysia punk/hc movement, malaysian culture punk/hc, punk/hc movement malaysia,