Coming up from the student, keraton-centric city where things are still done in old school style, is a Jogjakarta group called Shaggydog whose rock-ska-dub sensibility seems to have shaken up the town. Their creativity is quite apparent with this smartly packed, self-titled album featuring innovative songs and clever gimmicks such as radio station style chit chat between tracks. And lyrically, the album is real. Whether in the bitter words of “Hidup Ini” (This Life) or “Di Sayidan” (In Sayidan), where they paint a vivid picture of cruising around their hometown. The jazzy influence on the guitar and bass on “Rumah Tua” (Old House) is yet another fresh experimental feature that sets these guys apart from the Jogjakartan musical community. Respect to these Jogya kids on a job well done.//gino++

Not the most experimental album, musically, but lyrically the vibe is edgy, and political. This to be expected from Iwan Fals (known to some as the Indonesian Bob Marley or Dylan), a singer who has never been shy about representing the minority view or critiquing government policy. His second and most recent album “Manusia – Dewa” (Half Human – Half God), is uncompromising in its vision as he derides the suffering of the lower classes as living costs escalate or breaks down the fallacies of military service on “Para Tentara” (Soldiers). If you are of the politically or socially conscious ilk, then this album would make a crucial addition to your collection. //gino

What’s the difference between Kanye West and Piff Duddy? Well, while both have egos the size of high rise tenements, West is producing some of the best hip hop to have emerged in the last few years. With his sophomore effort Late Registration, his signature Soul inspired production style is intact and while he’s no Nas, his flow is much more confident than on College Dropout. Thumbing his nose at the minimal, sample-bereft synthesized beats that have been so popular for ages, West fills his tracks with classic loops by the likes of Gil Scott Heron, Curtis Mayfield, Etta James and Shirley Bassey who appears on the first single Diamonds From Sierra Leone. Then of course there are the ubiquitous guest spots by the heavyweights like Common, Jay Z, Nas and The Game, plus some oddities like Jamie Foxx (singing alongside a Ray Charles recording) and French film director Michel Gondry playing drums. It’s a line up which goes to prove just how hot this man is now, (Nas alongside Jay-Z? go figure…) even if he does keep telling us about it. Kanye’s sound is refreshingly full, with layered beats and loads of rich orchestration, plus he’s not afraid to get political (as we know from his recent unscripted outburst about New Orleans). Diamonds From Sierra Leone isn’t about the ice round his neck but the link between the jewellery trade and the civil war in Sierra Leone, while Roses targets the US Healthcare system. Fat hooks, wit, originality, and he’s doing it all right there in the mainstream.

In an interview a few years ago following the release of his debut album, Craig David explained how he spent an hour each morning trimming his goatee. He’s onto his third album and the goatee is as sculpted as ever. So is his music – squeaky clean production filled with a kind of bland sweetness that makes you think of synthetic air fresheners. His transformation from UK Garage scamp with a voice to R&B crooner is here complete: kind of like the emergence of Darth Vader but in reverse. Apparently he runs with the likes of P-Diddy and Jennifer Lopez these days and most of his lyrics are about parties and girls and clothes, with the exception of Johnny which addresses bullying at school with suitable melancholy.
Just Chillin’ is billed as a crump track, but it has the same montone sweetness behind it – sweetly plucked acoustic guitar and all the whoa whoa whoa-ing in the world isn’t gonna give this an edge. Slick, assured and vacuous.