Not Great Men, Great Gamelan

December 6, 2012 9:24 AM

A gamelan ensemble performs a cover of Gang of Four's "Not Great Men".
posted by carrienation (24 comments total)

Can't access this at work. Don't even need to hear it to favorite it. I've loved Gang of Four since I was a younger'un.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:25 AM on December 6, 2012

This is fantastic - I would not have expected it to translate so well. And so random that they chose this song.
posted by namewithoutwords at 9:30 AM on December 6, 2012

This is not a thing that I thought would exist, but, hey, it does.
posted by blue t-shirt at 9:35 AM on December 6, 2012

I hate describing things as "so random", but this is SO RANDOM.
posted by windbox at 9:37 AM on December 6, 2012

Entertainment!
posted by Egg Shen at 9:44 AM on December 6, 2012 [2 favorites]

Solid gold, that is.
posted by SomaSoda at 9:51 AM on December 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

I found that essence rare.
posted by Decani at 10:08 AM on December 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

Hah, wow. I wish there was more information about the ensemble.
posted by Palindromedary at 10:09 AM on December 6, 2012

Marvelous. I never dreamed that the gamelan-enjoying and GoF-enjoying portions of my brain would have occasion to be active at the same time!

Now for a mariachi version of "To Hell with Poverty."
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:11 AM on December 6, 2012 [2 favorites]

It's what Gang of Four always wanted.
posted by February28 at 10:14 AM on December 6, 2012

This made my day - thanks.
posted by ryanshepard at 10:37 AM on December 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is the best weird thing I've heard this week.

The bored and indifferent expressions on the performers' faces elevate this to genius.
posted by ardgedee at 10:40 AM on December 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

Thanks for posting. Really enjoyed this.
posted by josher71 at 10:43 AM on December 6, 2012

That is so cool. I wish I could ask them why they decided to pick this song. It sort of reminds me of the Raincoats in that it has a sweet yet eerie quality. I mean, who are these women? What other songs do they play?

In a reverse way, it reminds me of 23 Skiddoo's Urban Gamelan where it's Asian-British guys writing industrial/dance tracks many of which involve gamelan, a really good sort of reverse-colonialist musical approach in both cases.
posted by Frowner at 10:45 AM on December 6, 2012

It's what Gang of Four always wanted.

It's what we all want.
posted by mhoye at 11:05 AM on December 6, 2012

That just made me love being a human being living on this planet even more than I already did.
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas at 11:06 AM on December 6, 2012

As if this didn't make my day enough, my dog is sitting next to me doing the head twisty turny thing towards the laptop.
posted by mannequito at 12:08 PM on December 6, 2012

I know a bunch of gamelan performers out here. Their favorite running joke is that, due to the size and construction of the instruments, they play real heavy metal.

Also, this is awesome.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:16 PM on December 6, 2012

Quit filling my head with culture; you're making me give myself an ulcer.
posted by The White Hat at 1:35 PM on December 6, 2012

So cool! Thank you for this, carrienation. My only wish is that they'd all donned bikinis, because then they'd be dressed for the H-Bomb (for the H-Bomb).
posted by but no cigar at 1:38 PM on December 6, 2012

Now I'm craving gamelan covers of "I Love a Man in Uniform" and "Outside The Trains Don't Run On Time" 'cuz gamelan and GoF go together way better than I would have ever imagined.

Thank you so much for this.
posted by kinnakeet at 2:53 PM on December 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

The Happy Ever After!
posted by Mojojojo at 5:42 PM on December 6, 2012

FelliniBlank: Now for a mariachi version of "To Hell with Poverty."

Would you be content with Beat It, Born This Way, Get Back, and various metal/rock covers by Metalachi? Note that the first three are not Metalachi, but other random groups I found on YouTube.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:40 PM on December 6, 2012

So good....
posted by a non e mouse at 1:18 AM on December 7, 2012