Palmer. DIY ethnomusicologist (@auralarchipelago ), quadruplet, teacher, @suwintaa fan, other important nouns and verbs. Yogyakarta, ID 🇮🇩 Hanoi, VN 🇻🇳
Nothing like a visit to the countryside to see folks who greet me with smiles and serenade me with songs, really cheers me up on these gloomy February days 🙂
Got the week off so immersing myself in the mouth organ culture of Northwest Vietnam’s ethnic minorities. Every time I get out of Hanoi I think, why don’t I do this more often? More genuine interactions with locals in a few days than I get in months of cold city life, and awesome music to boot.
The Kazakh steppe is maybe not the best place to try to record live music: wind comes from all directions, sneakily making its way under even the tightest microphone wind covers; flies and gnats buzz around the mics; with nowhere to hide, the sun is brutally sharp and hot until at least 7PM…but in the end, it’s worth it for these ridiculous views (these are the Karatau mountains, the boundary between the seemingly endless steppe and the similarly vast stretches of deserts in Turkestan.)
After many years of dreaming, I’ve finally made it to the last great Indonesian island on my list, Papua. Staying with my friend Markus Rumbino at his beautiful place on Lake Sentani. Much of the most fascinating parts of this massive island are off limits at the moment because of some intense political situations, but I’m hoping to make the most of my time here - my last stop before heading back to Vietnam!
The finale of an amazing totta’an party in Sumenep, Madura - homing pigeon enthusiasts gather by the dozens and release their pigeons all at once (accompanied by special music - more on that soon!). I love the MC: “Oooo wowowow! Fly high in the air! Farewell! I hope you make it safely to your respective homes!!!”
