Semakbelukar: (Courtesy of Kineruku)

Indie, punk, hipsterdom, or whatever you may call it, has had a long history of turning its back not only on what is available in the mainstream music scene.

There have been instances when these indie rockers, snotty punks and bearded hipsters turned their backs even on their peers within the tightly-knit community, walking away from the main stage or dropping out altogether from the scene when the existing modus operandi, the primary artistic expression or the way the system operates turned into cliché, predictable formula or a shortcut that is no longer challenging for them.

Talking Heads is a punk movement within a punk movement known for their eschewing of The Ramones crude minimalism and/or probably leather jacket-clad Joey Ramones biker gang member look. Talking Heads'€™ David Byrne dressed onstage like a geometry student attending a morning class and his music is an antithesis to The Ramones'€™ minimalism. The band'€™s oeuvre Remain In Light is an exercise of polyrhythmic music of the highest order that would make even Fela Kuti proud.

In America recently, the rejection of garage rock revivalism, pioneered by The Strokes, has given birth to a movement that leans toward soft-rock, folk explosion-inspired spearheaded by the likes of Midlake, Fleet Foxes and Beirut.

In 2014, the country'€™s independent music scene '€” it is a pointless exercise talking about mainstream when what you get is only a pretty face with average singing skills or an average-looking male performer with above-average singing skills '€” was also convulsed by the friction.

Keroncong Tenggara: (Courtesy of Galeri Indonesia Kaya)

Many indie acts, especially in Jakarta, Bandung, Palembang and Makassar, are so jaded with borrowing from American folk, Britpop and/or heavy metal that they decided to blaze their own trail, carving a new identity and making music that accentuates '€œtraditional'€ characteristic Indonesian music.

One of the finest examples of such a return to roots is what the Bandung-based traditional-folk collective Tiga Pagi crafted in its long-awaited debut Roekmana'€™s Repertoire. The LP (which is literally a long-play, a single continuous flow of tracks that make up a mini-opera), comes with traditional keroncong and Sundanese music, which, far from being only an embellishment, has become the DNA that defines the music of Tigapagi.

Another standout in 2014, which accentuates the indigenous color of Indonesian music is Keroncong Tenggara, a collaboration between multi-instrumentalist Riza Arshad, vocalist Nyak Ina '€œUbiet'€ Raseuki and composer Dian HP. Although the result is somehow mixed, the trio managed to achieve a success that eluded their peers, blending traditional ke-roncong music with the complex rhythm, melodies and time signature of jazz.

And the big winner for 2014 is the now-disbanded Palembang folk revivalist Semakbelukar. Tired of playing heavy metal and grunge, the five friends, who were led by former studio engineer David Hersya, returned to their Malay roots, using accordion, mandolin, tambourine and mini gong to produce some of the best and authentic music that the country has seen in a while.

Earlier this week, their self-titled EP was named the best album of 2014 at the Indonesia Cutting Edge Music Awards (ICEMA), the country'€™s equivalent of Grammys for the indie scene.

'€œTheir album brings new perception and new values in Malay music, which thus far has been considered sappy and uncool,'€ one of ICEMA'€™s judges, Indra Ameng, said on why Semakbelukar deserved the award.

Homicide
Another manifestation of hardheaded esotericism among some in the indie community was the way they released their music. Local bands releasing their music on vinyl was a novelty in 2012 and 2013, but it seems that in 2014, every band you know in the neighborhood released their music on vinyl '€” disregarding the high overhead cost of pressing their music on wax in Europe or the United States.

Even mainstream bands like D'€™Masiv and Maliq & D'€™essentials released their music on vinyl. It has become a signpost for snobbery and high-mindedness and some independent and artisanal labels in Jakarta, Bandung and Surakarta who champion equal access to good music decided to return to a long-dead format: the cassette tape.

Some of the best records in 2014 were released on cassette, including the reissue of lost recording from Jakarta-based shoegazer act Black Mustang, Sajama Cut frontman Marcel Thee'€™s side project Strange Mountain and Jakarta-based hardcore Vague'€™s new LP footsteps, who was first released on cassette before being pressed on compact disc.

In the underground hip-hop scene, the now-defunct Bandung-based collective Homicide in November decided to bring back the glory days of the boombox and cassette deck by reissuing its first EP Godzkilla Necronometry on cassette. It took only three days for 500 copies of the cassette tapes to sell out.

The indie scene has been about refusing to take the easiest way to achieve success. If you can make it difficult, why make it easier? In 2014, punks, tapeheads and folk revivalists chose the difficult path and were duly rewarded.