The Jakarta Post offers outside-the-box recommendations on what to watch, read, listen to, visit and indulge in.

Read:

Ticket to NOWHERE zine

Allegory of the Bubble

(Bonus enamel pin + 3 stickers)

+- 100 pages

Buy: instagram.com/ticket.to.nowhere

On its second self-published zine, local creative brand Ticket to NOWHERE continues to push the envelope on presenting contemporary discourse in a highly defined package. Packaged inside a bubble wrap and printed on Riso and digital print, this second edition of the zine focuses on how we are increasingly living within our own bubbles -- whether we realize it or not. 

A host of guest writers pen their thoughts and offer sometimes-dramatic, sometimes-humorous takes on their bubbled-up lives, and their dissatisfaction with them. It is an incredibly compelling collection with a do-it-yourself (DIY) feel that has clearly had a lot of aesthetic considerations put into it -- not surprising since the individuals behind Ticket to NOWHERE are all designers.

Listen:

Pullo

Common Wine

(Ordo Nocturno)

Buy: https://www.the-storefront.com/pullo-common-wine/

What to listen to: Medan post-punk band Pullo releases their first album, 'Common Wine', consisting of 12 songs. (the-storefront.com) (the-storefront.com/the-storefront.com)

This darkwave/post-punk group from Medan sound like they hail from 1980s United Kingdom. Deep, moody vocals share the room with reverb-heavy instrumentations and sorrowful melodies. It brings to mind some obvious names such as Joy Division, early Cure or The Chameleons, but also, more obscure names of the gothic variety. 

Worked on for two years, the twelve songs on “Common Wine” sustain that nocturnal mood throughout. Fortunately, there is a good amount of strong song-writing underneath all that thick fog of dramatics and shimmering noir. 

Wear

Psychocult’s t-shirt collection

Buy: etsy.com/shop/psychocult

The Indonesian artist Psychocult creates plenty of provocative art, utilizing images of controversial characters and public figures in a way that evokes a lot of harshness. It is not “pretty” by any means, but it is a heavily stylish manner of punk-rock collage work that will definitely have heads turning. Psychocult’s T-shirt collection may not be something you would wear to the cousin’s black-tie wedding, but it offers plenty of attitude in an artsy manner -- fitting for those moments of standing out in the hippest crowd.