On the back cover of the 'third' album by this Indonesian-Australian singer-songwriter, there are pictures of his two previous releases. The first album commands four figures among top psych collectors around the world, and is often talked about as the most sought-after Australian release in the genre. The second album appears to be a rock festival recording, but if it actually exists, no collector I know has ever seen it. This third album is a little easier to come by than his first, and a lot more interesting to DJs and funk collectors, but don't kid yourself: it's still exceedingly rare.
Leong Lau sings and plays guitar and a few other instruments on this stripped-back outsider funk outing, joined by three lesser known musicians on drums, bass and keys. There’s not a weak moment on this record. I chose ‘City Bleus’ – and that’s not a typo – to feature on my Aussie Funk mix several years ago. After giving a copy of the mix to a well-known Sydney actor and DJ, I received a frantic text message asking me what the song was and where could he get it! To this day, I still don't think he's managed to track down a copy. How can I sum up the sound of this album? An Australian accent meets a loner-private-press style Herbie Hancock recorded in a budget studio. That’s the best I can do. I recently uploaded this record on Soul Strut for a recent Record Day thread and it received a few very gracious responses. This is the kind of record that makes me want to keep digging to find unknown Australian music of the 70s.
Another thing before I go. Lau also recorded a 7” single that he released the same year as this album. What's confusing and intriguing about the whole thing is that while the 7” has a different sound to his LP and is clearly recorded in a separate session with different musicians, he makes reference to it and lyrics from it on the back cover of this record, and yet the songs don't feature on it. Pretty strange.
Leong Lau – That Rongeng Sound (Sunscape Records, 1977)
Download here (NOTE: this link will not be available forever!)
