Tribal animals

Folk art is live and kicking, with a taste for local tribal aesthetics, from ancient pre-Filipino Baybayin script tattoos

to music, graphic design, fashion and contemporary art.

Crews of grunge-skater-nerd, ghetto-punk and retro-rockabilly artists, graphic designers in minimalist black conceptual clothes, graphic haircut and glasses, architects in Yohji or Comme Des are digging back into their drawers.
Pioneers, pillars and heralds of the local scenes, each of these artists fights the cheapo copycats of Western slop with studded, tattooed, pierced, cursed and blessed outshoots:

Andrew Chen, Taichung

Andrew's a crazy amazing dude, with an amazing voice:

Andrew if you're out there get in touch!

Redslim08, Manila

Jam Wu 吳耿禎, Taipei

Korakrit, Bangkok

Pornthep Chitphong, Chang Mai

Madsaki, Tokyo - New York

Motomichi, Tokyo - New York

Cumi, Jakarta

Bob 'Sick' Yudhita, Jakarta

Bramantyo Prijosusilo, Yogyakarta - Los Angeles

Eddie Hara, Basel

MC 仁, Hong Kong (寧死不屈)

Shieko, Kuala Lumpur

I just saw Kim Joon's wild digital prints at the Sundaram Tagore gallery in Hong Kong.

For good tribal beats I recommend
the legendary 電気グルーヴ Denki Groove and Dynamite Club from Japan,
Shetou's punk rock folk, Iz and 哈雅乐团小组 Haya's tundra folk rock from Inner Mongolia, Askar Grey Wolf from Xinjiang, and the amazing "黄祸 Yellow Peril" compilation

featuring hardcore remixes of Mongolian chants by Japanese mad men and Panda Twin aka Sulumi, Dead J, B6 from China (thanks Zhen Hua!),
DJ Kulu's groove house from Hong Kong,
DJ Ty鈦 and the 鐵虎兄弟 T-Ho brothers' aboriginal hip hop, 林強 Lim Giong's electro and 張四十三 Chang 43 from Taiwan,
Siam Dub Monster's dub house, Rik Wachirapilan's electro rock, Kai Jo Brothers' dub rock and Skalaxy's ska rock from Thailand,
and S.I.G.I.T. from Indonesia.
Here's a tribalmix of folk rock, trip rock, electro rock, reggae dub, breakcore, trip hop, hip hop, blues folk and sundry:
"行者無疆 Walking in life" - 哈雅樂團 Haya Band ("狼圖騰 Wolf Totem", 2008), China (Inner Mongolia)
"她是一首歌" - P.K.14 ("谁谁谁和谁谁谁", 2004), China
"Badai Kini Berlalu" - Ungu ("Penguasa Hati", 2009), Indonesia
"You And Me" - Skalaxy, Thailand
"Banzai!!!" - TerbujurKaku ("Glitchy Bitchy No.3", 2009), Indonesia
"跳大神" - 二手玫瑰 Second Hand Rose Band ("娱乐江湖", 2006), China
"Eulogi Arsenikum (Erk - Di Udara Remixed, excerpt)" - Somno Disturbia ("Maujud" O.S.T. by Adit Bujbunen Al Buse, 2008), Indonesia
"ไม่พอใจ Tum Tua Naw" (excerpt) - ? (Harm magazine, 2007), Thailand
"屋邨仔 (Part 1)" - 大懶堂 LMF ("Lazy Mutha Fucka", 1999), Hong Kong
"Bergerak" - Joe Flizzow feat. Phlowtron ("President", 2009), Malaysia
"鐵虎兄弟 T-Ho Brothers" - 鐵虎兄弟 T-Ho Brothers feat. 紀曉君 Samingad, Jia Jia & Nasty ("Metal Tiger", 2003), Taiwan
"Sikat Na Si Pepe" - Gloc 9 ("G9", 2003), Philippines
"遠方 Distant Place" - 哈雅乐团小组 Haya Band ("狼圖騰 Wolf Totem", 2008), China (Inner Mongolia)
"Unfinished Business" - Aditya Saputra & Danif Pradana ("Maujud" O.S.T. by Adit Bujbunen Al Buse, 2008), Indonesia
"Took Took" (The Photo Sticker Machine Mix) - Kai-Jo Brothers ("Took Took"), Thailand
"可愛的車" - 董事長樂團 The Chairman ("真的假的!?", 2006), Taiwan
"蓝色的故乡" - 刚子 ("蓝色的故乡", 2008), China (Inner Mongolia)

Graphic design in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia is a big proponent of the tribal style, praise be to them: fFurious, Green Donkey, Phunk Studio and Radioactive.

Also check out the goods on:
Little Romance's makie jeans from Japan,

and Argentum jewellery from Singapore.

Finally, watch the very enjoyable and thrilling 1965 film "Genghis Khan" starring a great Omar Sharif, Francoise Dorléac as his wife, Stephen Boyd (Messala in "Ben-Hur"), James Mason as a Chinese mandarin!, Eli Wallach as the Shah!, Telly Savalas as "Shan", and Robert Morley as the Emperor of China!,

and Sergei Bodrov's 2007 unforgettable and powerful "Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan" starring the great Asano Tadanobu.