Digging Deep To the Roots, Here are Indonesian Most Prominent Contemporary Bands

in #music6 years ago (edited)

1024px-Rebana.JPG

“Music... a magic beyond all we do here!”
-Albus Dumbledore


Looks like the most famous Hogwarts Headmaster was right. Being grown up in Bali & Jogja, for me, music has a close connection with the cosmic universe, it's beyond magic. Umar Kayam--one of Indonesian leading sociologist, in one of his columns had also conveyed similar things. He described how loyal were the people of Yogyakarta to go to the central square in the city. They were coming from all over the region, only to listen to the gamelan of Kiai and Nyai Sekati, in the time of Sekaten Celebration. According to Umar Kayam (1990), Gamelan Kiai and Nyai Sekati were no ordinary traditional music instrument. In a joke (because Mr. Kayam was a really funny man), he said that the sound of these musical instruments could make him shiver.

The rhythm of traditional music can make you shiver. In certain events, it even makes someone trance. Take the traditional performance "Kuda Lumping" for example, it has the rhythmic drum beats, making the quiet situation become so tense. And when the time comes, the dancers went trance. So terrifying, not kind of performance to watch for the soft-hearted person. But, yes, it is so weird and intense, beyond magic.

Or how about the magnificent and glorious Ogoh-ogoh parade, the night before Nyepi Day in Bali? This exciting parade also indispensable from the traditional music that accompanies it. As the dance is lively and full of energy, the same go for traditional Balinese music. The tempo is fast, cheerful, lively, crowded. This ogoh-ogoh parade is one of the most exciting traditional performance in Bali! You'd better check this one out.

Surely each region in the vast Archipelago of Indonesia has their own distinctive traditional music. It is a form of diversity that should be enjoyed and celebrated. So I'm so grateful when there are modern musicians who dare to pick up the challenge, digging the roots of this traditional music. To mention some: there are Semakbelukar, Suarasama, and Senyawa. Their attempts to go deep to the musical roots make their music so cool. The don't sing about a broken heart. They invite the audiences to contemplate about the true meaning of life.

Suarasama, this band is so badass. Mixing up various traditional musical elements from Sumatra, India, Africa, the Middle East to Europe. Music became so magical and wide. Irwansyah Harahap & Rithaony Hutajulu of Suarasama have spreads their music horizon as wide as possible, breaking down geographical boundaries. Consider the track titled "Sang Hyang Guru" or "Fajar Di Atas Awan (Dawn Above the Cloud)", the themes are so transcendent and seem to answer the doubt that music is universal. Language differences are not an obstacle. Let the music speak.

Suarasama serenading "Lebah" at Tanakita Camping Ground, Sukabumi during RRRec Fest.


Semakbelukar was another case. They were disbanded at the rightest moment, just when people started to listen and curious about their works. They have disbanded themselves with strong statements as well: destroying their musical instruments with hammers and crowbars at the last concert. What a statement.

As for the music, Semakbelukar was rooted in music from the Melayu realm. They use tambourine instead of drums, and accordion instead of guitar. With a thick crooked Malay-lump and beautiful lyrics, Semakbelukar had all the time to steal the attention. They went deep to the Malay roots not only on the melody but also on the diction that creates a certain of uniqueness. It is interesting to see that they play the music for fun, away from the ambitions of being famous and popular. As a result, they produce honest and sincere music. It's hard not to fall in love with this unique band.

At first glance, in some parts, the voice of Semakbelukar vocalist is similar to the tone of Efek Rumah Kaca (ERK). It was ironic because ERK once insinuated Indonesian pop music which is dominated by the rhythm of Melayu as a lame move and the lyrics speak about merely love. Well, Semakbelukar was like an actual response to that criticism. Melayu music can be cool too. How happy I was to find Yes No Wave, an online label from Jogja was distributed their album. I only need one song to declare myself as their fan.

SEMAKBELUKAR - BE(RE)NCANA


How about Senyawa? This duo from Yogyakarta uniquely manages to embrace the mystical sounds of traditional Javanese music while exploring the experimental music practice. Their music is a perfect balance between avant-garde and the heritage. It's difficult to define Senyawa's music into one genre, but one can say that they successfully showed a truly contemporary Indonesian music.

Philip Sherburne from Pitchfork said that Senyawa is unlike any other band.

"It’s safe to say there is no other band on the planet quite like Senyawa. What do you call the music of this Indonesian duo: folk? Doom metal? Unplugged minimalist noise improv? In fact, it is a little bit of each."
Philip Sherburne on Senyawa.

I wrote about Senyawa before. You can read it here. First sight about Senyawa; They built their own musical instrument from bamboo and other weird things, making an intense loud sound. Being unknown in their home country, actually, Senyawa is the busiest Band in Indonesia. Their tour schedule is amazingly tight. Not only in Asia but also Europe.

A mini-documentary by French director Vincent Moon about Senyawa.


Suarasama, Semakbelukar, and Senyawa managed to show that recognizing their roots is an important factor to create beautiful works. Because there are so many pieces of music that have no character, sometimes it's difficult for us to distinguish this music by which artists or bands. The ears need character. And because I am Indonesian, the character of traditional Indonesian music is actually more easily digested by the ear. I do not know if the effect would be the same for everyone. When I heard the work of the three bands we discussed, I drifted into a strange nostalgia. Perhaps this is where the magic works. What kind of nostalgia generated by works born in the 2000s? There was, however, a connection there, perhaps by tambourine drumming, the clanging of the mandolin, or the strains of the accordion, which took me to a far-off place of peace.

Music is magical. I do believe it. But when it was created with mere guitar strumming without concept, I suspected it had the potential to lose its magic. But maybe, in the hands of a sensitive punk rocker, strumming guitar alone could be a music that moves, igniting the resistance and movements. Give them any chords, and add big fuzzy distortion to it. On behalf of the 90s kids who once thought that Kurt Cobain was a god, I think that is magical too.


References:


Picture of Rebana by Nurhafizah Abdullah

The rebana is a Malay tambourine that is used in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore.

Sort:  

Get your post resteemed to 72,000 followers. Go here https://steemit.com/@a-a-a

Congratulations, Your Post Has Been Added To The Steemit Worldmap!
Author link: http://steemitworldmap.com?author=gibic
Post link: http://steemitworldmap.com?post=digging-deep-to-the-roots-here-are-indonesian-most-prominent-contemporary-bands


Want to have your post on the map too?

  • Go to Steemitworldmap
  • Click the code slider at the bottom
  • Click on the map where your post should be (zoom in if needed)
  • Copy and paste the generated code in your post
  • Congrats, your post is now on the map!

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by gibic from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.35
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70601.11
ETH 3576.21
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.78