Sunday 2 April 2017
Gamelan Padhang Moncar braved wind and rain to perform twice at the night market on the Wellington Waterfront, near Te Papa.
Southeast Asia
Other Islands: 2012-2018
Coming in 2018
The third volume of fiffdimension’s best-of compilations (see also Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005 and Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012) brings us into the current decade – with further wide-ranging experimentation and exploration both sonically and geographically, in New Zealand, Western Australia, Indonesia, Okinawa (Japan), and Fiji.
Now available to pre-order (some tracks available immediately and you’ll be automatically sent the rest once everything’s finalised).
Featuring tracks from the albums
The Winter: Flying Visit (2012)
in the non-idiomatic idiom in Norway (1999/2014)
ネオン列車の風景 Neon Train Landscapes (2010-2015)
Ngumbang (2014-2015)
The Winter: Exit Points (2010/2015)
The Electricka Zoo (2017)
and previously unheard tracks
by Dave Black (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, harmonica, laptop, bass, tenor saxophone, field recordings, piano, ukulele, sanshin, saron, jublag, demung, vocal), with
Mike Kingston (charango, acoustic guitar), Simon Sweetman (percussion), Nat da Hatt (electric guitar, keyboards), Cylvi M (vocal, field recordings, percussion, shakuhachi), Emit Snake-Beings (vocal, percussion, flute, electronics), Blair Latham (bass clarinet), Simon O’Rorke (synthesiser), Chris Prosser (violin), Julie Bevan (acoustic guitar), the Digitator (electric drums, keyboards & loops),
plus Indonesian gamelan ensembles led by Sofari Hidayat, Budi Putra, and Gareth Farr,
and field recordings from Western Australia, Indonesia, Okinawa (Japan), and Fiji.
If you enjoy this, try the previous volumes Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005 and Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012
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Indonesia Festival at Te Papa
Two audience videos at the Indonesia Festival at Te Papa national museum in Wellington, NZ:
Gamelan music, in styles from Bali by Gamelan Taniwha Jaya
and central Java by Gamelan Padhang Moncar.
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Te Marae, Level 4
Sunday 23 October 2016, 10am-5pm
This was a full day of music, dance, song, and batik fashion from Indonesia.
Gamelan Jadi Mata Kuliah di Selandia Baru
Gamelan Padhang Moncar featured on Metro TV news in Indonesia today.
Happy Indonesian Independence Day, 17th August!
Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Here’s video from my two visits to Indonesia in 2014 – a fascinating new country that I’m only just beginning to explore, and can continue to do so through gamelan (like Indonesia itself it gets more complex & interesting the more you look).
Partly because I’ve visited several countries in East Asia now, and lived in two (Japan and South Korea), Indonesia seems like something else entirely. It’s less Chinese-influenced and has a style of its own.
[Diary from September] This trip was just enough for an introductory sampler. I decided to focus on the arts this time rather than the mountains, ocean and jungle which would require more time, money and preparation.
I had mixed results in my cultural studies mission this morning. Read the rest of this entry »
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya 2015
Thanks to everyone who came to see Gamelan Taniwha Jaya play in Wellington recently!
Gopala
Tabuh Telu
In 2015 we’ve also performed at the Newtown Festival, the Southeast Asian Night Market, and Indonesia Day.
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya
Wellington Southeast Asian Night Market
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya, 2015
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya, 2015
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya, 2015
Here are a couple of recordings of two of the pieces we played:
https://soundcloud.com/user521325057/margapati-rehearsal-feb-2015/s-rQW6u
These are in the Balinese gong kebyar style of gamelan, which is loud, fast, intricate and modernist. For more info see http://gamelan.org.nz/
Gamelan Taniwha Jaya is a group of New Zealand musicians dedicated to the study and performance of Balinese music. They specialise in contemporary music for Gamelan Gong Kebyar, and frequently incorporate western instruments into the ensemble. Read the rest of this entry »
Little India, Singapore
A major highlight of 2014 for me was visiting some new parts of Southeast Asia. I enjoyed the Tamil Indian culture in Singapore and Malaysia, which has sated my curiosity for India itself for the moment.
The sensory overload of the Hindu temples was an intriguing contrast from the elegant minimalism of the Japanese approach, and the mix of Indian, Chinese and Malay cultures is like having three different Asian countries in one.
