Tag: Southeast Asia

Other Islands: 2012-2018

fiffdimension vol3 (see also Gleefully Unknown: 1997-2005 and Fame & Oblivion: 2005-2012) brings us into the current decade - with further wide-ranging experimentation and exploration sonically, temporally and geographically, in New Zealand, Western Australia, Indonesia, Okinawa (Japan), and Fiji. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTMQw7roXH0&list=PLtbrBpNjlOHOfvink1dJANU_UFOs6My4Y by Dave Black (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, harmonica, laptop, bass, tenor saxophone, field recordings, piano, ukulele, sanshin, saron, … Continue reading Other Islands: 2012-2018 →

Gamelan Padhang Moncar at the SE Asian Night Market 2017

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. This year we invited audience members to come up on stage and have a go on the instruments briefly as well. We finished with a brief collaboration with musicians from … Continue reading Gamelan Padhang Moncar at the SE Asian Night Market 2017 →

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 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv1dQzLu3To&w=420&h=225 and central Java by Gamelan Padhang Moncar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1IV1d7Wj1E&w=420&h=225   Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Te Marae, Level 4 Sunday 23 October 2016, 10am-5pm This was a full day of … Continue reading Indonesia Festival at Te Papa →

Yogyakarta, Indonesia

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtbrBpNjlOHMi_Mz-tTtkwn2ChtedbStJ 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 … Continue reading Yogyakarta, Indonesia →

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. Here are a couple of recordings of two of the pieces we played: https://soundcloud.com/user521325057/gopala-rehearsal-feb-2015/s-l3LrV https://soundcloud.com/user521325057/margapati-rehearsal-feb-2015/s-rQW6u These are in the Balinese gong … Continue reading Gamelan Taniwha Jaya 2015 →

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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4QkZxdN1jk&feature=share The sensory overload of the Hindu temples was an intriguing contrast from the elegant minimalism of the Japanese … Continue reading Little India, Singapore →

Bali, Indonesia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Se4U7pQWNg There's my first video from Bali, from footage taken on my earlier visit in August.  Note the gamelan (bronze percussion) and rindik (bamboo percussion) soundtrack. I left my job in Perth and am on my way home to New Zealand, so I'm nervous about jobhunting & starting all over again (again).  On the way … Continue reading Bali, Indonesia →

Nusa Penida, Indonesia

Nusa Penida is a smaller island between Bali and Lombok, about an hour by boat from Sanur in Bali. I spent a week as a volunteer with Friends of the National Parks Foundation. I helped with feeding the Bali starlings (critically endangered due to poachers - the population was down to 10 at one point … Continue reading Nusa Penida, Indonesia →

Singapore

If you've never been to Asia before, don't speak any Asian languages, and have only a day or two available, Singapore would be a great introduction. You can find tropical rainforest and the sea,  traditional and modern architecture, and the cultures of China, India, the Middle East and the West all in one city.Most people speak … Continue reading Singapore →