Sore
Centralismo
Aksara Records, 2005
8.4
Centralismo is the debut album from Sore, a high-praised critically acclaimed band from Jakarta and got the title of Five Asian Albums Worth Buying from TIME Asia Magazine in Sep. 2005. But do they earn the title ?worth buying??
Speaking in the ?worth buying? sense, I am somewhat disappointed with the recent local records in the past year. Some albums are notable though, for it is actually worth buying, and Centralismo could be one of them. I got high enthusiasms for Sore since we got a copy of their samples a couple of months before their debut album, and I was hypothetically one of the first buyers, and got this CD for 45K rupiahs.
Ok, they don?t have a jewel-box case or a digipack case for the cd, it?s just a ridiculously stuffed folded carton paper, it?s even hard to slip off the CD and the thin booklet. But it has a tremendous collection of artwork there, with illustrations, notes and photographs of the colonial-era retrospects in Jakarta.
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?Bebas? opens as the first track in the record, with some groovy drum patterns and mellow piano tunes, ?Bebas? brings us to a retro-feel and nostalgic sense of an era in the past and it goes on in the relaxing ?Mata Berdebu?, where they blend their music with some strings, a French horn, and a part of Eric Satie?s Gymnopedie I, and in ?Somos Libres? (which is Spanish for ?We Are Free?).
?No Fruits For Today? established their jazzy-side of the music, and is one of my favorite tracks in the record. Catchy phrases on the refrain (?I love you when you love me, and we?re gonna make a big family?), however, the ?Kuntilanak?-witch voice on the bridge is very, very annoying.
?Cermin? (which is included in the 2003?s JKT:SKRG compilation) actually ruins the graphic as the song in the next track, but it is slowly covered by ?Keangkuhanku? and the we step up on an another jazzy-tunes song (and another favorite track of mine), ?Etalase?, which started with a funky saxophone melody and ended with a nice orchestrated strings section, brings a romantic, mellow, yet enlightening mood.
?Ambang? helps to define main color of Sore?s music, and ?Ada Musik Di Dalam? makes you remember of being alone inside when the rains pour outside.
Sore?s exploration of the 70?s Indonesian pop, beatles-influenced-music in bands like Koes Plus is shown ?Lihat? with a contemporary interpretation and a jazzy blend. While ?She?s So Beautiful?, which is a collaboration between the band itself and The Miskins, produces an upbeat and high-spirited pop-rock song. ?Aku? ends the record and makes a farewell in a solitary mood.
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In the end, I found it very hard to define Sore?s music, since in any way, I?ve never heard anything like it, it?s experimental and avant-garde, along side with the melodies of retro pop and and jazzy mood. Calling them avant-garde neocolonial postrock jazz, may sound ridiculously cheesy, but I think it is fair enough.
Despite of their flaws for live performance, this album is actually flawless in production; the compositions and arrangement of the songs are wonderful, with nice quality details here and there.
This album won?t create a gimmick trend for local juveniles, but it is always be notable from time to time. And hell yeah it actually worth my ass-sweating-45K-money-spent-in-an-album for such a long time.
Ryan Koesuma, February 2006
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