Music Webzine From Indonesia
Revenge of the Nerds With Chiptunes
In high school, most students belonged to a group defined by a common interest and attitude. There were the jocks, the rich kids, the pretty girls, the musicians and the nerds. The jocks always dated the pretty girls, while the musicians were popular with everyone. The nerds, on the other hand, with their chess club and comp… Read the rest
TLTN Keeps It Hardcore
When Metallica played in Jakarta in 1993, a riot broke out between security and fans without tickets. It was clear that heavy metal had gained steam in Indonesia and that fans identified with the drama and rage metal bands exuded on stage.
The genre dwindled in the late 1990s, but heavy metal made a comeback in the early 2000s, with bands l… Read the rest
Breathing the Delta Blues
Legend has it that the Mississippi blues legend Robert Johnson, who died in 1936, sold his soul to the devil on Route 666 in exchange for the ability to create the greatest blues ever known to mankind. Listening to local blues guitarist Adrian Adioetomo’s mastery of the genre, you would be forgiven for wondering if perhaps the 35-y… Read the rest
KunoKini: Keeping Musical Traditions Alive
KunoKini is not your everyday drums-guitar-vocals band: The foursome play indigenous instruments from around the country, and some from abroad.
Their sound is a fusion of different traditional Indonesian styles with the more modern echoes of Bob Dylan and Bob Marley. The band members have built a strong reput… Read the rest
Kelelawar Malam on stage. (Photo courtesy of the band)
Indonesian Horror Bands Make Mad Music
The guys in horror melodic punk group Kelelawar Malam (Night Bat) were playing their most energetic tune, “Pocong Berjalan” (“Walking Ghoul”) at Rossi Musik in South Jakarta in August, when without warning the sound system died, bringing the performan… Read the rest
Duck Dive’s Muhammad Fahri on stage. (Photo courtesy of Duck Dive)
Jakarta’s Duck Dive Takes to Noise Like a Duck to Water
Crouched over a board filled with guitar effects, drum machines, analog synthesizers and various other odd-looking noisemaking gizmos, Muhammad Fahri, the sole member of Duck Dive, seems to be in a meditative state. His eyes a… Read the rest
