A few nights ago, at its headquarters in La Sala Rossa, the Phénoména festival hosted a rather unusual event by Arts in the Margins, was a rather unusual event. It’s rare indeed to welcome artists from Indonesia to our side of the ocean. Yet we were presented with three experimental electronic music artists from the islands of Java, Bali and Sumatra. Brought together under the banner of the Javanese label Yes No Wave Music, the group was in the midst of a Canadian tour to present a fine sample of the best the Southeast Asian archipelago has to offer in the field.
Wok the Rock
DJ Wok the Rock, founder of the Yes No Wave Music label, had the task of kicking off the evening. He warmed up the already packed room with his intriguing and catchy mixes. By way of introduction, the artist sampled the voice of singer Rully Shabara, known for his work with Senyawa, creating a special atmosphere as words in Bahasa Indonesia were repeated in a jerky rhythm. A second sample of the same voice was to be heard later, at the end of his performance. In the meantime, Wok the Rock was working with a wide variety of soundtracks, from Burmese hsaing waing drums to the most synthetic of sounds. Rhythmically, the music often moved at two speeds, superimposing frantic rhythms on a slower, freer sound texture. The whole thing progressed from time to time in surprising rhythmic modulations. One thing’s for sure: part of the crowd seemed to have already entered into a psychedelic trance, a state of mind that would only intensify as the evening wore on.
Rani Jambak
Rani Jambak is a sound artist of Minangkabau descent, an ethno-cultural group living in the province of North Sumatra. Her whole approach is centered on ecology and the reuse of sounds from her natural and cultural environment, endowing her music with a rich and unique sonic universe. In order to travel light, she unfortunately didn’t grace her audience with the Kincia Aia, an instrument she invented and inspired by traditional water mills. Instead, she delivered a minimalist performance with computer and microphone, here confidently showcasing a danceable side. Even her entrance to the stage was done in electronic music style, gradually taking the place of Wok the Rock in back-to-back mode. If everything was pulsating and very accessible, Jambak’s music was also colored by urban and forest soundscapes unknown to the general public. The artist also possesses a remarkable voice, which she put to good use by singing numerous vocal pieces. Of particular note was the excellent execution of the vocal lines, which were not only perfectly in tune but also full of expressivity, something that was also evident in Jambak’s body movements. The constant exchange of energy between the artist and the audience made this the highlight of the evening.
Gabber Modus Operandi
Residing on the island of Bali, Gabber Modus Operandi’s two artists are explicit about their music. Together, they create fast, aggressive, and psychedelic electronic gabber. As soon as they took to the stage, the volume of the speakers rose considerably and the insistent rhythms immediately whipped the crowd into a collective frenzy. It felt like a rave or one of Mutek’s Nocturnes. Speaking of which, last night amply made up for the Indonesia duo’s cancellation during the 2022 edition of that festival.
While one half of the band was running a DJ station, the second musician was mostly using his voice. He chanted, narrated, and shouted lyrics drowned out by reverb and effects, nothing resembling singing as ordinarily conceived. He was dressed halfway between a military man and a skier and donned gloves with green lasers attached. These fluorescent beams added greatly to the lighting and moved freely around the room as the singer danced frantically. In addition to these seemingly uncontrollable rhythms and voices, an original selection of samples added texture, such as gamelan instruments. The crowd will also remember the very approximate imitation of a Balinese kecak that the band attempted by asking the audience to sit cross-legged. Vaguely futuristic but immediately intense, Gabber Modus Operandi’s psychotropic delirium had everyone on edge throughout the show.
The Montreal stop for the Indonesian YesNoWave Tour was Co-presented with Festival Phénomena, Festival Accès Asie, Québec Musiques Parallèles and Arts in the Margins.
