We Believe in the Light, We Believe in Love …

Sudah seminggu ini saya takjub dengan album lama keluaran 1994 dari Roine Stolt (gitaris prog rock dari Swedia) bertajuk “The Flower King”. Keseluruhan album memang hebat ini album: kuat dalam komposisi, kaya dengan solo gitar dan permainan drum yang dinamis dengan bunyi snare yang mendekati punya Bill Bruford. Nama album inilah yang kemudian menjadi nama band bentukan Roine Stolt dengan tambahan “s” di belakangnya .. menjadi THE FLOWER KINGS yang telah mengeluarkan album banyak sekali (tiap tahun 1 album). Penggemar Genesis dan Yes kudu menyimak grup ini. Uediyannn!!!

Di dalam debut album ini ada lagu instrumental yang bertajuk The Pilgrims Inn. Wah … uediyan ini lagu bener2 jagal.Lho? Iya ..soalnya melodinya miris sekali. Perpaduan bunyi gitar dan klarinet dengan nada yang menyentuh disertai raungan gitar miris maut nunjek sanubari merupakan kekuatan tersendiri album ini. Sambil pasang album ini saya SMSan sama mas Pur yang juga nyetel album ini. Menurut mas Pur mngomentari lagu ini: “Pas di situ gitarnya ngiris banget. Kayak pisau steakyang lagi ngiris daging sirloin yang padet …”. Memang!

Ini lagu pembuka dari album debut Stolt tersebut : (liriknya sungguh menyentuh)

THE FLOWER KING

Falling out of the sky, falling into a dream.
All I need is the heart where it all can begin
It’s just a matter of time, it’s just a matter of trust
It’s just a matter of faith when we all sleep in the dust.

Don’t deny, just verify the genius of it all
It’s the cycle of all living thing, hear the children
hear the children call !

“We believe in the light, we believe in love every precious little thing
We believe you can still surrender you can serve the Flower King”

Going out into the grey, into purple and red
see, all the beautiful shapes flowing out of my head
It’s just a matter of time, it’s just a matter of trust
It’s just a matter of faith when we all sleep in the dust.

Don’t deny, just verify the genius of it all
It’s the cycle of all living, hear the children
hear the children call !

“We believe in the light, we believe in love every precious little thing
We believe you can still surrender you can serve the Flower King”

“We believe in the heart, we believe in healing in a house where angels sing
we’ll unite the divided and the fallen one will serve the Flower King”
“We believe in the heart, we believe in healing in a house where angels sing
we’ll unite the divided and fallen one will serve the Flower King

———–

Review album secara lengkap sudah pernah saya ulas di ProgArchives:
http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=71464

Blood, Sweat & Tears … Masih Ingat?

GM “Berniat” Bangkrut

Kesulitan Likuiditas akibat Penjualan Turun

Minggu, 23 November 2008 | 08:33 WIB

Washington, Sabtu – Raksasa otomotif nomor satu dunia, General Motors, yang pada September lalu berusia 100 tahun, sedang mempertimbangkan untuk menyatakan diri bangkrut. Pilihan bangkrut ini berkenaan dengan kesulitan likuiditas yang sedang dialami GM akibat krisis keuangan yang melanda Amerika Serikat dan dunia.

Ya ..ya ya … saya yakin sebagian dari kita baca artikel tersebut di hari Minggu lalu karena merupakan headline dari Kompas Minggu. Memprihatinkan, sebuah perusahaan raksasa yang telah berusia satu abad merencanakan buat bangkrut. Tapi begitulah kenyataannya … Life is like a wheel .. kadang di atas, kadang di bawah …. Sedih sih melihat angka pengangguran yang bakalan membengkak, termasuk di negeri kita.

Bicara mengenai GM memang tidak lepas dengan nuansa tujuh-puluhan. Apa hubungannya? Ada. Sabar bentar. Bagi yang hidup di alam pitung-puluhan pasti kenal dong brass rock band sejenis Chicago Transit AUthority (kemudian menjadi Chicago), Chase, Tower of Power dan Blood, Sweat & Tears (BS&T). Saya ingat sekali kaset rekaman BASR (Semarang) yang rekamannya terkenal bagus dengan tajuk Blues Selection dan lagu pembukaannya adalah “Blue Jean Blues” dari ZZ Top. Di situ ada lagu blues legendaris nuansamatik tanpa rheumatik karya BS&T yang terkenalnya gak kalah ama Since I’ve Been Loving You nya Led Zeppelin. Judulnya I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know yang nunjek banget bluesnya itu. Tahu gak? Kalo gak tahu, udah deh kagak usah dilanjut lagi bacanya, klik situs lain aja .. tengok FB mu ajalah! (ha ha ha …mutung!). Kebangetan kalo berani kunjungi blog ini tapi gak tahu lagu itu .. ha ha ha ha ha …!!!

Coba klik ini dah sambil baca blog.

Pokoke lagunya gini:

Theung ..thiut thiut thung thung …(bunyi gitar blues) ….dheng dheng thak (bunyi bass dan drum) .. terus bunyi vokalnya gini:

If I ever leave you …(thet thet dhet dheng dheng…biyuh! khas banget musiknya!)

Terus ntar ada bunyi brass section dari nada atas ke bawah:

Threeeetttttt…….

Thet thet thet thret teeeetttt …..

Tet tet te tet tet teeeeeeeeeeeettt ….

(Wis pokoke seru lah! Temen saya si Rustam pernah nonton Gipsy di Bugs Cafe bawain lagu ini, kita berdua bertereak histeris pas bagian brass section nuansamatik ini! ha ha ha ha.. bener gak tam????)

Yang trenyuh sekarang adalah bagian lirik ini:

I could be president of General Motors baby, heh
or just a tiny little grain of sand

Lha …kalo GMnya bangkrut …apa dong makna lirik tersebut?

Sedih gak seh?????

Saya sih sedih …..

Tapi tetep aja saya mau puter lagi lagu nuansamatik tersebut …..

Salam,

G

Viva Koes Bersaudara, long live Koes Plus…

Judul di atas bukan saya yang nulis, karena itu bener2 dari cut & paste postingan Bang Ijal pada komentar di woro-woro Koes Bersaudara di Kick Andy (postingan di bawah ini). Mengapa saya kok ndak kreatif bikin

Djon, Nomo, Yok & Yon di Kick Andy

judul? Ada dua alasan: 1.) Bang Ijal ini orangnya analitikal alias kritis dan sekaligus dia ini penggila Koes Bersaudara & Koes Plus abis! Makanya ndak salah dong kalau dia yang memebri judul artikel ini. Ada yang protes? Kalau protes, ntar tak kenalin orangnya langsung dah …dijamin jatuh cinta pada kutbah2 prog nya .. ha ha ha ha … 2.) Ngapain kerja dua kali wong sudah ada yang memberi judul. Boso Jowone rak ngene to cah: “WHy reinventing the wheel if it’s already spinning …???!” wis embuh artine opo, takoko Embahe Sangkil kono .. aku ora ngerti blas!

Lha saya ini termasuk orang paling males nontok TV. Bener2 gak pernah nonton kecuali abis subuhan di mesjid sebelah, kalo ndak ngantuk saya ya nontok Aa’ dan Mama Dede ..ba’da Subuh guna memperdalam ilmu agama. Selebihnya, saya gak nonton. Bahkan Empat Mata yang konon dahsyat, saya nontonnya ya saat tertentu, antara lain kalo ada Koes Plus, begitu. Nah .. Kick Andy juga selalu saya lewatkan …gak tahu kenapa…rasanya mending pasang kaset Marillion “Script for A Jester’s Tear” tinimbang nonton Kick Andy meski konon hebat. Tapi ya kalah to sama Marillion, meski cumak kaset doang. Namun hari Jumat itu lain. Saya sengaja pulang dari Bandung agak sore biar bisa sampe rumah jam 21:30 karena mau nonton grup kesayangan saya Koes Bersaudara dan Koes Plus.

Yon masih energik menyanyi ...

Ternyata ..memang dahzyat sekali acara Kick ANdy hari Jumat malam (tadi malem) ini. bener2 nuansamatik kemlitik menukik hati sanubari. Saya melihat mereka rasanya sudah seperti bagian dari hidup saya meski saya yakin tidak ada satupun anggota Koes Bersaudara / Plus yang kenal saya. Tapi gak masalah …saya sudah menganggap mereka seperti saya sendiri jadi ya anggap saja mereka tentunya kenal saya. Saya sungguh mbrebes mili selama acara ini berlangsung. Beberapa hal yang saya ingat dan nuansamatik nostalgik adalah:

1. Djon Koeswoyo yang bijak dan bertindak sebagai KATALISATOR buat adik2nya dengan membuat grup band supaya adik2nya dikenal masyarakat luas. Bijak sekali bapak berusia 76 tahun yang merupakan saudara paling tua dari Koes Bersaudara dan hanya sekali main saja di album pertama, setelahnya dia mundur. Saya suka waktu beliau bilang: “Saya hanya mengantarkan adik2 saya agar dikenal masyarakat melalui musik ..”. Wah hebat top markotop sentolop kemlotop tenaaannn!!!
2. Prinsip Koes Bersaudara adalah “menghibur masyarakat” sebagai prinsip utama. Bayaran main gak menjadi yang utama. Duh ..bijak sekali. Saya jadi inget lagu Padi yang yang menjadi favorit saya dan merupakan lagu terbaik grup Padi “Sang Penghibur”. Apa hubungannya? Ya karena liriknya bertutur profesi penghibur.
3. Meski sudah tua, Yon dan Yok masih dahzyat duetnya. Nomo juga keren tuh suaranya.
4. Terharu saya dengan kisah dibalik lagu NUSANTARA yang menggambarkan ekspresi kegirangan bisa hidup di alam bebas Orde Baru …(meski hanya Orde Baru). “Kuharap kau tidak akan cemburu, melihat tingkahku …” wah .. doahzyat tenan!
5. Lagu KEMBALI yang merupakan favorit saya juga dibahas dengan indahnya.
6. Nomo Koeswoyo berkomentar tentang kepemimpinan di negeri ini dengan sikap positif.
7. Yang juga seneng adalah kenyataan bahwa Koes bersaudara sebetulnya tidak pecah, namun Yok udah kecapaian kalau main / naik panggung lagi.
8. Saya terharu saat Why Do You Love Me dinyanyikan karena saya lihat mata Yok berkaca-kaca sambil berduet dengan Yon.
9. Acara ini jauh lebih bagus daripada yang pernah dibahas oleh Tukul di Empat Mata. Kelemahan mendasar Empat Mata adalah Tukul-centic dan gayanya njelehi banget, sehingga aspek Koes Plus nya ndak digarap dengan baik. Gak salah acara ini dibubarkan. he he he …
10. Dengan 93 album dan 900 lagu, kelompok ini tak tertandingi di Indonesia dan bahkan mungkin di dunia.
11. Saya juga prihatin terhadap sakit yang diderita Murry – one of Indonesian best drummers!

Koes Plus memamng sudah tidak bisa dipisahkan dari kehidupan saya. Rasanya saya masih menjadi remaja saja menikmati Koes Plus.

Salam,

G

Koes Plus di Kick Andy 21Nov08

Salam kenal mas G dan rekan2 lainnya.

Mohon maaf sebelumnya, sekalian mau numpang promosi dan semoga nyambung dengan harapan rekan2 untuk bisa melihat Koes Bersaudara/ Plus di Kick Andy. Semoga harapan Anda2 semua akan kesampaian, untuk melihat Koes Bersaudara tampil bersama lagi satu panggung dan menyanyi bareng di edisi spesial Kick Andy (2 jam!) nanti pada Jumat 21 November 2008 pk 21.30 – 23.30 WIB.

Terima kasih banyak,

Salam

Eko

Majalah Aktuil dan Musik Rock Dalam Kehidupan Saya

Sep 15th, 2008 | By manh5 | Category: Testimoni

Sebuah Curhat Nuansamatik
oleh: Gatot Widayanto

JRENG! Majalah Aktuil telah menjadi bagian “penting” dalam kehidupan saya terutama pada saat majalah ini heboh sekali di seputar awal 70an hingga pertengahan 70an. Saya tidak tahu tepatnya tahun kapan mulai mengenal majalah ini. Yang jelas, waktu itu saya tinggal di Madiun, Jatim, bersama ibu dan kakak saya yang nomer dua, Henky. Saya anak bungsu dan saat mengenal Aktuil masih duduk di bangku SMP karena mas Henky inilah yang rajin sekali membeli majalah ini. Aktuil bisa dikatakan sebagai trendsetter kehidupan anak muda saat itu. Masih ingat sekali saya setiap hari menghabiskan setiap halaman berita musik sambil menunggu edisi selanjutnya terbit. Ada empat hal yang selalu saya tunggu pada edisi berikutnya dari majalah Aktuil: Pertama, poster apa yang akan disertakan dalam edisi tersebut; kedua, berita utama (cover story)-nya apa; ketiga, ada bonus sablonan buat kaos apa tidak, dan keempat ada stiker atau tidak. Tentu, selain keempat hal tersebut saya juga mengharapkan ulasan-ulasan menarik dan informatif mengenai perkembangan musik rock saat itu.

Cerita lengkapnya ada di sini.

Discus Live at Salihara: Awesome!

I remember vividly that on September 25, 2003 – five years ago – I flew from, Jakarta to Singapore for one single purpose: see the band that I had been a fan for nearly 30 years to play live “Yes – Second Leg Tour“. And that was the first time I was in Yes concert and it was a great experience that I would never forget the rest of my life. Last night, I did not need to fly to Singapore to gain the same experience because it required me to do just an inbound transport to reach the new Salihara Concert Hall at Pejaten, South Jakarta, Indonesia to see the best Indonesian true progressive band, Discus, plays live. I planned to see the concert weeks ago from Fadhil (keyboard) and Krisna (keyboard) Face Books. Unfortunately at the day of the concert, I was swamped the whole day until late afternoon in my Client’s office discussing strategic issues of my current consulting engagement. The meeting was so important and time consuming as so many thoughts provoking discussions going on. As the time approaching to 8 PM I was so afraid that I would miss the show. But I kept telling myself that “I choose to go, no matter what!”. Well, life is about priority and in my view proggin’ is more important than consulting. Don’t you agree with me? So, I decided to go for the show and postponed the consulting work for tomorrow because I do really want to see Discus! Proggin’ matters to me, really!

I reached the venue – oh man …it’s a great venue, indeed! – at 8:20 PM when Discus already played their music. Jreng! The first impression: awesome! The stage was actually at the same level with the main entrance floor. There was no raised floor that determines the stage boundary. It’s good, I believe, because the performers (bands, dancers, poets, etc.) can set their own stage boundary-less. Well, of course, there was front row seat that limit the stage, but it’s quite huge for a any band or dance company to perform. I saw Anto Praboe (clarinet, sax, flute, trompet penca, growl, etc) at the right-most corner of the stage and Iwan Hasan (guitar, harp, vocal) at his left side. Krisna Prameswara (keyboards) stood behind Iwan and Hayunaji (drums) is at the back center of the stage. At the same position as Iwan but at the left wing was Eko Partitur (violin) and behind him was Fadhil Indra (keyboards, electronic percussion). Kiki Caloh with his bass guitar (was it Rickenbaker?) stood mobile at front stage, sometime in the middle of left wing, closed to Eko Partitur. The female vocal, Yuyun, moved around the stage and she sometimes performed dancing while the music played.

I was impressed with the sound quality and acoustic standard of the hall which to my ears sounded excellent. I stood at the entrance pathway, at the right side of the stage and took pictures from this position. Theoretically, it’s not a strategic position to enjoy the show .. but the sound was excellent. Well, sometimes Iwan Hasan’s sound quality produced more uncontrolled distortion in some musical segments but overall it’s OK for my ears.

As I rolled into the venue, I was not quite sure what the band was playing because recently I have rarely played Discus CDs due to many new prog albums I have been listening to recently so I got lost on track titles even though I knew from which album the music was. But they did not play only those on the albums because some new tracks (previously unreleased) were also played by Discus. For sure, when I entered the concert hall, they played “Breathe” because I am familiar with Anto’s growling vocal. Even though I was just at the end of the track, I found their performance was awesome. They produced balanced sound on nearly every single instrument even though not quite heavy on keyboards department. It’s truly a progressive music live performance as it produced complexity, even though at the expense of catchy melody. The brilliant approach taken by the band is their composition that features excellent interlude from sax, flute, clarinet or sometimes interjected by dazzling violin work, rude guitar distortion and dynamic drumming. So, it’s simply to say that I don’t mind not getting catchy melody – remember, my background is basically more towards symphonic prog with great melody – as long as I can get great combination of solos of multiple instruments. And, Discus has done brilliant job in this matter. I can think of their music is much more sophisticated than the most complex composition Frank Zappa has ever made. I am not exaggerating it being the fact that I am truly a proud Indonesian. (Do you know a prog band called Frogg Café? Discus music, without ethnic insertion, is probably similar to Frogg Café’s).

Multiple Musical Orgasms

After some chit chats by Iwan Hasan – because the concert was conducted in relaxed way – they then played the bonus track of their second album, “…Tot Licht!” called the “Misfortune Lunatic” with heavy tinge on jazz-fusion type of thing. I enjoyed the track, really. Next was my favorite ethnic-based composition from their debut “Lamentation and Fantasia Gamelantronique”. Looking at the title, it’s a self-indulgent bombastic name, I believe you might say. But hey …turn your ears and open your mind, play this tune! I am pretty damn sure you will be amazed with how geniuses the boys in the band have ever composed the music that I believe any western band can make. It’s a fabulous composition and it’s awesome being performed live! Oh man … I found myself having peak musical orgasm when this song was played. I like the great combination of traditional music characterized by the melody delivered by flute with avant-garde style and …jaw dropping drum work by Hayunaji. Oh my God …! He’s a fabulous drummer at par excellent with Bill Bruford, I believe. His strokes are truly wonderful and complex. I said to Lody (my young prog mate who stayed closed to me during the show) that Hayuniaji is really the best progressive (in real term! Not crossover prog or the like!) that Indonesia has ever had. No one can match his dynamic drumming really.

I thought I already reached my peak during Lamentation, but it was not because the next track after they played acoustic (which I do not like, actually) with “Condisonance – Music for 5 Players”, they did another fabulous performance that made me nggeblak! (my mind being stunned and paralyzed) due to the beauty of the composition and brilliant live performance. I think the title was “Jazzdance of The Equatorial Winds” which has never been recorded before. It started with something in percussive nuances through the use of traditional instruments like rindik, being played by almost all musicians. Nuance-wise it reminded me to the interlude part of “I’m A Man” by Chicago Transit Authority. Throughout this song the band demonstrated their fullest potentials as every individual musician contributed their best performance. Throughout the show I had been watching how Kiki Caloh played his bass guitar dynamically and through this song he was given a chance to feature his bass guitar solo, for a while. Fadhil Indra performed great electronic percussion that I though something like a vibraphone. I was amazed when he played solo on this. Krisna Prameswara sometimes played his keyboard like Chick Corea. Anto Praboe also played his solo trumpet penca (well, I don’t know really the name of the instrument but it seemed like it. It’s typically used also with our traditional Reog Ponorogo). Iwan also performed his solo. Eko Partitur maneuvered his violin work brilliantly. And, again .. I was extremely amazed with Hayunaji drumwork – it’s fabulous! Hayunaji rules!

Overall, I was totally satisfied with Discus performance last night and I really hope that they release their third album soon. To summarize the show, it was an excellent combination of brilliant composition, dynamic performance and balanced sound quality. I have seen Discus live many times but last night performance is really their best performance ever! Having experienced this, I am really proud being an Indonesian because Indonesia has these top notch musicians under the banner of Discus. Bravo Discus! ..and keep on proggin’ for all of you who read this damn long review (I can’t help it, I can’t make it shorter ….and I do not need to apologize because this is the world of PROG! It’s truly your mistake why you have engaged your eyes reading this meaningless review … Shame on you man!).

Peace on earth and mercy mild – GW (i-Rock! Music Community)

Discus Live at Festival Salihara

Jakarta, November 5, 2008-11-06

Setlist: (informed by Fadhil Indra)

• Verso Kartini
• Breathe
• Misfortune Lunatic
• Lamentation and Fantasia Gamelantronique
• Condissonance / Music for 5 Players (acoustic)
• Jazzdance of The Equatorial Winds
• Fantasia of 2 Makassar
• Anne
• System Manipulation