Der Ohlsen
"[...] the flawless performance and great production make this a fully fledged Folk/Noise/Drone storytellers album right from the start [...]"
seseito
I bought this album simply because i've never heard anything like this before: a duet with self made instruments and music with doom elements but really uncategorized. Anyone looking after experimental stuff should check this out.
Vinyl quality ( i bought the black one) was suprisingly good.
Perhaps the guys should consider adding a percussionist.
Favorite track: Side B - Di Kala Sudah.
After the highly praised album "Alkisah" released by more than 40 labels over the world, WV Sorcerer proudly present the vinyl version of this rare rehearsal recording from SENYAWA, back in 2019.
Yes, this is a rehearsal recording, but it's more than that, it's an important mark for the first decade of the band, the tracks in this rehearsal present the essence of SENYAWA's music from 2009 to 2019. After that, they embarked on the period of "Alkisah" decentralization. "Rehearsal Session 2019" is an album that carries on from where they left off and marks a significant turning point in the band's history.
The production is also uncompromising, with a multi-track live recording from their studio in the ancient city of Yogyakarta, Java Islands, Indonesia, the music is carefully mixed & mastered. Previously released on tape and CD, and now remastered for vinyl by Thomas Stadnicki in Brussels (Neptunian Maximalism, ZAÄAR). The immense energy of the duo is implanted in each track and all the frequencies, you won't be disappointed!
The record comes in a heavy gatefold cover with unreleased photos of their studio, and the 80 copies come with a replicate of the original setlist.
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Senyawa is always surprising. They can produce such an extensive array of sounds from a rehearsal. Give this one a spin if you’re into unique texture of sounds!
- The Store Front
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It’s difficult to characterise Senyawa without leaning on inaccurate tropes or multihyphenates. From Indonesian gamelan to apocalyptic folk, post-punk, no wave, stoner metal and dark-doom-psychedelic-ritualcore, the Javanese duo’s output encapsulates such wide swathes of influences so as to be nearly impossible to summarise.
Their unprecedented style derives in large part from their unconventional instrumentation. Over the course of ten years and about as many releases Rully Shabara and Wukir Suryadi have honed a semi-improvisational sound forged from the percussive clattering and ceremonial mood of their homemade bambuwukir. The device, the size and shape of a tube zither, is sheathed in rows of metal and bamboo strings that emit a remarkable range of otherworldly tonalities and textures. On their newest album Alkisah it’s joined by another of Suryadi’s homemade creations built from a spatula and an electric guitar. Their combined effect is more industrially angular than the band’s past work, eliciting a symphony of pulverising riffs and guttural roars that sounds as if they’ve hatched straight from the fires and slimes of Middle Earth.
- Chloé Lula, The Wire
“Indonesian duo Senyawa is one of the most intense live bands in the world.”
- Red Bull Music Academy
“Senyawa can be counted among the most thrilling, edgy and original live performance units anywhere in the world.”
- The Wire
“Senyawa forged a sound that brings with it another dimension of weight, one that can’t be measured.”
- The Quietus
“Senyawa`s music rises from the belly of the beast and crawls out of its gaping maw.”
- Pitchfork
“Generally speaking, Senyawa operate on a force-of-nature level.”
- Resident Advisor
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Jogjakarta’s Senyawa uniquely manage to embody the sonic influences of Javanese music through the framework of experimental music practice—pushing and pulling the boundaries of both traditions. Their music strikes a perfect balance between their avant-garde influences and cultural heritage to create truly contemporary Indonesian music.
Their sound is comprised of Rully Shabara’s deft extended vocal techniques punctuating the frenetic neo-tribalism of instrument builder, Wukir Suryadi’s modern-primitive instrumentation. Inventions like his handcrafted ‘Bamboo Spear’; a thick stem of bamboo strung up with percussive strips of the plant’s skin along side steel strings. Amplified it fuses elements of traditional Indonesian instrumentation with garage guitar distortion. Sonically dynamic, the instrument can be rhythmically percussive on one side whilst being melodically bowed and plucked on the other.
They have collaborated and performed with many notable musicians such as Stephen O'Malley, Yoshida Tatsuya, Lucas Abela, KK Null, Keiji Haino, Jon Sass, Damo Suzuki, Jerome Cooper, David Shea and Kazu Ushihashi. In 2012 they completed a film in collaboration with French filmmaker Vincent Moon.
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The word "SENYAWA" in Indonesian has many layers. It can mean chemical compound and can also mean "becoming one soul".
Recorded live during rehearsal session at Senyawa Studio
Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 6th November 2019
Mixed & mastered by Mahamboro
Vinyl mastered by Thomas Stadnicki
“Kap Tanoh” lyrics by Teungku Li
Photography by Reza Darwin, 2019-2022
Except two portraits by Arnold Simanjuntak & MsKrbt
Design & layout by Ruò Tán 若潭
Special thanks to Komunitas Kanot Bu, Aceh
The 17 mindbending songs on this compilation represent minimalist experimental music at its best, a collage of blips and static. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 3, 2022
The Indonesian duo unspools an apocalyptic story about greed, hatred, and destruction, contrasting catchy hooks with ominous noise. Bandcamp Album of the Day Feb 19, 2021
This international collective makes compelling experimental folktronica that aims to explore the potential for connection between cultures. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 17, 2020