This week's PBS Feature Album is Anglayang, the new album from acclaimed Balinese gamelan orchestra Gamelan DanAnda, in collaboration with electro-jazz-fusion group Firetail.
Highlighting the beauty of cultural exchange, Anglayang explores the blending of traditional Balinese gamelan music with contemporary jazz fusion. With their sound described by The Age as “a new and thoroughly beguiling-musical language”, the album is set to provide listeners with a sound they’ve never heard before. The project was initiated by the late Zulya Kamalova, Director of The Boite, who sadly passed away from a brain tumour in September 2024. Zulya approached Gamelan DanAnda in 2023 with a visionary idea to explore the role of multicultural music in Australia’s contemporary scene. Her legacy lives on through this album, which challenges listeners to consider: does Balinese gamelan jazz fusion sound like Australia?
The project includes members of Gamelan DanAnda - Ketut Sutena Adiputra, I Dewa Gde Gandiva Wisanjaka, Ria Soemardjo, Jeremy Dullard, John Cheong-Holdaway, as well as members from Firetail Anna Gordon (Saxophone), Marcos Villalta (Guitar), Hong Yang (Keyboards), Keshav Yoganathan (Congas, tabla, bongos, udu), Jamie McElhinney (Bass), Jackie Hempshall (Drums).
Outside their professional practice, Gamelan DanAnda also run a community ensemble, made up of musicians aged four to 70+, and include Balinese community musicians, many professional musicians from Melbourne's music scene, and others who play no other music. “Most of the spaces where gamelan is performed in Indonesia don’t exist in Australia, so we are trying to create them, and carve out new spaces where people can engage with this music authentically and respectfully.” Says Gamelan DanAnda member and acclaimed Javanese-Australian vocalist Ria Soemardjo. For the uninitiated, gamelan is a family of percussion music from Indonesia, primarily featuring gongs, metallophones, and drums. Gamelan DanAnda specialises in Balinese gamelan. The album showcases the diversity of forms that exist on the island, showcasing the chiming metallophones of Gamelan Gong Kebyar, the blazing interlocking of the bamboo Rindik, the booming drums and shredding cymbals of Baleganjur, and Kecak vocal percussion.
The project’s sound brings together Balinese gamelan’s intricate rhythms with Firetail’s jazz fusion, characterised by Carnatic rhythms and powerful percussion. This fusion allows for a shared rhythmic vocabulary, creating a unique musical experience. Anglayang is a true celebration of multicultural music, showcasing the blend of soundscapes and instruments that come together to create a truly unique experience.
Tune in all this week to hear tracks from Anglayang, and PBS Members have the chance to win a copy of the album on vinyl: simply email your name and membership number to before midnight Sunday February 16.
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TOP TRACKS WE'RE LOVING THIS WEEK
Chaos In The CBD - 'Love Language' feat. Nathan Haines
Surprise Chef - 'Bully Ball'
Ai Yamamoto + Dan West - 'Pompo'
Charlie Needs Braces - 'Dyarrubin'
Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory - 'Idiot Box'
DARKSIDE - 'Are You Tired? (Keep on Singing)'
Eddie Chacon - 'Empire' (feat. John Carroll Kirby)
Ruby Gill - 'Touch Me There'
Batpiss - 'The Others'
Torü Szafar - 'Tulsi'
