Rudolf Dethu

Gerakan Itu Bernama Bali Creative Festival

Bali Creative Festival adalah upaya untuk membawa Bali ke masa depan. Saya hanya menduga bahwa upaya tersebut adalah untuk mempersiapkan Bali untuk masuk ke sebuah masa post-exoticism di mana turis datang ke Bali tidak hanya untuk pantai indah, souvenir murah, upacara adat serta budaya tradisional semata. Dan jika itu adalah alasannya, banyak kota lain di Indonesia selayaknya harus memiliki festival-festival kreatif semacam ini. Dan jika negara tidak bisa membantu membidani lahirnya industri kreatif paling tidak mereka bisa mendukung acara semacam ini di banyak daerah. Itu lebih dari cukup.

Roman Foot Soldiers: Waterfront

• Versi Bahasa Indonesia silakan klik di sini

Sinjitos Records, an established Indonesian record label, has signed a new band: Roman Foot Soldiers.

Around a month ago this pop/electronic collective released a videoclip for “Waterfront”, the main single for their free download EP, Kitsilano. The video clip is directed by a collaborative duo of Nicoline Patricia Malian and Anindita Saryuf, both are know as key people in fashion. Anindita’s husband, Joseph Saryuf, acted as the producer of the song.

The Roman Foot Soldiers themselves actually came together in 2005 as a six Indonesian university students while they studied in Vancouver, Canada. They became more confident doing their act after they got into the big three of University of British Columbia’s Battle of the Bands. In summer 2010, after finishing college, they all decided to go back to Indonesia and worked together with Sinjitos Records in Jakarta.

Go to YouTube to view the video clip of “Waterfront”, and keep yourself updated by joining the Roman Foot Soldiers Facebook page.

Dethu and His Non-Traditional Music Bible

A new book telling the story of non-traditional music in Bali over the past four decades was released and launched at Antiba Arts in Sanur last weekend. The book called Blantika | Linimasa (Scene | Timeline) is curated and edited by local rock ‘n’ roll luminary, long-time beat magazine contributor and former Superman is Dead manager, Rudolf Dethu.

It’s written in Bahasa by a group of writers; Alfred Pacifico Ginting, Anton Muhajair, Gede Roby Supriyanto and Dethu, and looks into the way that pop, rock and every other modern music form, outside the traditional Balinese music sphere, has evolved on the island. There have been many highs and lows on the way to where local music finds itself now but has it actually made it all the way?

Belgian Beer: Brewed Force

As well as having a good claim to brew the best beer in the world, Belgium is also home to the world’s biggest brewer. Anheuser-Busch (AB) InBev, based in Leuven, a small university town half an hour by train from Brussels, turns out one in five of every beer sold around the world. Across the road from head office, the ultra-modern Stella Artois brewery pumps out one of the firm’s best-known international brands.

Book on Balinese Music Launched

Dozens of Balinese performers of various music genres gathered at the Serambi Arts Antida studio on Saturday night to celebrate the launch of a book on the journey of non-traditional music from Bali over the last decades.

Launched by the Bali Creative Community (BCC), the book, titled Blantika Linimasa, Kaleidoskop Musik Non-Trad Bali, was initiated by Rudolf Dethu and several writers. The book is said to be the first document that comprehensively records the progress of Balinese music.

“There are not many documents on Balinese music. We have lost a lot of history; the current generation doesn’t know about the struggle of their previous generations in the musical industry,” said Jimmy Sila’a, a famous music arranger from the 1980s.

Indonesia’s Punk, Just Not Young

What is punk rock? Is it colored, spiky hair held up by glue? Is it abrasive three chord rock ’n’ roll played at breakneck speed? Is it leather pants, pierced noses and discordant noise atop irate, socially conscious lyrics? Or is it something much more, a symbol of an independent mind frame that goes beyond all of these stereotypes?

Domestic Groove: ENDAH N RHESA

DOMESTIC GROOVE ~ Celeb’s Chosen Nine is my biweekly column in The Beat (Jakarta) mag. Basically it’s an interview via e-mail which focuses on small, intimate, domestic stuff; what Indonesia’s public figures are really into.

For the 31st edition I went upclose-and-personal with Endah N Rhesa.

Domestic Groove: LEONARDO RINGO

DOMESTIC GROOVE ~ Celeb’s Chosen Nine is my biweekly column in The Beat (Jakarta) mag. Basically it’s an interview via e-mail which focuses on small, intimate, domestic stuff; what Indonesia’s public figures are really into.

For the 30th edition I went upclose-and-personal with Leonardo Ringo.

BLANTIKA | LINIMASA Book Launch Party - Rundown

2012: Berdiri Lagi dan Menolak Mati
Book launch party of BLANTIKA | LINIMASA

Saturday, January 7th, 2012
5pm – Midnight
Serambi Arts Antida, Sanur

For details please go to the main page.

Agrikulture: Terang Benderang

• Versi Bahasa Indonesia silakan klik di sini

The electronic music collective, Agrikulture, just dropped their second album, Terang Benderang.

Released a few weeks ago, their newest album consist of 10 tracks including “Kisah Bosan”, “Orang Utan”, “Terang Benderang”, “Give in to the Night”, and “Lagu Cinta-Cintaan” which is their first single.

A variety of other artists collaboratedon this new album including Ras Muhamad, Sara (Un Soiree), Arabyrd (a Malaysian female rapper), and Kharisma Children Choir. This Jakarta quintet have become so creative that they even incorporated surf-rock, gospel, and dub, to the mix to name a few.

Keep yourself updated by frequently checking out the record label www.nagaswaramusic.com