Sepucuk Ode Buat Kota

*For Indonesian version please click hereBangkutaman, the indiepop veteran has just released Ode Buat Kota under the label Jangan Marah Records. This is their second full-length album, 7 years after the first one, Love Among The Ruins. This group originally are from Jakarta. But they started their career when they went to university in Yogya. The name Bangkutaman taken from a place in their University in Yogyakarta where they used to write poems and talk to each other, to sharing their musical interests. Their brilliant reputation came not only from their well-written songs, but also their intense spirit of Do-It-Yourself, which is quite abnormal for a pop band to adopt---and force---into this underground ethos. With its current formation, J. Irwin (guitar), W. Nugroho (vocal, bass, harmonica), D. Eryanto (drum), the band sing about the dynamics of the city, the business-as-usual of Jakarta life, and how they adapt the new chapter: the natural transformation from being university students to 9-to-5 people. Don't miss their performance in Kick Andy, Metro TV, October 1st, 9.30 PM Jakarta time. Or visit their Facebook page by writing "bangkutaman" in its "search" column.
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Na Nananana…

Ini adalah sepercik kisah ulang-alik. Juga urbanisasi. Berpindah antara Jakarta, Yogya, dan Jakarta lagi.

Diawali oleh kepergian beberapa anak muda Jakarta ke Yogya untuk melanjutkan sekolah, dari siswa SMA bertransformasi menjadi mahasiswa. Di Yogya, di tahun 1999 itu, mereka bersepakat membentuk sebuah grup musik bertajuk Bangkutaman. Nama unik ini idenya muncul dari kebiasaan menulis puisi, berbincang tentang kultur populer, bertukar pikiran di bangku-bangku yang terdapat di taman di lingkungan universitas. Konsep musikalnya sendiri mengerucut pada tradisi pop 60an, folk rock beraroma psikadelik. Atau jika dipadankan dengan band, bayangkan era awal The Dentist, aktivis Paisley Underground khususnya Rain Parade, kontingen dari label Creation seperti Big Bang Pow dan Primal Scream serta Stone Roses + Charlatans UK.

Yang oh-patut dicatat adalah ideologi Do-It-Yourself (DIY) yang diterapkan oleh Bangkutaman dalam meneguhkan eksistensinya di blantika berkesenian. Kegiatan promosi, pemasaran, penjualan, segala apa dikerjakan secara swadaya, lewat jalur “bawah tanah”. Pergerakan yang umumnya dilakukan oleh aktivis punk rock tersebut diadopsi secara baik/benar/bermartabat oleh Bangkutaman yang notabene adalah band pop. Sebentuk fenomena “ajaib”, tentu saja. Sejak peluncuran karya perdana berupa EP Bangkutaman pada tahun 2000, album Love Among The Ruins (2003), album mini Garage of the Soul (2005), serta beberapa EP dan single lainnya, semua digiati secara swakelola. Manuver nan tak lazim macam demikian nyatanya membantu harumnya reputasi Bangkutaman di skena indie. Faktanya, kiat bermusik secara merdeka-mandiri oleh Bangkutaman ini lumayan masif menarik atensi simpatisan cutting edge Nusantara.

Setelah sempat vakum beberapa lama dan sekadar beberapa konser sporadis—terakhir tercatat tampil di Singapura, Mei 2009—akhirnya Bangkutaman muncul lagi di pertengahan 2010 via album penuh bertitel Ode Buat Kota. Ini merupakan album penuh kedua dari trio indiepop yang kini formasinya adalah J. Irwin (gitar), W. Nugroho (biduan, bas, harmonika), pula D. Eryanto (drum). Karya berisikan 10 lagu di bawah naungan label Jangan Marah Records ini, selain makin pudar rona Stone Roses-nya (di masa silam mereka pernah di”vonis” sebagai impersonator grup Madchester tersebut); tampaknya Ode Buat Kota sengaja dirancang untuk mendokumentasikan situasi terkini tentang kota dan Jakarta, ekses signifikan dari hijrah ketiga personelnya kembali ke ibukota. Trio ini lantas secara alamiah beralihrupa, dari tiga mahasiswa yang disibukkan oleh rentetan tugas kuliah, menjadi tiga sosok kantoran yang berhadapan dengan fluktuasi pula dinamika maju-mundur/naik-turun/pahit-manis/asam-garamnya kota.

Tonton aksi mereka di acara Kick Andy, Metro TV, 1 Oktober 2010, 21.30 WIB; atau kunjungi halaman Facebook mereka—ketik saja “bangkutaman” di kolom search—agar tak ketinggalan berita.

English Version

Bangkutaman, the indiepop veteran has just released Ode Buat Kota under the label Jangan Marah Records. This is their second full-length album, 7 years after the first one, Love Among The Ruins.

This group originally are from Jakarta. But they started their career when they went to university in Yogya. The name Bangkutaman taken from a place in their University in Yogyakarta where they used to write poems and talk to each other, to sharing their musical interests. Their brilliant reputation came not only from their well-written songs, but also their intense spirit of Do-It-Yourself, which is quite abnormal for a pop band to adopt—and force—into this underground ethos.

With its current formation, J. Irwin (guitar), W. Nugroho (vocal, bass, harmonica), D. Eryanto (drum), the band sing about the dynamics of the city, the business-as-usual of Jakarta life, and how they adapt the new chapter: the natural transformation from being university students to 9-to-5 people.

Don’t miss their performance in Kick Andy, Metro TV, October 1st, 9.30 PM Jakarta time. Or visit their Facebook page by writing “bangkutaman” in its “search” column.

» This article was originally published in The Beat Jakarta #22, September 2010

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Picture of Rudolf Dethu

Rudolf Dethu

Music journalist, writer, radio DJ, socio-political activist, creative industry leader, and a qualified librarian, Rudolf Dethu is heavily under the influence of the punk rock philosophy. Often tagged as this country’s version of Malcolm McLaren—or as Rolling Stone Indonesia put it ‘the grand master of music propaganda’—a name based on his successes when managing Bali’s two favourite bands, Superman Is Dead and Navicula, both who have become two of the nation’s biggest rock bands.
Picture of Rudolf Dethu

Rudolf Dethu

Music journalist, writer, radio DJ, socio-political activist, creative industry leader, and a qualified librarian, Rudolf Dethu is heavily under the influence of the punk rock philosophy. Often tagged as this country’s version of Malcolm McLaren—or as Rolling Stone Indonesia put it ‘the grand master of music propaganda’—a name based on his successes when managing Bali’s two favourite bands, Superman Is Dead and Navicula, both who have become two of the nation’s biggest rock bands.

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RUDOLF DETHU

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