In Morfem's Indonesia Release Party

When was it? Ou, yeah.. It was Sunday, February 20, 2011. I came to Eastern Promise, an Irish Pub with stage on their backyard, that located in Kemang area, Jakarta. Morfem has a release party for their first album with big title, 'Indonesia'.

A little information, Morfem is a side-project rock band with personnels from different bands - correction, amazing bands. Jimi Multhazam as vocalist comes from The Upstairs, Pandu Fathoni as guitarist comes from The Porno, Bramasta Juan Sasongko as bassist comes from JARB and Freddie Alexander Warnerin as drummer comes from Nervous Breakdown.

But I'm not writing this post as a review of Morfem's Indonesia Release Party. All I can say it was a great show, I guess hundreds of people filled Eastern Promise. It really was packed. Morfem brought more than 10 songs beautifully, their own and some cover songs. Their act on stage were just simply amazing. More about Morfem, you could follow their twitter account here, or see Jimi's blog here.

And before Morfem came up to the stage, there were to two bands that perform to open their show. They were Suri and PAL/NTSC. Well, I'm not going to talk about Suri either. So, this post is about PAL/NTSC.

Formed by two dearest friend of mine in February 2010, PAL/NTSC is becoming (I might say) one of my favorite band in Indonesia. WIth their unique genre that they call 'electronic dub wonton andalusian boots', in short they are an unique rock band with a touch of electronic sounds in some of their songs.

PAL/NTSC member consists of Muhammad Pandu on bass and vocal, Louie Drayden on guitar and synths, Sabri on guitar and Risky on drums. Just a little trivia, Sabri and Risky are brothers by blood.

Beside Pandu's somewhat-cutting-edge-crazy style and act on stage, the eye-catching point of PAL/NTSC is Louie. That guy refuses to let his face out in the open, so he wear some kind of modified helmet to cover, not just his face, but his entire head. And that's why all the photographers that tried to catch their performance on stage tend to choose to take more photos of Louie. Poor you, the other members.. :p

In Morfem's Indonesia Release Party, PAL/NTSC brought 6 songs on. They were all their own songs. Their songs list in order was:

1) Multicultural Thieves

2) Cotton Buds

3) Even I'm Offended By This

4) Survival Of The Fattest (Upbeat Version)

5) United

6) Louie Multicultural Offended Manual Dub

Way before they opened for Morfem, PAL/NTSC has performed in several occasions, including Terusik Traxkustik. Terusik Traxkustik is a monthly event from one of the biggest radio in Jakarta, Trax 101.4 FM.

Are you interested in PAL/NTSC?? Visit their facebook fan page here for more info, and follow them via twitter here. If everything goes well, PAL/NTSC will release their first album this year. If you like them, support them and support Indonesia's music.

Cheers!!!

Thank you, Homogenic!!!!

If you were following my posts in this blog, you should have known that Homogenic is one of my favorite band/musician. They are Indonesian band that come from Bandung, West Java. The band member was Dina Dellyana, Grahadea Kusuf and Risa Saraswati.

I love their kind of music since their first album, 'Epic Symphony' in 2004. Which followed by much darker and melancholy one, 'Echoes of the Universe' in 2006 - which I love too, even some songs lead to suicidal thoughts.. :p

In 2010, they launched their third album, 'Let A Thousand Flowers Bloom'. In this album, Risa Saraswati's voice is no longer fill the songs. And one of my favorite singer, Amandia Syachridar, replace her spot. It doesn't mean that I don't love Risa's voice, it's just I like Amandia since before she's joining Homogenic - read here for details. I still listen to Risa's voice in her new band called Sarasvati, love their music also.

So, I've written this over and over before. I've been given the opportunities, which I value the most, to remix some of Homogenic songs. Cut to the chase, I've been working to re-mix 2 of their songs. 'Destiny' were transformed in to Trance tunes under Astral Escalation and 'Sampai Jumpa' were turned to Drum & Bass/Jungle by Jastria & Fadil.

I want to thank Dina Dellyana for the most valuable opportunity in my life. Grahadea Kusuf for sending all the files and the suggestions. Also Amandia and Maradilla Syachridar for... Errr.. I guess being supportive with their kindness.. :)

You can find the link to those remix here, alongside some masters in Indonesia's electronic music scene; SPACEANDMISSILE, BOTTLESMOKER, HENRY FOUNDATION, MOBIL DEREK and DO EAR.

I guess I won't be tired to say, "Thank You.. Thank You.. Thank You.. And Thank You, Homogenic!!"