If you follow Indonesia’s independent music scene, the name Efek Rumah Kaca should sound pretty familiar. The trio consisting of Cholil Mahmud, Akbar Bagus Sudibyo, and Adrian Yunan Faisal made pop-rock music that is exceptionally earnest and insightful. Pandai Besi is a side project of theirs reinterpreting their Efek Rumah Kaca songs, and the project involves Airil Nurabadiansyah on bass, Adi Sabarudin on guitar, Muhammad Asranur on the keys, Agustinus Panji Mahardika on trumpet and Natasha Abigail as an additional vocalist.

I saw this ‘Pandai Besi’ incarnation of Efek Rumah Kaca when they performed late last year at Superbad. Their slow-burning  re-interpretation of their old material is moving, every song hitting – exploring new arrangements that reveal the emotional core of the music (‘Di Udara’ is particularly well done).

So Pandai Besi’s arrangements are so good that they have decided to record them, but they need our help in doing so. The group plan on recording a 9-song album in Solo’s legendary Lokananta studio, and to make this happen properly they are crowd funding a’la Kickstarter.

Six packages that starts from 60,000 rupiah give you everything from limited edition T-shirts, CDs, Records, to a private performance by the group. This is definitely something we should support if we can afford it. Hopefully we’ll get a new Efek Rumah Kaca album, I mean Pandai Besi album, before the year ends! Check out the tracklist:

1. Hujan Jangan Marah
2. Menjadi Indonesia
3. Di Udara
4. Melankolia
5. Jangan Bakar Buku
6. Laki-laki Pemalu
7. Debu-debu Berterbangan
8. Jalang
9. Desember

To donate to Pandai Besi/Efek Rumah Kaca, visit this link.