Back in November 2001, brothers Ibrahim Saladdin and Daud Sarassin formed the band whose name was inspired by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Influenced by The Who, The Beatles – among several other legends of the 1960s and 1970s – these two brothers are recognized in the independent music sphere of Indonesia for their brand of rock and roll. Perhaps the comfort of performing with someone you are tied to by blood has also impacted the way The Experience perform their songs, all of which are in English. The casual, but confident vibe of this two-man band is what makes their performances memorable. Their debut album, Summer of Love, was released in 2007 and their second album, Eye Contact, made it to the third rank on Rolling Stone’s Top Ten Charts in 2011. We invited the duo to practice and recording space Studio Taman in Kemang a month ago and they showed us why they are a group that everybody has their eyes on. Heart Painted Black Young Men Little Pony
Asia-Afrika brings their latest collaboration mixtape with Whiteboard Journal. Titled W Dub, the mix consists of classic and heavy dub tracks from legendary artists such as King Tubby, Lee Perry, Aggrovator, Dennis Brown, etc. The mix begins with spacey and planetary vibes from the vulcan, a side project of keyboardist Ken Elliot who was in the prog-rock band Second Hand. Then there is Money, a track from Easy Star All-Star band. The tunes open with the sound of bong hits and coughing, then grooves to slow and dubby reggae beats. Afterwards there’s Jungle Lion, Lee Perry’s infamous track, combining Al-Green’s famous guitar riddim with a unique blend of murky rhythm tracks, heavy bass, thunderous drum and distant-sounding horns. The mixtape continues with several dubs tracks from King Tubby, Don Corleone, Aggrovator, reaching its end with slower tempo of Lover Rock style from Dennis Brown with the reggae version of Black Magic Woman before finally ending with Red Red Wine’s original version by Tony Tribe. All these tracks are compiled and mixed by Lion Rock and added with deejaying (toasting/mc) from Ras Muhamad, bringing the dub reggae style version into the next level. Asia-Afrika sound choose to collaborate with Whiteboard Journal to expand the musicality and the culture to wider audiences, Asia-Afrika Soundsystem believe that Reggae is for everyone, each person should enjoy and learn the culture. 01. The Vulcan – Star Trek 02. Lee “Scratch” Perry & The Upsetter – Zion Blood 03. Easy Star All-Star – Money 04. Don Corleone – Wrong Side in Dub 05. Alborosie – Dub inna Baltimore 06. Gregory Isaccs – Night Nurse Dub 07. Lee “Scratch” Perry & The Upsetter – Jungle Lion 08. Tapper Zukie – Dub MPLA 09. King Tubby – Inna fine style 10. King Tubby – Conversation Dub 11. Lee “Scratch” Perry & The Upsetter – Enter The Dragon 12. Lee “Scratch” Perry – Sensimilia Dub 13. The Aggrovator – Move out of Babylon 14. Dennis Brown – Black Magic Woman 15. Lee Perry & The Silverstones – Finger Mash 16. Tony Tribe – Red Red Wine
Seeming to come out of nowhere, Stars and Rabbit made a splash in the music scene late 2011. The group masterminded by Elda Suryani and Adi Widodo originally formed in Yogyakarta early 2011 but soon created a buzz for themselves when they performed in Jaya Pub’s monthly event, Superbad!, in December 2011. Since then the group has been the focus of many’s attention, and deservedly so. Elda’s approach to both her vocal projection and performance stands out as her voice, which recalls Bjork and Joanna Newsom, towers over Adi Widodo’s introspective guitar strumming and plucking, while her body moves frantically as if possessed by the music. Whiteboard Journal had the pleasure of having Stars and Rabbit perform 3 songs at W_Space Kemang, and we hope you enjoy the performance! Worth It You Were the Universe Man Upon the Hill
The Jakarta-based band Swimming Elephants, a group of young people formed by Rizki Yogaswara (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Gilar Di Aria (keyboards, guitars, percussions), Wisnu Anditta (drums, percussions, vocals), Saras Juwono (vocals, keyboard, recorder), Aprillia DH (keyboards, glockenspiels. percussions) and Ranggi Mukti (bass). Finding their name after watching The Fall by Tarsem Singh, Swimming Elephants’ music reflect the members love for film as their brand of pop-folk is cinematic with arrangements that often snowball into dramatic parts, vocal harmonies that swell, Rizki Yogaswara’s voice soaring over the music, and lyrics that convey stories of longing and nostalgia. Whiteboard Journal had the pleasure of having Swimming Elephants perform their songs at W_Space, our gallery in Kemang, showing us (and you, of course) why they are a group that deserve our attention. Enjoy! Sarah Digicam 2 Marion
The Jakarta-based indie band Hightime Rebellion was formed by Rendy (vocals/piano/guitar), Pulung (bass), Jason (guitar), and Reza(drums), in 2007, and later came the addition of Miyane (vocals) and Adji (guitar). With the mixture of Brit pop, funk, folk, and rock, they’re paving their way on the diversity of Indonesia’s music scene and gaining public attention as well. This year, they had the honour to rock the stages of huge music events in Indonesia such as Nylon Music Festival, Trax FM Terusik Traxkustik, Java Rockin’Land and Beatfest – such great opportunities came as a fruitage to their early experiences of performing at indie gigs in Jakarta and its neighbour, Bandung. Aside performing in big events, this year they’re also working on a debut album under FFWD Records. Sail Mines Melody Taker
I’ve always been fascinated with rhythm and it’s ability to create the illusion of motion. Rhythm is the source of the head bop, meditative in its repetition, disorienting you when it scatters, excite or lull you - it is the vehicle that takes you from the beginning to the end of a song. With this idea of rhythm and motion in mind, these are a selection of favorites from recent years that I feel put rhythm and its percussive quality in the spotlight. Enjoy. 01. Psychic Ills – East 02. Black Dice – Motorcycle 03. OOIOO – ATS 04. Islaja – Palaa Aurinkoon 05. Animal Collective – We Tigers 06. Nymph – Reeds of Osirion 07. Growing – Rave Pie Only 08. Dirty Projectors – I Sit on the Ridge at Dusk 09. Olaibi – 太陽 10. Gang Gang Dance – God’s Money V 11. Magik Markers – Brighton
It’s Independence Day month and our own Robin Hood is back! Yes I’m talking about Si Pitung and he returns with appearances in this rap flavoured Independence Day Mixtape. Why Si Pitung I hear you ask? Well because he’s a badass gangsta who fought and died struggling against the tyranny of colonial oppression, and if he were around today he’d probably some tough-as-nails emcee from somewhere in Senen, that’s why. So here are some angry rap tracks, happy rhymes, political rants, trivial hip-hopping as well as some things that aren’t rap at all but funky nonetheless. 01. Pitung Arrives 02. Homicide – Semiotika Rajatega 03. Iwa K – Tikus Got (Live) 04. Pitung Aint Dead 05. Ndeesaster – Those Days 06. Swerte, Young Vaughn & Serenada Iblis – The Recipe 07. Ronin (Intellek & Kenji) – Senapan Lirik 08. Dynomonk (Jedimonk & Danger Dope) – 02. Jangan Coba-Coba & Hallow Doggy 09. Pembalasan Si Pitung 10. Homicide – Puritan 11. Serenada Iblis & .Xceptional of Manifestone - The Illusion of Tolerance 12. Pitung Says F**k You 13. I Wayan Sadra – Bola Telah Lama Menggelinding
Ever since the long cold European winter forced him to spend more time indoors, jan learned to keep himself busy by listening to all kinds of music he could get his hands on. This kind of unnatural activity subsequently lead to a number of unhealthy obsession with certain artists, eras or genres for which he has since received the appropriate treatment. Now aiming to awaken the dormant music-lover that resides within every (wo)man. Here is a mixtape consisting of songs that are clearly pop songs, songs that could have been pop songs, songs that should be considered pop songs and songs that are obviously not pop songs. 01. The Radio Dept. – Heaven on Fire 02. Matmos – Public Sex for Boyd Mcdonald 03. Stereolab – Emperor Tomato Ketchup 04. Spoon – My Mathematical Mind 05. Are You Employed Mr. Lebowski? 06. Television – Little Johnny Jewel (Part 1&2) 07. Silver Apples – Oscillations 08. Björk – Venus as a Boy 09. Mulatu Astatke – Asmarina (My Asmara) 10. Minutemen – The Cheerleaders 11. Cee-Lo Green – Talking to Strangers 12. William Shatner – Mr. Tambourine Man 13. Yo La Tengo – If It’s True 14. Guv’ner – Tom Tom
Whiteboard Journal managed to lure Aardvarck to burrow into his crate of vinyl and ended up with a mix of starts with raw club banging hip hop, honest & straight forward dirty south, cocaine rap, weird R&B, Big Boi himself, and progresses neatly into experimental nu-funk, nu-soul, dub, a little bit of jungle and of course some hardcore dubstep. In South Africa, the Aardvark, sometimes called “antbear”, “anteater”, “Cape anteater” “earth hog” or “earth pig”, is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal animal that feeds almost exclusively on ants and termites. In Amsterdam, despite living in his own funky lair, Aardvarck the DJ, however, is one of Amsterdam’s best-known and experienced spinners/producers. Part of numerous local and international collectives, namely Rednose Distrikt, Viral Radio Amsterdam, Rush Hour and faux-Brazilian collective Mochilla, Aarvarck’s avant-garde career of hip hop, disco, funk, jazz & new wave goes back 25 years. The digger can also count Thom Yorke of Radiohead as a fan!
The second time Bergas Haryadita sent Whiteboard Journal a mix, it is this one called "Summer Cuts" which features a mix of uplifting and relaxing tracks. This is what Bergas had to say about the mix: It’s always a pleasure when Max asked me to do a mix and this one is no different and his lovely Icha new born baby Odetta… WELCOME =) And this mix is also for all my friends who just had or is now raising their precious little ones that make them smile and rejoice the joy of being here. I’m feeling the warm and sunny side of the season now, it’s June and winter dressed up and left the building! So check these ‘Summer Cuts’, put on the shades and pop a cold one with the loved ones because summer is definitely here to hang =) -B
Narendra Tanaya, better known to his friends as Tara, gives us Hidden Mixtape - A fine compilation of Psychedelic Rock / Krautrock tunes for your listening pleasure. 01. Alcatraz – Where The Wild Things Are 02. Neu! – Super 03. Amon Düül II – Archangels Thunderbird 04. Faust – Picnic On A Frozen River, Deuxieme Tableux 05. Bunalim – Ask Senin Bildigin Gibi Degil 06. The Id – Boil The Kettle, Mother 07. The Freak Scene – A Million Grains Of Sand 08. The Beatles – Hey Bulldog 09. Can – Spoon 10. The Beatles – Revolution 9 11. Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve – Electric Bananas 12. Can – Half Past One 13. HAL 9000 14. Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express
The host for Bamboo Twist, Mar Galo gives us a mix of vintage romantic divas from far-east land, groovy Thai tunes, Cambodian psychedelic rock, golden voices of Indonesian divas. It’s all in the mix of Bamboo Twist. Put together to celebrate nostalgic moments from land of the rising sun to land of white elephants. 01. Changwah Disco – Chantana 02. Jan Pahechan Ho – Van Shipley 03. テレフォンコールで抱きしめて – GO-BANG’S 04. Hey… Remaja – Nidya Sisters 05. When Will You Come Back Again – Chang Loo 06. Beautiful Spring Night – Woo Ing Ing 07. Wait Ten More Months – Ros Sereysothea 08. Tip My Canoe – Dengue Fever 09. Totblues – Janiv 10. Sunshine Day – D.O.N.S. 11. Come On – Mach Kung-Fu 12. Lung Dee Kee Mao – P. Promdan 13. Mak Itty, Mai Illa – Kassim Slamat & The Swallows 14. Love Method – Sinn Sisamouth 15. Enjoy Yourself – The Stylers
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