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I composed the second album, Barong, over a period of four years and
revamped it on a number of occasions before settling on a final version.
The album alternates between major and minor modes in search of deep,
rich, and textured sounds.
Unlike the first album, I wrote each piece individually in order to
make them distinct, singular, and different in style. That said, Barong
still relies on the same instruments and multi-track recording technique
in order to produce a global, unified sound. Finally, most pieces feature
vocals.
Multi-track
recording is achieved by recording the same sound a number of times
and superimposing each recording in order to create a deeper symphonic
or choral effect. The album contains a large number of vocals, as many
as 12, 18, or even 32, in which I am the sole singer. I deliver these
textured vocals in a simple language in order to allow the sounds to
dominate the lyrics, which are essentially inspired by Indian ragas
or Indonesian words. This acoustic mass yields a trancelike or meditative
ambiance and plays the role of an instrument with complex textures without
it being cast in a solo role.
Although each piece is particular in nature, each remains closely connected
to the images it conjures and carries the listener from one scene to
the next in a series of dollyings, leaps, and flashbacks that create
a more dynamic montage.
 
Excerpt
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GUIDED
TOUR 1
Extraits Mp3
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Even
though Mystic Chris (mp3) starts
off with programmed
techno rhythms
and sustained guitar riffs, the piece
builds its strength
out of the
free
improvisation of a trumpet with
a definite sense of urgency and, in the end, out of its capacity to
enshroud a solitary and mystical improvisation in Arabic scales and
vocal incantations.
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Pianoctobre, (mp3) with its guitar and string bass riffs, exudes the kind of ambiance typical
of what one finds in secret agent movies.
I also wanted the absence of melody and the highlighting of souped up
electro-acoustic piano sounds (another throwback to my university days)
to create a confused ambiance, which the clattering down of the piano
achieves through surprisingly melodic chaos. |
Barong,(mp3) or Full Versionthe piece featured at the beginning of the album, relies on multiple
meditative voices (32) in a symbiotic relationship with the more rhythmic
sounds of two didgeridoos (Australian aboriginal instrument) to create
a trancelike progression.
I snuck the plaintive electro-acoustic sound of a grating chair (a relic
from my university days) into the introduction and then transposed it
four octaves lower so as to make the usually inaudible high-pitch sounds
perceptible
to the human ear. Mandolins and electric guitars round off
this melodic and rhythmic arrangement.
See the vidéo |
The
first version of Mars Attack (mp3) was totally created in a virtual studio, Reason, making no attempt
to avoid the synthetic sounds that are
inherent to this technology.
It depicts futuristic images of
extraterrestrial
attacks I conceived
in my head as a child in the 1960s.
Radio static
and rock guitars
vie for attention with 12 chorus voices
to
the rhythm of a percussive
Indonesian language in what
amounts to a short moment in a galactic
war.
See the vidéo
Next |
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Band-o-néon (mp3) finds its roots in a typical folk music
recipe.
A bandoneon, violin, and mandolin trio manages to let the
piece
blend metallophone-like Indonesian percussion with pentatonic
scales and semiquavers that are very popular in Asia (gamelan).
Despite
its obvious flirtation with Asiatic modes, the piece remains
well
anchored in traditional occidental values.
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Lovina (mp3) takes us on a tour of Mediterranean countries where the spicy fragrances
of Provence blend with the nostalgia of harmonies in minor keys, while
warm voices frolic with Italian mandolins over a background of cello.
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Electro-joy
(mp3) is mainly structured
from and around a melody and accompaniment played on four-string dulcimers
whose sounds contrast with the very electronic tone (Reason) of its
rhythm section. A violin cuts in, in response to the guitars, and
imposes itself as it introduces the classical character of the next
the piece, Joy, a logical sequel and natural suite.
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