Maillist
Various
- Night Recordings from Bali
- Format: CD Album
- Catalogue Number: SF003
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Sublime Frequencies
- Release Date: 1 March 2004
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PRICE: £14.99
Night Recordings from Bali
Field recordings from central Bali at night, with mood, magic and all the mystery this great island can supply. Several styles of Gamelan music are present along with sounds of the midnight forests and crossroads. Supernatural sound from the Balinese interior!
With the modern beach resorts at Kuta and Legian, the lovely, tropic interior of palm-covered hills and rice paddies, and a rich variety of art, dance and music, it is a destination of choice for travelers around the world. But, regardless of their increasing role of servicing an ever-demanding tourist industry, the Balinese are a strong-willed and tight-knit society. The island is a tiny enclave of Hinduism within a massive nation of Islam, yet, their Gamelan music is faster, tighter, and louder than their mighty neighbors to the west, the Javanese. Balinese Gamelan stylings and the Ketchak dance are legendary throughout the world and have been immortalized in sound recordings and on film for decades. But, beneath the creeping exterior of a pseudo-western culture slowly overtaking an amazing tradition of unique human expression, the moods of the island are governed by magic and superstition. The hills, forests, rivers, and crossroads are alive with tales of demons (Leyaks) and a flesh-eating Ogress (Rangda). A lesser-known darker side of Balinese life secretly balances the lighter side "tropical paradise" of tourist brochures. This CD is composed of field recordings from August and September of 1989. The majority of the recordings were made at night in and around the villages of Peliatan and Ubud. Amidst the excerpts from Gamelan performances, rehearsals, and Ketchak, are sounds of the surrounding forests and mysterious crossroads where packs of dogs seem to take on forms of angry demons. Also encountered here are odd folk stylings for flute and drum, outdoor village theatre, and other various sound anomalies from the Balinese interior.
Track Listing
1. Peliatan Night Walk/Gamelan Rehearsal
2. Gamelan Rehearsal (Roughriders Troupe)
3. Monkey Forest Night
4. Legian Minstrals
5. Gamelan Gabor, No. 1
6. Rubber Television
7. UFO Gamelan (Madi K. Troupe)
8. Night Village Barong, No. 1
9. Cremation Procession (Rotating Coffin)
10. Night Lotus Pool
11. Gamelan Gabor, No. 2
12. Ketchak Peliatan
13. Cremation Ceremony
14. Demon Dog Crossroads
15. Night Village Barong, No. 2
16. River Spirits
17. Kuta Quintet
18. Tourist Barong Gamelan
19. Midnight Plumage
