Save The Planet

Indonesia’s genuine musicians are famous for they are apt to use traditional instruments, and hence promote the artistic influence and prowess of their own country. The album which is entirely arranged by Tohpati, and brought to the audience by collaborating with a contemporary band Ethnomission, is a fine sample of how far a modern and cultural scenes could blend seamlessly, and in this regard, voraciously. The news went that the promotion of their pensive album took place in Bentara Budaya Stage, Bentara Budaya Jakarta, including performance. Much to my sadness I was not in Jakarta. Describing the album itself, somehow we will find ourselves confounded in the crossroad. A heap of reviews all talk about fusion, fusion, fusion. By my own judgment, the album is more of a traditional music than a contemporary one. But others would have thought otherwise. And the divide only makes it more interesting a subject of endless analysis. 

Save the Planet presents a harmony you hardly ever heard before, even for native Indonesians. They take you to a surreal experience, as the melody is led by electric guitar with rapidly changing composition, and the whole background is powered by suling, rebana, kendang, and gong. Tohpati does not hesitate to share his bewildering imagination through the second track, Rain Forest. From simple and slow verses in the beginning to increasingly seething in the middle, it is a song with two disparate compositions. Although the general theme of the album is smitten with tantrum, heavy riffs and bombardment of bass tones, voicing a deep concern about the ecological damage, some tracks like Let the Birds Sing and Bedhaya Ketawang tuck in and could be seen as euphemism. They help slow the pace of the album down dramatically. Also in this track appears a Sinden, a Javanese traditional vocal style. 

Gegunungan underscores the implosion of anger concerning environmental issue and the threat that looms over us. The intricate bass melody and rich sound of percussion work together immaculately, very elaborate. And when you enjoy the song with a 5.1 or 7.1 sound system, you really get the most detail out of it. The atmosphere gets psychedelic in the next track, Drama. The musical character coincides with the previous track, only more intense. New Inspiration demonstrates simple tonal development, but at the same time the deep thumps of the percussion help reminds us of its constant intensity. East west serves playful melody, the sax responds similarly fun. And the presence of electric guitar dramatically changes the atmosphere, by which it morphs into rock arrangement, but never go far from its basic root as the returns to the first verse. Percussion resurfaces in Pesta Rakyat, and followed by rock melody highlighted by a combination set of melody of rock and country. It may sound vexing. But perhaps the song, which means Folk Party, only attempts to reconstruct the true and blunt depiction of the erratic event.