| Gamelan Of Central Java / Viii: Court Music Treasures |
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| Album: | Viii: Court Music Treasures | Collection: | World | |
| Artist: | Gamelan Of Central Java | Added: | Apr 2007 | |
| Label: | Felmay | |||
| A-File Activity |
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| Add Date: | 2008-03-16 | Pull Date: | 2008-05-18 | Charts: | Reggae/World |
| Week Ending: | Apr 13 | Mar 23 |
| Airplays: | 2 | 1 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | Aug 14, 2010: | Music Casserole Carabalen | 3. | Mar 18, 2008: | The Wonder Girls of Canadian Summertime Mandulpati (excerpt) | |
| 2. | Apr 07, 2008: | Emphysema For Emphasis Pangkur, Carabalen | 4. | Sep 08, 2007: | Social Disorder Pangkur |
| Album Review |
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| Gabe Reviewed 2008-03-10 | ||
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Gamelan, obviously, but of a very formal nature, as you may have guessed from the precious title, "Court Music Treasures". That being the case, the music moves slowly, refinedly, sometimes to the point of making for difficult listening. The CD actually grew on me a quite a bit between my initial near- aggravation and my second-listen appreciation. 1. Sharp timbres due to flutes, the female lead sings prettily, the male chorus heartily, but perhaps for Western ears, all tend to amble around, never really settling on any particular melody ** 2. 11 or 12 minutes of slow to mid-tempo metallophone pleasantry leads to a half-minute or so of slightly faster and busier, though no less genteel malleting, quickly settling back to status quo ante. ** 3. Here, slightly rusty viol joins the metallophones and the still-wandering vocalist; about 12 minutes in, the so-called soft instruments (strings, voice) drop out and the more typical bells take over *** 4. Said to be by an ancient ensemble, this piece is darker and while more complex rhythmically, considerably simpler in more or less doing away with supporting instrumentation, making do with metal and drums; I was surprised to find it in the middle of the other, more densely arranged and higher-pitched pieces surrounding it. ** 5. The viol from track 3 joins the vocal ensemble from track 1 for what turns out to be a bit anthemic, a bit regal, a bit beautiful | ||
| Track Listing |
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| 1. | Gambir Sawit | 3. | Mandulpati | |||
| 2. | Dhenggung Turulare | 4. | Carabalen | |||
| 5. | Pangkur | |||||