The Power of Trance: A Journey from Indonesia to Roskilde

mar

kortkritik

Andreas Johnsen: »Cosmic Balance«

Sanne Krogh Groth Sanne Krogh Groth. © Jens Voigt-Lund

In 2022, the Indonesian group Juarta Putra turned the Roskilde Festival upside down and captivated a large audience with a trance dance called reak. In the documentary Cosmic Balance, director Andreas Johnsen takes us back to the time just before, to Putra's hometown of Cinunuk in West Java, Indonesia. Through 24-year-old Anggi Nugraha, we are introduced to reak and how both the young and the old, to the sound of booming drums, distorted tarompet (a reed wind instrument resembling an oboe), and reciting song, surrender to the ancestors who visit them in their wild trances. Anggi himself, who has just become the leader of the reak group, is haunted by his stern grandfather, who orders that traditions must be preserved and upheld.

However, Anggi is unsure about his new role. He is not of the bloodline of the predecessor Abah or any of the other members in the group, but he grew up in the village among the musicians after his parents, for unknown reasons, left him there. We also meet Anggi's girlfriend, whom he wants to marry, but whom he has not received his parents' approval to marry for the same reason. Anggi is a sensitive and sympathetic young man, whom one can only wish the best for. He himself seeks help from a fortune-teller, who gives him the strength to travel to Denmark and to marry his chosen one. How the marriage will turn out is unknown, but the journey to Roskilde is a clear success.

The film's soundtrack works predominantly well with field recordings and the group's own music. Less fitting are the passages with lyrical piano and strings accompanying the trance scenes from Cinunuk, which come across as unnecessarily staged. This does not change the fact that Cosmic Balance gives a sympathetic and fascinating portrait of music that, on the one hand, fits perfectly with the global and diverse profile of the Roskilde Festival, but which also comes from a world so distant from the inferno of Roskilde that one can hardly see where the ends meet. But they do, that night at Roskilde.

English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek

22.05.2025

Mit navn er Hilal Kaya – vil du se min playliste?

»Musik var ikke bare min vej ud i verden, men også ind i mig selv. Jeg havde en stille barndom, men musikken gav mig stemme og mod. Jeg har aldrig fået musikundervisning, jeg fandt min egen vej gennem lyde, følelser og nysgerrighed. Min musik er rodfæstet, men fri. Den bærer både på noget gammelt og noget søgende. Ofte ved jeg ikke præcis hvad jeg synger, jeg mærker det bare. Og måske er det nok…«

Hilal Kaya er en danskbaseret vokalist og sangskriver. Hun begyndte sin musikalske rejse i 2014 med en duet med Haluk Levent og vendte tilbage i 2018 med Kalaha efter en studiepause. Hun har markeret sig gennem samarbejder med Kalaha og Aarhus Jazz Orchestra. I dag optræder hun som Hilal Kaya med et stærkt orkester og blander anatolske rødder med elementer fra jazz, rock og roots. Hun bevæger sig frit mellem det traditionelle og det moderne.

Emergent Music

may

kortkritik

Lauri Supponen: »Dwell«

Jakob Kullberg

As an abstract micro manifesto Lauri Supponen describes his interest in »music that inhabits a second space and lingers there«, an invitation for us to dwell in the moment and discover music in its quiet emergence.

»Gaz aux étages«, the first composition on Supponen’s breathtaking album, seems to test this idea as it unfolds with whispered bow strokes devoid of pitch. It is as if the piece itself is an entity wondering if it will prove to be music as it tentatively investigates its own constituent components. A subtle opening to an album that answers this question with clarity in its eponymous second work »Dwell« (tracks 2–5), exploring a fascinating microtonal realm. In virtuoso performances of astonishing accuracy, guitarist Petri Kumela and vocalist Tuuli Lindeberg bring Supponen’s demanding four-movement duo to life. The guitar writing in Dwell recalls Norwegian composer Martin Rane Bauck’s Fretted with Golden Fire with its drone-like microtonal strumming – a connection substantiated by the album notes, which reveal both composers know each other and have collaborated with bass clarinetist Madison Greenstone.

The dwelling-space Supponen offers in »Eau & gaz à tous les étages« and »Opus Nen«, return the listener to a more remote sonic space, reminiscent of the album’s opening albeit with tighter compositional sense. Performed with intensity by Madison Greenstone and baritone saxophonist Sikri Lehko, they consolidate the pervasive feeling that Dwell is a uniquely inspired collaboration.

Musikken, der tøver – og forvandler

may

kortkritik

Lauri Supponen: »Dwell«

Jakob Kullberg

Som et abstrakt mikromanifest beskriver Lauri Supponen sin interesse for »musik, der bebor et andet rum og dvæler dér« – en invitation til at blive i øjeblikket og opdage musikken i dens stille fremkomst.

»Gaz aux étages«, det første værk på Supponens bjergtagende album, synes at afprøve denne idé, idet det udfolder sig med hviskende buestrøg blottet for tonehøjde. Det er, som om stykket selv er en slags væsen, der undrer sig over, om det mon vil vise sig at være musik, mens det tøvende undersøger sine egne bestanddele. En subtil åbning på et album, der besvarer dette spørgsmål med klarhed i det eponyme andet værk »Dwell« (spor 2–5), hvor en fascinerende mikrotonal verden udforskes. I virtuose og forbløffende præcise fortolkninger bringer guitaristen Petri Kumela og vokalisten Tuuli Lindeberg Supponens krævende firsatsede duo til live. Guitarstemmen i Dwell leder tankerne hen på den norske komponist Martin Rane Baucks Fretted with Golden Fire med sin drone-lignende mikrotonale strumming – en forbindelse, der bekræftes i albumnoterne, som afslører, at de to komponister kender hinanden og har samarbejdet med basklarinettisten Madison Greenstone.

Det opholdsrum, Supponen tilbyder i »Eau & gaz à tous les étages« og »Opus Nen«, bringer lytteren tilbage til et mere fjernt sonisk rum, der minder om albummets åbning – dog med en mere præcis kompositorisk bevidsthed. Fremført med intensitet af Madison Greenstone og barytonsaxofonisten Sikri Lehko, understreger disse værker den gennemgående fornemmelse af, at Dwell er et unikt og inspireret samarbejde.

Dansk oversættelse: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek

18.05.2025

My name is Per Bloch – would you like to see my playlist?

»For me, music is a bridge between worlds and cultures, and it’s also a path inward – and outward. Toward new insights. Music is what I use when I meet other people, instead of talking about the weather. It’s music that gives me answers and asks the questions. Music is a release valve and the space that can hold all the unmanageable, infinite, and strange emotions in life. A space for everything I can’t seem to fit anywhere else. Music roots the airy and the ethereal. A dissolution of all that is material and tangible.

When I create music myself, I discover new paths and ingredients within me that I didn’t know I had access to. Music is the language through which one can connect with others – with or without formal training – an imaginary language, and yet so concrete that it can be touched and felt. Music is a peephole into others and a gaze that crosses the boundaries that would otherwise divide us.

For me, music is motive, excuse, and emphasis. And a pressure test between reality and fantasy. Music is balance and chaos, tonal poetry, pure lovely gibberish, ultimate perfection – and sometimes the only thing bearable to listen to.«

Per Bloch is a composer and songwriter, as well as the author of novels and children’s books accompanied by musical audiobooks. Last year, he published the children’s book Gakkelaksen og de 10.000 stjerner and the novel Rosa i al slags lys, both including sound pieces. He also released three new songs in three different languages – Greek/Danish, Faroese, and Greenlandic – as a follow-up to the album Kokoro, which consisted of eight love songs in eight different languages. In addition, he released two remixes – one of them based on the novel's soundtrack, created by the Japanese sound artist Sugai Ken.

16.05.2025

Mit navn er er Pernille Jensen – vil du se min playliste?

»Musik er min makker, og det har den været altid. Jeg er vokset op i et hjem uden klaver med en far der var kranfører og en mor der er sosu-assistent. Der var ingen stor pladesamling at gå på jagt i, og det stod ikke skrevet i nogen stjerner, at jeg skulle ende på Politiken. Vi holdt jo Det Fri Aktuelt. Men radioen var altid tændt, og jeg har kunnet trampe min egen sti igennem musikhistorien, uden forældre der slog mig oveni hovedet med deres Beatles-plader. Måske er det derfor, min musiksmag er blevet et hot mess af syrerock, streaming-konger, salsa og satan. Til gengæld jeg spiller ikke selv. Det er min lille gave til alle jer andre.«

Pernille Jensen (f. 1984) er musikanmelder på Politiken. Hun begyndte at skrive for musiktidsskriftet Geiger i 2004, og har siden skrevet for Undertoner og Soundvenue, før hun kom til Politiken i 2011.