Arrington De Dionysos Malaikat Dan Singa Honey and Poison Review

Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat dan Singa

K

2011-03-29

Arrington de Dionyso sings like Diamanda Galás if she had the range of Johnny Cash and spoke Indonesian. With his ring Malaikat dan Singa ("Angels and Lions"), he sounds kind of like Captain Beefheart, if the Magic Band had a less interesting rhythm section — and if Beefheart, God remainder his soul, sang in Indonesian. De Dionyso is sort of similar a throat-singing Chris D. of the Flesh Eaters… Whatever, did I mention this guy sings in Indonesian? Information technology's not his native language. He learned it to impress a girl. He's like some art-freak version of Swallow, Pray, Love.

Actually, "singing" is inadequate to draw de Dionyso's vocal approach. You could oft telephone call information technology "growling", "preaching", "howling", and sometimes "ululating". And and so in that location'due south the Tuvan pharynx singing (he gives workshops), which probably took every bit long to master as Indonesian. The vocals on Suara Naga ("The Dragon's Phonation") are an art-freak's vision of Unbridled Punk Rock Freedom, with a off-white amount of Mystical Tribal Savagery thrown in for good measure out. It's a piffling troubling that de Dionyso equates cruel otherness with singing in Indonesian, a language spoken by millions of sophisticated people. But real Indonesians seem to love him, at least the 20 or so who love weirdo outsider rock, and anyway the Malaikat project isn't all that different from his shtick with the English-language band Old Time Relijun. Only the languages and relijuns accept changed.

Possibly digging this music all comes down to your feelings most throat singing. You know who likes throat singing? Ethnomusicologists. They devote a whole semester to that shit. And and so there's those people who go to concerts of Art Music but don't actually like Bach considering he puts 'em to slumber, and don't actually like showtunes because they feel they're existence patronized — those cats love throat singing. It sounds otherworldly and vaguely car-like, and information technology leads to first-class post-concert arguments about the overtone series.

As to whether this music'south whatsoever practiced… You know those people who'll take a political party and devote all their energy to making 1 element really impressive? Maybe they created an elaborate Eat, Pray, Love trivia game, or hired a gamelan orchestra, or they greeted yous at the door dressed as orangutans. The trouble is, they neglected to invite interesting people or clean the bathroom, and so you're relieved when it'due south time to go habitation, fifty-fifty though you know you've seen something unique.

On this album, de Dionyso is the orangutan costume and his ring is the dirty bathroom. They're not inept, but they don't practise very much aside from laying down elementary two-bar ostinatos and letting their guy practice his thing. Occasionally, this results in some thrilling skronk, equally in "Susu Naga" ("Drunk This Milk from the Breasts of the Dragon"). (Dragons have breasts?) If you like meditating to long woodwind tones, there's much to honey about "Wadah Rohani" ("Spiritual Containers").

Too often, though, the grooves here are pretty mundane. "Aku di Penjara" ("I'one thousand in Jail") resembles the kind of slow, guitar-laced hip-hop rails that y'all'd find tacked to the end of an overstuffed rap album. "Madu Mahadahsyat" ("Boggling Love") resembles the kickoff of the Doors' "Break on Through" played over and over, albeit with an Indonesian yodeler.

Suara Naga isn't a mystical portal to meditative wholeness, or an unbridled free music meltdown. It is a marginally entertaining psych album by a committed and confident vocalist who's not going anywhere. (This is Malaikat dan Singa's second album — who would've put money on that?) At 40 minutes, information technology's also mercifully short. It'southward got some good bass clarinet parts. Depending on the amount of throat singing and/or bass clarinet music in your collection, yous might enjoy putting this on once a year.

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Source: https://www.popmatters.com/140722-arrington-de-dionysos-malaikat-dan-singa-suara-naga-2496036858.html

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