JUST for NOW : from the SCRATCH

Satu tahun yang lalu, di postingan ini, aku susah payah menjelaskan bagaimana rumit dan indahnya seorang Imogen Heap menciptakan musiknya. Demikian penggambaranku waktu itu :

"...secara real-time me-looping suara yang baru sekian detik keluar dari mulut/alat musik/sumber bunyi-bunyian yang mereka pakai, pakai Monome dan segala macam sequencer yang ribet itu, trus dicombine sama lirik lagunya secara utuh (yang dinyanyikan live) dan alat musik pendukung yang dimainkan secara manual s.a piano, gitar atau drum. Semuanya dilakukan secara live! Real time! Pusing kan? Aku ngeliatnya juga pusing. But the output.. Was so fuckin good."

Nah, kalau masih susah ngebayanginnya, coba lihat video di bawah ini. Somehow kok aku juga kelewat, baru ngeliat kemarin. Padahal aku sempet liat beberapa video dari rangkaian rehearsal Live on Indie 101 ini lho. Oh well. Mari kita simak bersama-sama. 

Neat, eh? :)

HALF life, DAFT life

"Half life, with you as my quarterback"

Mendengar sepenggal bagian itu, aku sempat ber-"ooohhh how sweeeet" ala abege. Aku pikir ini adalah one hella happy song. Melupakan kenyataan kalau Immi tidak membuat lirik yang tersurat, and how she loves wordplay. Yea, that 'half' and 'quarter' part.

After goes for some more dig, i guess the real meaning was :
Half plus quarter never equal one part intact.


...It's a half life,
With you as my quarter back.
A daft life.

You know you'll never be lonely,
No, you'll always be loved,
And maybe, you never need more than that.
But for the surplus that loves,
What's to become of us?
Does it even register on your conscience?


Asem. Tertipu. Ternyata ini lagu sedih :)

MORNING scribbling

What's wrong with them?

Dana aspirasi? Jago aja nih kajian bahasa dan crafting copynya. Sampe bisa nemu kata 'aspirasi' sebagai manifestasi gelontoran duit 15 miliar setahun. Jadi copywriter aja gimana?

Pardon my French, saya memang cuma orang awam yang ngga super sophisticated dan analitis, pun ngga bisa nulis kata-kata yang pinter. Yang saya tahu, legislatif menyambung lidah rakyat, eksekutif mengeksekusi. Koridornya begitu, kewenangannya disitu. Kalau lidahnya 'tersambung' dengan baik, insya Allah perwujudan pembangunan bla-bla-bla yang mereka tuntut dengan uang aspirasi itu bisa terlaksana lah. Kurang bobol apa sih APBN kita mau ditambahin begituan? Bocor disana-sini, infrastruktur juga belum well maintained kok. Ga inget apa mau renovasi kantor anggarannya nyampe trilyunan? Aduh. Kok ya ga punya sense of crisis.

Lalu ini lagi, Ariel sama Luna Maya. Ups maaf. Harus pake tanda kutip biar ga ada pencemaran nama baik, wong belum terbukti ya. 'Ariel' dan 'Luna Maya'. Kok ya iseng banget sih pake direcord segala. Udah gitu kok rasanya absurd ya kalo infotainment pada pake kata 'video mesum yang mirip Ariel dan Luna Maya'.. Habis nyaris ga mungkin kalo itu bukan mereka sih. Ups :p Untung ybs could take care of theirselves. Kemana-mana masih bisa naik mobil dengan kaca gelap, sewa bodyguard, pergi ke luar negeri... And will end up married. Sebuah keyakinan platonik sejak jaman 3 tahun yang lalu... Tapi kok ini ada lagi yang Ariel sama Cut Tari?? Ups lupa, pake tanda kutip. 'Ariel' sama 'Cut Tari'. Kan belum terbukti :D

Then this news made me sad :'( ...
Immi can't afford to giddy her tour up. Dia ngga bisa meneruskan tour Ellipse-nya sesuai rencana sampai akhir tahun karena biaya. Meskipun jarang sekali ada review jelek soal musiknya dan fansnya sangat devoted, memilih aliran musik yang tidak mainstream memang resikonya berbenturan sama kapital. Tapi beruntung fanbasenya luar biasa. She said : "My biggest asset is not cash - it's a large, growing, devout fanbase. It's not about making tonnes of cash. It's just about being able to go and do a show for the people that really want to see it." Oh it's no bullshit. Dan aku bisa membayangkan dia, orang yang menggadaikan flatnya buat ngebiayain produksi albumnya taun 2005 ini masih ketawa-ketawa ketika tau dia udah ga punya duit lagi. Hehe, sok kenal amat akuh. Tapi rasanya sih dia akan begitu. Because she just love what she has been doing. And that's why I love her :)

Anyway, dari kemaren mau cerita lupa-lupa mulu. Gara-gara browsing Youtube, waktu masih melakukan investigasi soal ini, aku sempet terperosok ke channelnya wildminer, suami istri dengan 2 pasang anak kembar. Yang pertama cewe-cowo, Aiden-Riley; yang kedua cowo-cowo, Peyton-Brennan. Mereka posting video2 aktivitas anak-anak mereka, tapi paling banyak punya Peyton-Brennan, yang sangat sumeh, tambeng dan adorable :D Pertama nemu yang ini trus jadi ketagihan nyari-nyari yg lain.



Ini bocah-bocah emang bikin senyam-senyum ga karuan. Lucu. Bolak balik ditonton, sampe bisa ngebedain, mana Peyton mana Brennan :D



Ngalor ngidul yah.
Habis dana aspirasi, video mesum, Immi, terus P&B..

*garuk-garuk*

Heap Heap Sounds of Imogen Heap

.
Aku kembali :D

Yes. With a big grin from ear to ear because i've just got back from Jakarta, witnessing Imogen Heap Ellipse World Tour, March 31st!! Huhuhu, aku begitu bahagia.. Have I mentioned that i've just got back from Jakarta, witnessing Imogen Heap Ellipse World Tour? No? So I will tell you : i've just got back from Jakarta, witnessing Imogen Heap Ellipse World Tour!!!

Regardless jalan jauuuh plus loncat moda transportasi sana sini buat ngambil tiket, ke kos mbak Meisya (she's being my caretaker at Jkt, as always), dan nyari venuenya.. the show was awesome! Persis sama seperti yang kuharapkan. Bahkan mungkin lebih, karena Immi membawakan seluruh lagunya dari Ellipse (minus Earth dan Half Life) plus Goodnight And Go (yang dibilangnya udah 3 tahun ngga pernah dibawain live), Speeding Cars (!!!), The Walk (!!!!), Let Go (-nya Frou Frou), Just For Now, The Moment I Said It dan.. Hide and Seek... Oh good God. Semua lagu yang aku suka dari previous album dia bawain! Jangan tanya bagaimana aku survived sepanjang konser.. Baru masuk venuenya, liat set stage lengkap dengan pohon kelap kelip dan piano transparannya aja I felt like I'm about passed out. But I'm not. Of course I won't!!

Oke mari kita recall dari awal. Shownya telat sejam! Katanya sih sengaja soalnya Jakarta lagi macet. Lumayan bikin bete, tapi mungkin memang konser di Jakarta selalu begini ya? Sekitar jam 8 lewat, show akhirnya dibuka sama penampilan gitarisnya Immi, Back Ted N Ted. He's quite good, musiknya mirip Immi jaman album I Megaphone. Trus dilanjut sama keyboardist/DJ/sampler atau apapunnya Immi (saking versatilenya) : Tim Exile. Orang ini agak sinting nampaknya, dia ngesampling segala macem sumber suara (suaranya sendiri, beatboxing bahkan suara penonton) secara realtime, dan dimainin saat itu juga. And the tempo was perfect. Ngga ada yang meleset sedikitpun.

Then Immi's showed up. Ketika dia muncul di stage, dengan dress, legging, feather-padded-shoulder serba hitam, flat-shoes bling-bling (yang sepertinya dipakai di seluruh Ellipse World Tour?), hairstyle acak-acakan, lei, dan tentu saja segala macam mic dan controllernya yang terattached di seluruh tubuh, aku menjadi norak : badan rasanya lemes semua... I just can't believe I finally see her with my very own eyes! Ah tetapi diriku ini tidak seheboh abege2 di belakang sana kok. Yang heboh teriak-teriak ga keruan tapi nyebut nama Immi literally "I-Mo-Gen"... Darl, it's "ɪmədʒɨn"...

Ah tapi ngga papalah. Toh nyatanya semua yang dateng bikin ambience jadi meriah. It's nice having sooooooo many Immi-fans around, about 3000 ppl there, setelah bertahun-tahun cuma menyanyikan lagu-lagunya seorang diri. Even in this radio station! Dan Immi, dengan showmanshipnya yang funnily-clumsy-with-a-very-british-accent itu berhasil bikin kita semua ketawa-ketawa melulu. She also asked us to sing with her. As a backing vocal at Hide and Seek, and as the music instrument in Just For Now! That was fun. And that was what I called showmanship.


Immi menyanyikan semua set malam itu dengan sempurna. Ted, Tim and Chris as the drummer joined her at stage and they performed as a full band. Termasuk seorang cellist asli Indonesia bernama Rachman yang sengaja diaudisi untuk melengkapi cello part di lagu The Fire dan Canvas. Karena Immi perform secara full band, jelas aransemennya agak beda dari versi recording. Tapi karena akunya udah terlalu banyak nontonin video shownya di Youtube (karena udah helpless mikir Immi ga bakal mampir ke Indonesia), jadi sedikit banyak aransemennya lumayan mudah kutebak, meski beberapa lagu-lagunya secara misteriously dimulai dengan segala sumber suara yang aneh2, mulai dari burung2an, bel dan selang plastiknya itu :D But absolutely still gave me shiver to see her LIVE on stage. She's just sooooooo fine.

So, said who musik elektronik-ambient-triphop-nya Immi itu ngga mutu? Maybe yes, if they just play the record. But these people, Immi and her band... Mereka secara real-time me-looping suara yang baru sekian detik keluar dari mulut/alat musik/sumber bunyi-bunyian yang mereka pakai, pakai Monome dan segala macam sequencer yang ribet itu, trus dicombine sama lirik lagunya secara utuh (yang dinyanyikan live) dan alat musik pendukung yang dimainkan secara manual s.a piano, gitar atau drum. Semuanya dilakukan secara live! Real time! Pusing kan? Aku ngeliatnya juga pusing. But the output.. Was so fuckin good. Ngga kalah sama sekali sama produk recording, matter of fact lebih bagus!

Immi juga sebenernya bisa menyanyikan semua lagunya secara accoustically-beautiful pake piano yang dia mainin sendiri. Immi can play keyboards, piano, cello, clarinet, guitar, drums, keytar and a lot more. So IF you thought that Immi only be able to sing with her "electronic-crappy-playback".. you WRONG. Immi could do more than that. *biasa, fans selalu membela idolanya secara berlebihan* :p

Errr anyway... I took several pictures and videos, but since I'm just a BIG fans with a TINY resources.. The quality wasn't too good. I only armed myself with a cellphone camera! So, while Immi's never stop moving and I have to zoomed in, the pics were ridiculously blur. See the pic above? There you go, that blurry. And I can't stop hating myself because later I discover my cellphone camera has a 'sport-mode' for a fast-moving object! After I tried it out, this mode captured moving object (like.. Immi walking from side to side, for example?) miraculously better. And I didn't use it at the show! Stupid.

Oh, don't ask about the videos. I made kinda record that me myself will hate it if i found it on Youtube. It's shaky (because of my euphoria) and polluted with my own voice (because I can't help not to sing along). So, it's gonna be my own milestone of youth, I'm too shame to share the videos to you.

So that's it. I guess I spoke too much.
I'm sorry I can't help it :p
Because the show was AWESOME. Immi ROCKS.



And Immi said she will GET BACK here in Indonesia...
... around end of this year!



See you when I see you again Immi :D
>

There's a silver line among the storm

.
This guy called Nuno. Don't overrated him, because he has a hell of a job: Music Director. Em-Dee. How great is that? Music. Director. He did serious business, such as : listening music. And became Music Director means you enter a large range of music director radio network in Indonesia. The Music Directors hang out frequently. They met up each other, along with artists and recording labels. Because it was like a symbiotic mutualism. Despite the existence of internet, labels and artists still need radio network on behalf of the MDs to promote their work. Then the MDs got several privileges from the labels.

Okay. Back to Nuno, the tremendous guy. He just returned from Jakarta, after attending an event called National Radio Day 2010. Besides avoiding floods and traffic jams, back there in Jakarta he met someone from Sony Music, the label that released.. Ellipse : Imogen Heap's latest album in Indonesia.

Yes. Imogen Heap. The owner of Power Mac 8-chores armed with 18 GB of RAM only for her music work, who sang with smokey-voice, Monome user, music-geek, internet-freak, witty-fashionista, electronic sound manipulator, 2010 Grammy winner for Best Engineered Album Non-Classical, female singer who knew exactly music she played, and finally... singer that I admire since I found her single in dusty corner of studio's discotheque 4 years ago.

Imogen Heap will held a concert in Jakarta. March 31st. *swoon* And Nuno, with the power of MD networking came up to studio last night with a heavenly offer : "Imogen Heap ticket, anyone?" I almost fainted.

But I'm relieved, because Nuno *ahem* was insane enough to pass me the ticket. He even got a Java Jazz ticket from Platinum Records, but he decided not to go. I don't know what's wrong with his head, but as long as he gave me the opportunity : It's a RAD.

I am speechless.


Nuno. You are the man.
Immi. I'm just a face in the crowd. But I'll be there.
.

And I Can't Do Any of That Here, Can I?

.
Need some fresh air.
Because i didn't aiming for anything.

Bodies disengaged
Our mouths are fleshing over
Is this an echo game?
Iris's retreating
To ovals of white.

The urge to feel your face
and blood rushing to paint
my hand print
And frisby one by one
Your vinyl on laminate
Desperate for some kind of contact

First train home, I've got to get on it
First train home, I've got to get on it
First train home, I've got to get on it
Got to catch, catch, catch, catch, catch

First train home, I've got to get on it
First train home, I've got to get on it
First train home, I've got to get on it
First Train Home

Da dum da deo, deo, da deo
Da dum da deo, deo, da deo

Temporal dead zone
Where clocks a belly breathing
Yet no one cares to notice
for all the yelling, all night clamor
to hold it together

Want to Play-Doh wave forms in the hideaway
Want to get on with getting on with things
Want to run in fields, paint the kitchen and love someone
No I can't do any of that here, can I?

First train home, I've got to get on it
First train home, I've got to get on it
First train home, I've got to get on it
First Train Home

So what
You've had one to many.
So what
I'm not that much fun to be with
So what
You can't see
So what
I didn't want to come here anyway

What matters to you
doesn't matter
Matter
To me.
What matters to me
doesn't matter
Matter
To you.
What matters to you
doesn't matter
Matter
To them.
What matters to them
Doesn't Change Anything

Got to get on it
First Train Home
Got to get on it
First Train Home
first train home I've got to get on it
first train home I got to get on it

First Train Home
Got to got to got to got to
Get get get get
Out out out out
Now now now now