Rabih Beaini presents Raung Raya, a five-part series of Indonesian music at Berghain

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  • The Morphine Records boss will bring over 60 Indonesian performers to the Berlin club.
  • Rabih Beaini presents Raung Raya, a five-part series of Indonesian music at Berghain image
  • Rabih Beaini AKA Morphosis, has lined up a five-part showcase of Indonesian music called Raung Raya. The series, whose name translates to "Great Roar," will run at Berghain for five nights between October 19th and January 16th, 2018. The press release states that though Indonesian music is commonly associated with gamelan, "very few [have] ventured into the country's rich and complex musical offering, [which is] as rich as the number of different languages in the country." Beaini seeks to explore "more leftfield, raw and unconventional sounds from Indonesia" with Raung Raya, which is being presented in collaboration with Belgium's Indonesia-focused Europalia Festival. The series starts in October with Gamelan master Iwan Gunawan and his ensemble, who will collaborate with Stefan Lakatos for a performance of music by the eccentric and influential street musician Moondog. Raung Raya's second installment features the "Sudanese hardcore sound" of Karinding Attack as well as Tarawangsawelas, a duo of young musicians from Bandung who are inspired by the West Javanese sacred music Tarawangsa. Also performing that night are Indonesian electronic music pioneer Otto Sidharta and Beaini himself. The December 5th show is focused on the "magical singing" of Ata Ratu, who was featured on the Smithsonian Folkways Music Of Indonesia collection—she's staging her first European performances at Europalia and Raung Raya. The final showcase, set for January 10th, focuses on the music of Morphine Records alumni Senyawa, a group RA's Mark Smith described as sounding like "a slab of abstracted death metal carved from the slopes of a Pacific volcano." Morphine Records will put out a full-length by Tarawangsawelas, Wanci, in conjunction with Raung Raya. The label describes Wanci as "a minimalist, cosmic album composed with a careful contemporary interpretation of one of the most mystical and spiritual genres in Indonesia." Listen to "Selalu" by Tarawangsawelas.
    Tracklist 01. Selalu 02. Tetap Terbit 03. Kecemasan 04. Dari Timur 05. Ada 06. Sekalipun Tickets to Raung Raya are available here on RA. Morphine Records will release Wanci in October 2017.
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