Rabih Beaini brings Indonesian musicians to Berghain for unique live series

Leftfield and unconventional sounds of Indonesia descend on Berlin’s techno Mecca.

Morphine Records founder Rabih Beaini has launched a new multi-part performance series called Raung Raya (Great Roar), showcasing rare and little-known music from Indonesia.

Presented in collaboration with the Belgian Europalia festival, over sixty musicians will perform at Berghain across Raung Raya’s five events.

“From the pioneer of electronic music Otto Sidharta, to the Sundanese hardcore sound of Karinding Attack, the collaborative work around Tarawangsa, ‘the sacred music of Sunda’ and the magical singing of Ata Ratu, Iwan Gunawan’s speciall built Bamboo Gamelan and Al Suwardi’s incredible contemporary Ensemble, each month Berghain will feature a powerful representation of this incredible culture,” shares Raung Raya.

Head here for tickets, check-out the line-up and more information about the remaining events below.

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15th November 2017

Raung Raya 2 – The Magic of Sunda.

With Karinding Attack, Tarawangsawelas and Rabih Beaini, Otto Sidharta and Uwalmassa.

Sunda is the ancient name of the Malay Islands and the archipelago now currently known as Indonesia, and the Karinding Attack concept, which embraces the power of this culture, mysticism of its ritualistic forms and spiritual path. Formed from a variety of metal band members that became a collective in the early 2000, Karinding Attack are promoting the Sundanese culture and sound with their own bamboo built instruments and methods of playing the Karinding (bamboo Jaw Harp) with percussions and dark, growling vocals. They also occasionally combine other aspects of the Sundanese culture like the Suling and Beluk, a hi-pitch singing method found in the Sumedang area, where the mighty Tarawangsa is native.

From Rancakalong, a small village in the area of Sumedang, 2 string instruments are combined to play the Tarawangsa, a sacred ritualistic music inspiring Tarawangsawelas, 2 young musicians from Bandung who embraced the genre and are willing to bring it out to a wider audience, collaborating with Rabih Beaini for Europalia Festival. Their album “Wanci” on Morphine Records is expected to be in shops early October. On the same night, Otto Sidharta, Bandung born / Jakarta based university professor who is often referred to as the pioneer of electronic music in Indonesia, will showcase his unique compositional approach on electronics, and Uwalmassa, a group of electronic musicians – who have an upcoming release on Don’t Dj’s label DISK – use original field recordings and percussion elements with their live instruments for a more modern sound showcasing the current Indonesian scene.

5th December 2017

Raung Raya 3 – Ata Ratu

With Ata Ratu, Aural Archipelago, Zoo.

The Queen of Jungga is a title Ata Ratu earned since her early years for her unique and powerful way of singing and playing her self-made 4 stringed guitar called Juke. She is the local pride, singing grief, love, heart-break, or an improvised form of counceling for people who seek advice. A unique voice and craft, Ata Ratu was featured on the Smithsonian/Folkways “Music Of Indonesia” series, and she will be traveling for the first time outside of Indonesia to perform at the Europalia Festival and Raung Raya. She will be playing alongside Aural Archipelago’s founder Palmer Keen, the american – Indonesia based etnomusicologist and he will be playing his very special selection of his archive of modern Indonesian, together with the original band of Rully Shabara, Zoo. The hardcore punk band comprised of 4 members is somehow the base ground from which the vocalist of Senyawa built and created his unique way of singing and performing.

10th January 2018

Raung Raya 4 – The craft of Senyawa

Senyawa with Patshiva Cie. With little need for introduction, especially for the followers of Morphine Records, Senyawa will have a spot of their own at Raung Raya. The duo from Yogyakarta, consisting of Wukir Suryadi as master intrument craftsman and instrumentalist, and Rully Shabara the vocal wizard, will present a full range of their work with instruments especially brought from Yogyakarta to showcase their full sound. Part of the longer running concert will be with the Belgian women choir Patshika Cie, member of the Europalia residency at Les Ateliers Claus.

16th January 2018

Raung Raya 5 – Aloysius Suwardi’s Planet Harmonik

Sounding like a fable, or a sci-fi novel, the work of Al Suwardi on Planet Harmonik Ensemble comes from the traditional Gamelan. He is an acclaimed composer who has created his own range of Instruments to transform the tradition into an impressive contemporary art form. The 22 member ensemble will have a special setting at Berghain, to better involve the space of the club within his compositions and make it part of the performance.