Gilt, Not Gold

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 09/09/2007 3:16 PM  |  Life

Artist: Agrikulture
Album: Dawai Damai
Label: Aquarius Musikindo
Rating: **1/2 out of *****
Standout Tracks: New Day, La-La-La, The Last Chorus of Lullaby
Rhymes, Mana Gitarku (Where's My Guitar)

If there is an electronic band that can bring dance music to life in this country, then it is Agrikulture.

The band has headlined many festivals here, such as Jakarta Movement and the 2007 Java Jazz, as well as playing alongside big names like Beastie Boys and Cut Copy in Singapore earlier this year.

That is not surprising, knowing that two of the five people behind Agrikulture are the Wirjono brothers, Anton and Hogi, who are well-known among the best of the few good DJs in Indonesia.

Since the band was formed a few years ago, they have remixed several songs from notable Indonesian bands, like Slank and Maliq & D'Essentials, and famous singers, such as Krisdayanti, Syaharani and Shanty.

Prior to their debut album Dawai Damai (Strings of Peace), Agrikulture released two singles, Disko di Rumah (Dancing in the House) and Underground Trash, which many said were truly smashing dance tracks.

No wonder a lot of people have been waiting for this album. Unfortunately, it falls short of expectations.

It was not until the fifth track, New Day, that the album started to grab my attention. Former newscaster Jason Tedjasukmana opens this downtempo song by presenting a news broadcast and Tika sings amazingly with her ""soulful"" voice.

It seems that the band may have been trying too hard to be humorous by making comical lyrics, which I don't find amusing, in Penyusup Pesta (Party Crashers), Gosip and Dawai Damai: Belum Kelar ... (Strings of Peace: Unfinished ... ).

They even covered Kompor Meledug (Exploding Stove), a ludicrous song from the late Benyamin Sueb, who was notable as one of this country's funniest actors.

However, Disko, The Last Chorus of Lullaby Rhymes and Mana Gitarku (Where's My Guitar) do provide some proof that they can make great music.

Overall, this is not a great debut. Agrikulture could do a lot better than this.

-- Aditya Suharmoko

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