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AlbumREVIEWS: Love is in the cloud
Yesnowave has for long been at the forefront of the Indonesian netlabel scene; Internet-based labels that release music in the form of digital-only albums, which are almost exclusively-released for free save for a few special releases
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Yesnowave has for long been at the forefront of the Indonesian netlabel scene; Internet-based labels that release music in the form of digital-only albums, which are almost exclusively-released for free save for a few special releases.
Its latest release is the frustratingly aimless compilation album Love is In the Cloud (sic).
The Yogyakarta-based label has hundreds of releases on its archive, which can be easily accessed through its website yesnowave.com. Their latest release comes in the form of a significant mixtape record that compiles some of the country's newest, rising acts; most of them still unheard by the majority of music fans, even those with a preference for underground sounds. In other words, it's a treasure chest for hidden gems.
Love is In the Cloud serves up eight different tunes by a variety of local acts, which sound different from each other, though perhaps not in the best way.
Unlike the label's usual penchant for cutting edge, experimental releases, Love is an album that is easier to digest. The majority of tracks here are essentially pop-rock tracks with a heavy dose of radio-friendly melodies and a professional-sounding production. A group of songs with a polished sheen is somehow reminiscent of late-90s American commercial radio.
This is due to the compilation being curated by Bandung's Padjajaran University's Music Community, which holds its music festival every few years, with this year's results archived as an album.
This year's project was curated by Marine Ramdhani from Bandung independent label Fastforward Records (sic), one of the country's most successful indie labels, and progenitors of the 'indie pop' sound. Serving a co-curator was Anto Arief of blues-rock band 70's Orgasm Club.
With eight songs of a welcome variety, the compilation would have benefitted from inheriting some of that indie-minded cutting-edge style. Instead, it's comprised of bands clearly eager for the rock/pop-star limelight.
The desperation stands in sharp contrast with the curators in smaller context, but very much so with yesnowave's usual artsy aesthetic. Even with roots as variable as dance, blues, baroque and twee pop, all the songs are produced with the same sugary precision and arrangements.
It starts off well enough, with Circarama's 'Sweet Shining', a middle-eastern-influenced track which apes George Harrison at the very least, well-intentioned and delivered with fittingly-playful harmonies. Chants and sitars move around nicely in the short track while the repeated singing of the title keeps things to a welcome non-bombastic level.
Casskablanska's ska entry 'Dansa Pagi' (Morning Dance) may be fitting for early day exercise routines, but its overly joyous and literal lyrics about moving one's body in the morning isn't helped by the polished production.
Synchronizing horns, annoying yelps of the title's instructional nature, the quasi-happiness of the clapping choir, and the unconvincing nature of the track's 'We're just here to have a good time' vibe drains any sense of authenticity the track might have had.
A little better is Walrus's 'I Just Wanna Be Me' and Kelas Akhir Pekan's 'Kidung Pijar' (Incadescent Ballad). The former is a jangly mid-tempo alternative pop number with light harmonies and a mid-90s-copying-late-60s feel that would have made for a suitable 90s teen movie soundtrack. It's jumpy and doesn't overstay its welcome for too long. Meanwhile, the latter is an energetic mid-tempo slow-burner that is perhaps the compilation's most understated track.
The other tracks do not manage to sound as forgivable in their parody-like imitation of whatever genre they have decided to slot into. The Bluestramp's 'I Wanna be a Bluesman' is self-explanatory; a pop-track with paint-by-the-numbers Blues riffing about wanting to be a, well, you get the picture.
Joy Invasion's 'We Own It' is the kind of music that Indonesian festivals go nuts over. Plucky bass, hopping percussion, free flowing sax playing and 'soulful' singing.
Love is In the Cloud may get by if it embodies any sense of intention within its weightless delivery. But leftover production tricks from the 90s, dreary songwriting, and an aimless aesthetic (what audience is this compilation aiming for, exactly?) makes it a drag to get through. Free, but avoid.
