That desire to push things forward persists in the country’s younger musicians. From Papuan field recording masters to mysterious Balinese gamelan troupes, here are some young composers to look out for.

Rollfast

Denpasar, Bali

Modern rock: Denpasar-based outfit Rollfast is turning Indonesian rock music on its head. (Courtesy of Rollfast) (Personal collection/Courtesy of Rollfast)

These three young guns have given a masterclass in delivering the unexpected. In their debut album, Lanes Oil, Dream is Pry (2015), the group made a case for being one of the country’s most promising psych rock outfits, mixing beefy guitar riffs with a penchant for swaggering machismo.

Fast forward five years, and they blew it all away on their sophomore album, Garatuba (2020). Their sneering, contemplative lyrics tackled the seedy underbelly of Balinese life, including toxic masculinity, the island’s myriad of ghosts and folklore and the struggles of those marginalized by the caste system. 

But the real breakthrough was musical. Their heady blend of experimental rock, krautrock, free jazz and gamelan beats continually push the outer limits of rock and roll.

Recommended listening: Their single, “Grand Theft Atma” devolves into a chaotic, nine-minute epic of doom-mongering horns, hectic percussion and robotic spoken word narration.

Kuntari

Bandung, West Java

Always experimenting: Tesla Manaf, the man behind Kuntari, takes his love of jazz further into the margins with his new project. (Courtesy of Grimloc Records) (Personal collection/Courtesy of Grimloc Records)

Tesla Manaf has earned his place at the front the hard way. For the better part of a decade, he made his name as a young, virtuoso jazz guitarist, touring Japan and producing a steady stream of albums showcasing his tight jazz compositions. Then, he changed his moniker, and he pushed his music further into the margins.

Kuntari’s compositions still betray Tesla’s unapologetic love for complicated jazz instrumentation, but he has expanded his sonic palette. He draws even stronger influences from minimalism, noise and ambient music, punctuating his horn sections with electronic glitches and eerie soundscapes.

Recommended listening: His live sessions are all over YouTube, but his session for MUSMUS, a collaborative project by NuArt Sculpture Park is worth a dedicated listen, as it provides a deep dive into his varied oeuvre. A split album with Jakarta-based avant-garde outfit Roman Catholic Skulls is expected to be released by the end of the year through Grimloc Records. (Disclosure: Roman Catholic Skulls includes Marcel Thee of The Jakarta Post)

Rani Jambak

Medan, North Sumatra

A producer by trade, anthropologist by nature, Rani’s quest for unique sounds and obscure musical traditions have taken her into the hinterlands of Lombok, Bali and Sumatra along with her frequent collaborator, filmmaker Evi Ovtiana. She then weaves the field recordings and soundscapes she finds on her travels into new songs inspired by electronica and traditional vocal melodies.

Her aim is simple: to take these divergent sounds and create a sonic image of the places she’s visited, along with their haunting history and constant clashes with modernity and industry.

Recommended listening: “Suara Minangkabau (Darek)” might be her most emotional work yet. Inspired by her travels in rural West Sumatra, her ancestral land, chopped up samples of vocal chants are taken into the stratosphere with propulsive beats and glitches.

Markus Rumbino

Jayapura, West Papua

Having recently performed at Indonesian Composers’ Week, Rumbino’s star is on the rise – and with good reason. It’s no small feat taking in Papua’s spectacularly diverse musical and cultural traditions, but Rumbino has risen to the challenge. The Jayapura-based producer is madly in love with electro-acoustic sounds, gathering field recordings and samples from his research deep in the Papuan interior.

The end result is constantly impressive. Percussive, layered and challenging, Rumbino’s compositions ask us to rethink the relationship between modernity and tradition, experimentation and respect and trauma and the desire to carry on.

Recommended listening: “Rur & Nin”, his composition for the Europalia Festival, sees him invite Papuan musicians onstage for a 23-minute epic of percussive beats, chanting and persistent washes of electronic noise.

Kadapat

Negara, Bali

Forget the bright lights of Bali’s tourist traps. Kadapat hails from Jembrana in western Bali and draws inspiration from the region’s distinctive musical palette. It is gamelan but less dainty, less beholden to tradition and the old ways. The group’s music is darker, eerie and uncompromising, fusing irreverent gamelan playing with a penchant for doom-filled electronic instrumentations.

The group’s track record thus far speaks for itself. Kadapat are more at home at warehouse raves, chaotic experimental music festivals and semi-secret underground shows than at regal rituals and royal weddings. They are the sound of Bali unhinged, and we’re all the better for it.

Recommended listening: This is the tricky bit. No footage exists of Kadapat performing, and no recordings of their music have been released yet. The duo remains a mystery, performing occasionally and unexpectedly at concerts and bewitching audiences each time. An album is coming soon, though, to be released sometime in December 2021.