Hasana Editions promises a refreshing bout of innovative musical delights

The problem with many modern classical compositions, specifically the non-Minimalist, non-modular synth and non-neo Romantic schools, is the seemingly complex and often atonal or at least non-conventional tonal nature of the works. Putting aside the musique concrete and electro-acoustic streams, despite a century of modernist compositional adventures embarked upon by first the Second Vienna school of the trinity of Schoenburg, Webern and Berg through to the futurist Varese, to the beautiful stochastic works of Xenakis, the glissandi-filled microtonal works of Scelsi and the Spectralist school to the Darmstadt institutional hegemony of Boulez, Stockhausen and Berio, modern music as David Stubbs has pointedly shown in his short but brilliantly written book, "Fear of Music: Why People Get Rothko But Don't Get Stockhausen" that people are able to stomach the most abstract and modernist of visual art but modern music has been cornered into a pathetic ghetto of its own since the 1980s.


So where do the problems lie with? The composers for obstinately running down the rabbit hole or into their precious ivory tower? The audience who refused to open their minds to the brave new worlds in modern music (perhaps explaining why many people are inherently conservative during times of difficulty and hardship to lapse back into the comfort zone, the familiar, the habits?) Or the media which has always been pandering to the lowest common denominators in modern culture and society?

A BIG disclaimer here: I am not trained classically nor am I musically schooled. My foray into modern composition has been purely a quest for interesting, exciting and invigorating latter-day, modern and contemporary sounds and musics. If I do get anything wrong here, do let me know, cheers.



Listening to the two releases by Bandung, Indonesian label, Hasana Editions, contrary to the supposed difficult nature of modern classical works, have been a joy. The modernist signifying musical traits are all in place: the cacophonous outburst of string, brass and percussion, the sawing glissandi, the non-tonal colourations via extended techniques used. But the infusion of indigenous inflections and scales of Indonesian music lift the pieces up. Nursalim Yadi Anugerah's Selected Pieces from HNNUNG is a well curated album of the composer's works. From the affecting voice/choral based work of "Ha' Liling..." to the seesaw rollercoaster ride of "Te Ha'..." to the futuristic piece de resistance of "Hen To!" (In fact, the opening salvo reminds me of Peter Brotzmann's Machine Gun..). No wasted gesture or stylistic posturing in place (at least to my ears). For a more detailed background to this album, go to toneglow.net.



Julian Abraham Togar's Acoustic Analog Digitally Composed is another kettle of fish. Comprising of vignettes of short pieces (a total of 26 in all), he revels in apparently miniature shifting repetitive, rhythmic works not unlike some aspects of Reich's earlier works from the 1970s. The instrumentation here is largely non-Western which helps to distance his works from the classical West and thus creating a nice musical corner of his own: neither west or exactly Indonesian, but wholly enthralling pieces of almost lock-grooved propulsion. Classical techno, Partch-ian clockwork poems or just plainly ingenious? And they swing!

Either way, these delightful cassette/download releases are a joy to behold, for your cynical and tired ears from too much slick polished music from the West. Dive into them here.