Peni Candra Rini — Wani

WANI

Peni candra rini

On Friday, October 04, 2024, Peni Candra Rini (she/her), the Indonesian composer and performer whose musical practice encompasses a wide range of traditional and experimental Javanese styles mixed with Western instrumentation, will release her second album of 2024, Wani, via New Amsterdam Records.

In contrast to the deep introspection and ambient calm of Wulansih, Wani is full of playful noise, rambunctious energy, and a deep sense of the unexpected. The album was created by giving the recorded musicians “very basic outlines” of the songs, improvising around those frameworks in the studio, and giving producers John Dieterich (Deerhoof, Mary Halvorson, Sufjan Stevens, Booker Stardrum) and Chris Botta (Yaeji, Emily Wells, the JACK Quartet, Valee, Shahzad Ismaily) “free reign to produce the tracks as they liked.” The result is a loud, fun, chaotic, energizing, and mesmerizing collection of songs that explore themes from traditional Javanese art, scripture, culture, politics, and shadow play. Wani features performances by Satomi Matzusaki, Curt Sydnor, Andy McGraw, John Priestley, I Gusti Putu Sudarta, Justin Alexander, Putu Hiranmayena, and many more.

Within Wani we are treated to a contrasting side of Peni Candra Rini’s compositional practice and performative approach. The music on Wani is loud, playful, rambunctious, and full of explosive energy all brought together by Candra’s virtuosic, quirky, and surprising approach to vocal performance which is simultaneously grounded in tradition and pushing the boundary of Indonesian music to its edge. Drawing inspiration from various traditional Javanese song forms, Rini reimagines these ancient musical traditions and turns them on their head.
Wani was created by giving the recorded musicians “very basic outlines” of the songs, improvising around those frameworks in the studio, and giving producers John Dieterich (Deerhoof, Mary Halvorson, Sufjan Stevens, Booker Stardrum) and Chris Botta (Yaeji, Emily Wells, the JACK Quartet, Valee, Shahzad Ismaily) “free reign to produce the tracks as they liked.” The result is a loud, fun, chaotic, energizing, and mesmerizing collection of songs that explore themes from traditional Javanese art, scripture, culture, politics, and shadow play. Wani features performances by Satomi Matzusaki, Curt Sydnor, Andy McGraw, John Priestley, I Gusti Putu Sudarta, Justin Alexander, Putu Hiranmayena, and many more.
“Some of the poems on Wani are in the "Macapat" form (from ancient Javanese culture)” Rini tells us. “Macapat (Javanese language) is a traditional Javanese tembang or poem. Each stanza of macapat has lines called gatras, and each gatra has a certain number of syllables (guru wilangan), and ends in a final rhyme sound called guru lagu.
Usually macapat is defined as maca papat-papat (reading four-four), which means that the reading is intertwined every four syllables. But this is not the only meaning, there are other interpretations as well. Macapat is thought to have emerged at the end of Majapahit and the start of the Walisanga influence, but this can only be said for the situation in Central Java. In East Java and Bali, macapat was already known before the arrival of Islam.
Javanese classical literature from the New Mataram period was generally written using the macapat meter. A writing in the form of prose or gancaran is generally not considered a literary work but only a kind of 'table of contents'. Some examples of Javanese literary works written in macapat tembang include Serat Wedhatama, Serat Wulangreh, and Serat Kalatidha.”
On Rini’s version of I Wayan Sadra’s ‘Beringin Kurung’, distorted electric guitars, punk drumming, and screaming are starkly contrasted by flute, vocal and percussion interjections that contrast the conflicting nature of the large Banyan tree outside the court of Central Java in Surakarta. “During the colonial era, this is where criminals (or those who offended the court) were executed and hung up in the tree’s hanging roots. During the late independence era this is where the city’s prostitutes hung out, where people drank and gambled. The banyan was (for better or worse) the symbol of the court, but also was adopted by the ruling GOLKAR party of Indonesia’s second dictator, Suharto, who ruled from 1965-1998.”
While the vocal performance on Zoel Mistortoify’s ‘Tapal Kuda Liar’ was inspired by “the way the Madurese chicken satay seller calls out to customers.” Rini explains “Zoel is from the island of Madura off the north coast of East Java. My lyrics evoke the powerful and energetic speaking style of the Madurese, who are well known for their food, especially their sate. In this piece I imitate the vocal style of Madurese food hawkers in the market. From the perspective of the “refined” Central Javanese, the Madurese are wild and bombastic, free of the conservative social mores of Javanese court culture.” Meanwhile the music is metrically and formally complex, radically new, and a bombastic showcase of cutting edge avant-rock.
On Wani Rini rides the thin line between tradition and modernity with a refined finesse while showcasing new experimental music that is exciting, fun, and extremely surprising.

Tracklist
1. Urashima Taro
2. Komab Kombek
3. Raden Panji
4. Wedang Kacang
5. Tapal Kuda Liar
6. Pocung
7. Sok Ada Ada
8. Beringin Kurung
Credits
1. Urashima Taro
Music by Danis Sugiyanto
Lyrics, traditional (Japanese) and Danis Sugiyanto
Arranged by Peni Candra Rini, Andy McGraw, Nat Quick
Peni Candra Rini: voice
Satomi Matzusaki: voice
Jessica Zike: voice
Andy McGraw: drums, pin-pia, percussion, cak, cuk, celeste, gamelan, harpsichord
Hannah Standiford: cak
Nat Quick: guitar
Curt Sydnor: keyboards
Brandon Simmons: flute
John Priestley: bass
Joanne Kong: harpsichord
Recorded at Montrose Studios, Richmond Virginia.
Engineered by Mike Reina.
Mixed and produced by John Dieterich. Mastered by John Dieterich and Christopher Botta
1. Komab Kombek
(Here to there)
Music: Peni Candra Rini, Andy McGraw
Lyrics: traditional
Peni Candra Rini: Voice
Andy McGraw: drums, gamelan
John Priestley: gongs
Putu Hiranmayena: gamelan
I Gusti Putu Sudarta: gamelan, voice
Taylor Burton: gamelan
Nicholas Merillat: gamelan
Justin Alexander: drums
Scott Clark: percussion
Recorded at Minimum Wage Studios, Richmond Virginia.
Engineered by Lance Koehler. Mixed and Mastered by Christopher Botta
1. Raden Panji
Music by Danis Sugiyanto
Lyrics: traditional and by Danis Sugiyanto
Arranged by Peni Candra Rini, Andy McGraw, Nat Quick
Peni Candra Rini: voice
Jessica Zike: voice
Andy McGraw: drums, percussion, cak, cuk, cello
Hannah Standiford: cak
Nat Quick: guitar
Curt Sydnor: keyboards
Brandon Simmons: flute
John Priestley: bass
Recorded at Montrose Studios, Richmond Virginia.
Engineered by Mike Reina.
Mixed and produced by John Dieterich. Mastered by John Dieterich and Christopher Botta
Recorded at Figure Eight Studios, Brooklyn.
Engineered, Mixed, and Mastered by Christopher Botta
1. Wedang Kacang
Music and lyrics: Andjar Any
Arranged by Peni Candra Rini and Andy McGraw
Peni Candra Rini: Voice
Andy McGraw: drums
John Priestley: bass
Justin Alexander: percussion
Curt Sydnor: keyboards
Gary Kalar: guitar
Recorded at Montrose Studios, Richmond Virginia and Figure Eight Studios, Brooklyn.
Engineered by Mike Reina. Mixed and Mastered by Christopher Botta.
1. Tapal Kuda Liar
(Horseshoe on a Wild Horse)
Music: Zoel Mistortoify
Lyrics: Peni Candra Rini
Arranged by Peni Candra Rini, Andy McGraw, Nat Quick
Peni Candra Rini: voice
Andy McGraw: drums, percussion
Nat Quick: guitar
Curt Sydnor: keyboards
John Priestley: bass
Recorded at Montrose Studios, Richmond Virginia.
Engineered by Mike Reina.
Mixed and produced by John Dieterich. Mastered by John Dieterich and Christopher Botta
Recorded at Figure Eight Studios, Brooklyn.
Engineered, Mixed, and Mastered by Christopher Botta
1. Pocung / Memento Mori
Lyrics: traditional
Music: Peni Candra Rini and Andy McGraw
Peni Candra Rini: Voice
Andy McGraw: drums, gamelan
John Priestley: gongs
Putu Hiranmayena: gamelan
I Gusti Putu Sudarta: gamelan
Taylor Burton: gamelan
Nicholas Merillat: gamelan
Justin Alexander: drums
Scott Clark: percussion
Recorded at Minimum Wage Studios, Richmond Virginia.
Engineered by Lance Koehler. Mixed and Mastered by Christopher Botta
1. Sok Ada Ada
Lyrics: Peni Candra Rini
Music: Peni Candra Rini and Andy McGraw
Peni Candra Rini: Voice
Andy McGraw: drums, gamelan
John Priestley: gongs
Putu Hiranmayena: gamelan
I Gusti Putu Sudarta: gamelan, voice
Taylor Burton: gamelan
Nicholas Merillat: gamelan
Justin Alexander: drums
Scott Clark: percussion
Recorded at Minimum Wage Studios, Richmond Virginia.
Engineered by Lance Koehler. Mixed and Mastered by Christopher Botta
1. Beringin Kurung
(Banyan Tree)
Composer / Lyrics: I Wayan Sadra
Arranged by Peni Candra Rini, Andy McGraw, Nat Quick
Peni Candra Rini: voice
Jessica Zike: bass
Andy McGraw: drums, cello
Nat Quick: cak
Clover Dosier: cuk
Brian Larson: percussion
Brandon Simmons: flute
John Priestley: guitar
Robert Andrew Scott: fiddle
Recorded at Montrose Studios, Richmond Virginia.
Engineered by Mike Reina.
Mixed and produced by John Dieterich. Mastered by John Dieterich and Christopher Botta