Series ends

John Goodman

This Week Editor
jgoodman@nsnews.com

THE good, the bad and the digitally challenged.
Looking back 1999 may be remembered as the
year when MP3 threatened to take over as the
delivery system of choice. Or maybe not.

The best recordings
released during the past year
run the gamut trom analog

archival material to the latest
in 0-¥ studio technology.
Despite all the rhetoric con-
tent still takes precedence over
form. Turn it up.

1. Music of Indonesia 18 —
Sulawesi: Festivals, Funerals
and Work (Smithsonian
Folkways 40445); Music of
Indonesia 19 — Music of
Maluku: Halmalera, Buri,
Kei (Smithsonian Folkways
40445); Music of Indonesia
20 — Indonesian Guitars
(Smithsonian Follavays
40447

Three CDs complete Smithsonian-Folkways massive decade-
long examination of Indonesian music cultures. Much of the
material documented in the series has never been heard outside

’ the region.

_.. Best known abroad are the gamelan orchestras of Java and
Bali but they are only one aspect of the complex region expiored
by Yale University’s Philip Yampolsky and his crew.

Volumes 18 and 19 deal with th specifi locations, while the final
volume jooks at an instrument, the guitar, as it is used in differ-
ent cultures. Volume 20’s tracks were recorded in many different

regions over the entire length of the project (1990-1999).

Although rarely noticed by musiclogists guitars are found
éverywhere in Indonesia. Probably first introduced by the

~ Portuguese in the 16th century the instrument is found far out-

2; . Side familiar Western contexts.

Indonesian Guitars includes examples of the instrument in
both traditional and modern contexts. Samba and western Timor

recordifigs feature home-made guitars while the last track illus-

trates a new development from ‘North Sumatra combining west-
em and North Indian idioms.

This year ring in the next
century with the chimes
of Westminister.

f Excellent selection of
traditional and contemporary
clocks and barometers.

Guilford Town Centre
(CIBC entrance)

. Email - clocksbe @istar.ca © 384-2729

The Music of Indonesia series introduces listeners to a d
cultural complex where making art is part of the daily routi
and as natural as breathing.

2. Kelty Willis — What 1 Deserve (Rykodise 10458)

A personal best from the Austin mav ick who takes every-
thing personally. Rough Trade’s Geoff Travis underwrote the
production and Rykodise bought the tapes as delivered. You
don’t mess with genius.

Most of the tunes are original worked out with collaborators
such as Gary Le nd husband Bruce Robison. ‘The unlikely
covers (Paul Westerberg, Nick Drake) fit in with her singular
vision.

3. Foo Fighters — There is Nething Left te Lose (RCA 07863
67892. 2)

The curse of the Foo Fighters (can
keep 2 gnita is all but forgotten. commercial and artistic
success at Mere ls Nothing Left ta Lase pushes Dave Grohl and
cohorts back into the spotlight whether they’re ready or not.

they sound like they are.
Grohl refused to participate in events commemorating the

stay on a label, can’t

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Photo Aton Fiustandi Mulyana/Smithsonian Folkways
ATARATU holds a wooden four-string jungga, shaped
like an electric guitar. The surface is covered with
words such as Rarnbu (woman), Turu (the name of
her husband) and Lakatakku (her village).

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