when i OPEN MY DOOR

by Dewa Alit

supported by

Laurent Kolam Indah I had the chance of hearing Ngejuk Memedi live at Bentara Budaya (Bali) in 2016 and have been quenching my thirst with a bootleg recording of it ever since. I'm so glad a proper recording of it now exists. The three other pieces are incredible as well, so pleased to hear Dewa Alit pushing boundaries in all directions. Favorite track: Ngejuk Memedi.

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1.	Ameriki 16:32	info	buy track
2.	Simalakama 15:12	info	buy track
3.	Ngejuk Memedi 12:14	info	buy track
4.	Open My Door 14:25	info	buy track

about

This album consists of four compositions of Balinese contemporary composer Dewa Alit; three pieces for written for non-Balinese, mainly western classical instruments, one piece is for Gamelan Salukat, the only set of Balinese gamelan that is tuned in his original tuning system.
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Ameriki (2016)
I composed this piece in Boston, during one of my annual stays teaching Balinese gamelan at MIT as a tribute to the late American composer Lou Harrison. The original version of this piece uses his original instruments of Old Granddad #4 in place of vibraphones used in this recording.
The title “Ameriki” is a combination of two words, “America” and a Balinese word “riki” meaning “here”.

Simalakama (2018)
This is about my concern for my own culture.
Simalakama is a fruit that appears in an old saying “eating or not eating a simalakama fruit,” meaning that you are in a situation where choosing on any decision would result in something not desirable.
I see so many claim-to-be “cultural/traditional” ideologies in Bali today are driven by politics and capital powers, more weights on the superficial success and commercial values. Cherishing our culture or not, without realizing this problem our choice will take us nowhere, just like eating or not eating simalakama.

Ngejuk Memedi (2016)
(Chasing the Phantom)
The traditional activities in the Balinese society today are often counter-productive towards its own natural environment, but not many would question. Similarly, people here believe in and talk enthusiastically about things like memedi, a kind of phantom, over phone and through SNS nowadays. These controversies appeared very interesting to me and so decided to express it musically, chasing the phantom.

Open My Door (2015)
In 2015 I was given the opportunity to work with the master of western contemporary music, Ensemble Modern from Frankfurt. I saw this opportunity as time to open the door that limited myself as someone who had been raised and trained primarily in the world of Balinese gamelan music, open my door to the world.

credits

released September 3, 2020

all music composed by Dewa Alit

Ameriki & Simalakama
played by: UBC musicians, Canada
recorded: in February 2019 at Western Front, Vancouver

Ngejuk Memedi
played by Gamelan Sakukat, Bali
recorded: in October 2016 at Salukat Studio, Bali

Open My Door
played by: Ensemble Modern, Germany
recorded: in June 2017 during Holland Festival, the Netherlands

mastered by: Racka Bintara
artwork by: Dewa Alit (photo) & AYA SAKUMA

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about

Dewa Alit Bali, Indonesia

Born in 1973 to a family of artists in Pengosekan village, Dewa Alit has been immersed in Balinese gamelan from early childhood and is generally acknowledged as the leading composer of his generation in Bali.

Seeking a wider path for expressing his approach to new music in gamelan, Alit founded his group Gamelan Salukat in 2007, performing on a new set of instruments of his own tuning & design. ... more

dewaalitsalukat.com

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