From Kuno to Kebyar: Balinese Gamelan Angklung

This, according to the notes, is the first album devoted to Balinese gamelan angklung. Any succes– sors will have a tough time matching it for quality and atmosphere. The traditional scale used by an angklung group (not to be confused with the bamboo instrument of the same name) has four notes. Instruments – mostly bronze metallophones, some struck with hard beaters to crash out a melody, others using soft beaters to give an underlying drone – are relatively small, and the music is often used as a background accompaniment to ceremonies. To Balinese ears, the angklung scale sounds sad, so it is often used at funerals. This simplicity and modesty perhaps accounts for angklung's low profile, but nevertheless there's a world of music in those four notes: it's like the aural equivalent of Penrose tiles, the simple-looking shapes that can stretch to infinity without ever quite making the same pattern twice.

The disc consists of 13 fresh and vital recordings of village groups made in the 1960s by the ethnomusicologist Ruby Ornstein, taking in both traditional pieces and those influenced by the more modern and explosive kebyar style – the final track is an angklung version of ‘Hujan Mas’ (Golden Rain), one of the most exciting kebyar tunes. The speed and clamour that you expect from Balinese gamelan is present and correct, but there are also some more delicate, downbeat passages, on which the bamboo flute takes the lead. Highly recommended for both fans of Balinese gamelan, and musical thrill-seekers in general. To this Londoner's ears, it's what rush hour might sound like if everybody were in a good mood.