Dijf Sanders – “Kaster” premiere
Belgian musician Dijf Sanders pens and produces soundtracks for distant, far-flung places that brood with exotica, psychedelia, jazz and electronica.
His new album ‘JAVA’, is a psychedelic and modern search for the sounds of the homonymous Indonesian island. Armed with a set of field recorders, Dijf traveled to every urban and rural corner of Indonesia in the spring of this year.
As a contemporary incarnation of ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, he collected an impressive repertory of recordings, commissioned by the Europalia Arts Festival andKAAP Creative Compass.
‘Kacapi’, ‘Kendang’, ‘Angklung’, ‘Calung’ or ‘Gamelan’ are not the names of indigenous tropical diseases by the way, but those of local instruments that Dijf encountered on his adventurous musical quest.
For two weeks the American expert ethnographer Palmer Keen stood by Dijf through his total immersion into the island’s colourful culture and rich, ceremonial traditions.
On his return to Belgium, Dijf headed straight back into the studio with the gathered material and invited some of his musical soulmates to put the icing on the cake. It is no coincidence that the three guests – Nathan Daems, Filip Vandebril and Simon Segers – are all part of Black Flower, a band that famously flirts with Oriental sounds.
From hours and hours of field recordings, Dijf distilled ten psychedelic pieces which ride on waves of ecstasy and trance, and bridge the gap between two worlds. Tribal rhythms and warm melodies are fused to a seamless and beautiful musical work in utopia.
The Brugge-born, Gentbrugge-based musician is one of those great Flemish talents. In the past, he earned his stripes with Teddiedrum and The Violent Husbands and has produced bands like Kenji Minogue and Blackie & The Oohoos. He has also released music under his own name including the critically acclaimed album ‘Moonlit Planetarium’.
Welcome to Dijf Sanders’ wonderful journey into future exotica.
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