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Dwiki Dharmawan

Hari Ketiga: (The Third Day) - A Musical Quantum Entanglement In Nine Acts

Review by Gary Hill

I've reviewed quite a bit of music from Dwiki Dharmawan, but this might be his most intriguing album. I'd consider it to be one of the most unique. While it's not the kind of thing that instantly resonates with me, I think it is probably music that grows with each repeated spin. It is incredibly unique, combining fusion with eclectic progressive rock, world music and much more. Yet the whole is more than just the sum of the parts because this is like nothing I've ever heard before, yet it's strangely compelling. Dharmawan is joined on this double disc set by Boris Salvodelli, Markus Reuter and Asaf Sirkis.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2021  Volume 3. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2021.

Track by Track Review
Disc One
            
Act I: The Earth

Nothing on this album is short, but at almost 28-and-a-half minutes of music, this is the second longest piece here. Piano begins it and holds it for quite some time. Percussion joins around the minute-and-a-half mark. The number continues to evolve gradually from there. Vocals come in around the two-minute mark. The cut has an almost Italian prog vibe as they do. Some weird elements are heard over the top of the arrangement as it continues. There is a cool jazz-based instrumental section that emerges around the eight-minute mark. As the piece evolves there are some non-lyrical vocals at times. It gets quite intense and driving at points. Another full vocal movement is heard further down the road, and then a piano heavy instrumental section emerges. Eventually the track shifts to some spacey weirdness that feels like it would be at home in the soundtrack to a horror movie. It's tastefully creepy and has some strange processed vocal clips. It eventually works to a dramatic kind of prog movement with more vocals.

Act II: The Man
This is the one song on the album that's longer than the opener. At over 34-minutes, it definitely qualifies as epic. This starts with an exploratory, but rather restrained movement. It gradually moves toward noisier weirdness after a while. This has some crazed vocals as it continues. They seem rather psychotic and the music does a good job of matching that insanity. It drops to just atmospherics after a while as one voice continues. This turns spacey and quite trippy, but then a noisy guitar rises upward as it drives onward. It really works through some unusual and intriguing changes as it continues. There are some decidedly freaky sections. A scat singing section mid-track has some atmospheric stuff for its backdrop. There are multiple layers of vocals in the mix as it continues. In fact, it's essentially acapella. Eventually a dramatic soundscape built largely around piano rises up from there as the voices drop away. That section works through, and it eventually works out to another stripped back movement with weird voices. It's even stranger than the earlier one and has a creepy kind of element to it. Eventually it grows outward, but there is still a weird voice hovering in the background in an almost menacing way, like some demonic feature. The piano and other instrumentation gets pretty crazed in a fusion sort of way as things continue. The piece continues to evolve before it's over.
Act III: The Event Horizon
Scat styled singing is heard early on this piece. The number has some of the purest jazz we've heard so far as it starts. This works through all kinds of changes, but overall maintains the most cohesive and jazz-based motif of anything on this first disc. It's actually kind of a refreshing change of pace.
Disc Two
                
Act IV: The Loneliness Of The Universe

Somewhat mellow weirdness brings this into being. There are hints of a creepy voice over the top. The cut turns toward sort of a space-kind of mellow approach as it continues. The voice is heard again and other musical layers rise up to fill out the arrangement. Spacey weirdness eventually gives way to an electronic fusion concept that has some tastefully noisy elements. This gets more of those scat styled vocalizations further down the road. The whole tune grooves with some killer jazz sounds. That works through, and then drops away. More stripped back weirdness ensues from there. Eventually this gives way to a driving, rocking kind of intensity that borders on punk jazz (if that's a thing -and if it's not, it should be). The cut continues to grow and ends with a real piece of weirdness. At almost 19-and-a-half minutes this would be the longest track on a lot of albums, but only comes in third place here.

Act V: You'll Never Be Alone
I love the driving, up-tempo jazz concept here. The vocals again beg comparisons to Italian prog. There are some space elements that come over the top, too. This is such a great passage of music. It works out further down the road to a crazed jam with piano that is psychotic. There are vocals over the top that are basically insane screams and so much have this has a feeling of intense madness.
Act VI: The Truth - The Fact Is Done
This comes in with a real world music groove. The vocals fit that approach, too. There are some cool rhythmic elements, but there are also trippy pieces of weirdness over the top of it all. It turns toward crazed jamming later, getting noisy and intense. It works to more of a pure progressive rock element further down the road. It drops to a vocal dominated bit near the end, but then spacey keyboard based sounds take over to serve as the actual closing section.
Act VII: Perpetual Motion
World music also starts this track. The number grows outward with that basis driving it in a very celebratory way. This makes its way through a number of changes, but continues exploring that world music aesthetic. Of course, this is another cut that's over 19-minutes long, so there is plenty of space for sonic creation. By around the halfway mark it has turned to sort of a freeform jazz rock exploration with more vocalizations over the top. There are some pretty intriguing movements as it continues, with the tribal merging with freeform jazz at points. A strange, yet tasty, bit of electronic sound eventually ends the piece.
Act VIII: The Deal
Tentative, freeform styled jazz brings this into being. Weird vocals come over the top as it continues. Weird voices, strange musical concepts and more turn this into a spacey kind of piece of art music. As weird as this is, it's every bit as cool and intriguing. A voice intoning "number nine" repeatedly in the backdrop as noisy sounds are heard seems to be a nod to the Beatles song from the White Album.
Act IX: The Memory Of Things
Crazed piano jamming starts this number. It intensifies and turns even weirder as it continues. As it continues there are scat vocalizations and other explorations. This definitely has a freeform jazz kind of approach to it. The cut really has some intriguing movements.
 
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