Audiopile Review: Debut album proper under his own name for Copenhagen-based producer Anton Friisgaard, who we had last heard via his crackled ambient tape experiments on the Janushoved cassette imprint released under the Hviledag moniker. Like so many contemporary electronic artists, Friisgaard has been experimenting with the ritualistic melodies and rhythms of gamelan (Akusmi and Aleksi Perälä come to mind), becoming spellbound after witnessing the Indonesian group Gamelan Salukat perform live, eventually travelling to Bali to record the group, which forms the basis of this album. Processed and edited down over a six-year period, Friisgaard loops and layers their quivering wind instruments and chiming percussion, puncturing it with humid field recordings and stretched tonal drones. Seems like a fool’s errand to attempt to make gamelan even more transportive or transcendental than it already is, but the effect here is closer to a collage of the ancient music, aimed directly at the deep listeners.

‘Teratai Åkande’ explores electronic techniques transforming sounds, melodies, and rhythms from balinese gamelan. It’s an interaction and synthesis of acoustic and electronic expressions, exploring an imagined territory between two otherwise separate cultural worlds.

On ‘Teratai Åkande’ the Copenhagen-based producer and electronic musician Anton Friisgaard travels new paths, as he explores gamelan music from his own artistic perspective in close collaboration with Balinese musicians, afliated with Ubud’s acclaimed Gamelan scene.
After experiencing a concert with the Gamelan ensemble ‘Gamelan Salukat’ at Roskilde Festival in 2018, Friisgaard became inspired to contact Dewa Alit from the ensemble. With the aim of bringing forth a unique expression through the meeting of two distinct musical traditions, Friisgaard traveled to Ubud, Bali to record, compose and improvise in close collaboration with artists from the esteemed Gamelan scene in Ubud. The result is ‘Teratai Åkande’, which features Pande Made Gangga Sentana, I Nyoman Suwida, Dewa Badukz, Suryana Putra and Pande Made Gangga of Gamelan Salukat.

Anton Friisgaard (fka Hviledag) is an electronic producer and musician based in Copenhagen. Known primarily for his experimental work with tape loops and ambient soundscapes, he’s become an established figure both in the Danish music scene as well as internationally.