Animistic Beliefs - MERDEKA

With their profound take on electronic music, Animistic Beliefs have steadily solidified their spot in the global underground. Influenced by cultural concepts such as ancestry, animism and mythology, as well as the languages of political techno, punk, bubbling and IDM, Linh Luu and Marvin Lalihatu consistently translate their visions into sensitive productions as well as high-octane live performances. On their new record, MERDEKA, the artists explore and embrace their cultural heritage in all of its pride, pain and complexity. MERDEKA symbolizes Animistic Beliefs’ breaking free, coming to terms with their changing selves and letting go of external expectations. The record rethinks childhood memories, confronts the generational trauma left by (post-)colonialism, and re-connects Linh and Marvin – respectively of Vietnamese-Chinese and Dutch-Moluccan descent – with their formative cultures. 

MERDEKA marks their first step in an overall departure from western club music. For its layered sound, Animistic Beliefs once again draw from the past, present and future of global club music, creating a sonic space where fast techno, warped breakbeats and ambient soundscapes make way for the augmented influence of (Southeast Asian) tribal music. 
The record incorporates Indonesian scales and recordings of 
the Tahuri (a wind instrument made out of a conch shell), Totobuang (Gamelan-like gongs) and Tifa drums, known as ‘the Moluccan heartbeat’. 
There is no audible distinction between old and new, between organic and digital, between instrumentation and voice. 
It is through words that the artists further touch on their experience; To Dream About Water opens with a stirring spoken word fragment by Marvin, marking the first time his voice is recognizably featured, whereas Khi Minh Gap Lai (‘Until We Meet Again’) centres on a Vietnamese poem by Linh, in which she beseeches her ancestors and finds a safe haven for unanswered questions. 

In true Animistic Beliefs fashion, MERDEKA will set fire to sweltering clubs and (sleepless) dreams. Yet, for the artists, it is essential to amplify the stories that spark that flame and keep it burning. 
The release of MERDEKA follows CACHE/SPIRIT, their ongoing collaboration with visual artist Jeisson Drenth, which extensively explores the artists’ intersectional identities. As such, the latest album is the next step within a bigger, introspective investigation. More unapologetic than ever, MERDEKA embodies a turning point on Animistic Beliefs’ ongoing journey towards self-acceptance – fuelled by the sound of urgency. 
credits
released August 26, 2022 

Written and produced by: Marvin Lalihatu and Linh Luu 
Artwork by: Don Elektro 
Mastered by: Rashad Becker

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Pelada - Movimiento Para Cambio
Format: LP / Digital
Cat.No: PAN 102
Release Date: 04 October 2019
Purchase: bit.ly/2N5ID0M / bit.ly/2yWc1yu

Movimiento Para Cambio, is the full-length and debut for PAN from Montreal based duo Pelada. Comprising of vocalist Chris Vargas and producer Tobias Rochman, they have gained international attention through the city’s underground warehouse rave scene.

An urgent, headstrong body of work, the LP uses the music as a mechanism for delivering ideas central to the group’s moral and political ethos. Vargas explores themes of power, identity, surveillance and environmental justice atop Rochman’s raw mix of rave synths, acid basslines, breakbeats and dembow rhythms.

While at times unpredictable, the album is unified in its fast and loose approach. A Mí Me Juzgan Por Ser Mujer (‘I Am Judged Because I’m a Woman’) is an anti-machista anthem, stylistically nodding to NY house. Though Vargas doesn’t identify as a woman themselves, they understand their experience as a woman in an imbalanced patriarchal society that excludes women, femmes and non-binary people. Habla Tu Verdad (‘Speak Your Truth’) emphasizes the need to overcome the stigma around discussing sexual harassment, offering courage and strength to those who may need it. Asegura (‘Secure’) deals with the unprecedented power of Big Data, which monetizes a surveillance based economy through its users' data and behaviours.
These themes are set to fierce unrelenting bpms, nods to gabber, and samples of a reality show where young men compete in a prison fitness contest. Caderona (‘big hips’), features a hardline perreo-tinged beat that carries Vargas’ vocals with refreshing ferocity. Inspired by a cumbia song, Caderona offers a counterpoint to the male gaze, acting as an opportunity to demand space. Aquí describes the reality of a global corporate domination, where capitalist insatiability meets government inaction as we sit on the precipice of a mass extinction of our own making.

Pelada hope to inspire critical self- reflexivity through engagement, building power, demanding space and action. Or as it is written in their liner notes: ‘ABRE TUS OJOS, LA BESTIA SE ALIMENTA DE LA EXPLOTACIÓN' which translates to ‘OPEN YOUR EYES, THE BEAST FEEDS ON EXPLOITATION’.

The album is mastered by Jeremy Cox, featuring artwork by Johannes Schnatmann & Bill Kouligas.

http://p-a-n.org

Movimiento Para Cambio

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