SAVE THE PLANET

Tohpati Ethnomission is the brain child of Indonesian guitar star Tohpati and 'Save the Planet' is their first release, although you can hardly tell as there is nothing amateur about this highly polished project. Fans of mid-70s aggressive fusion and fusion leaning progressive rock may find a lot to like here, but Tohpati Ethnomission offers a remarkable difference with their Indonesian sound featuring traditional percussion, suling flute and Indonesian rhythms. The similarity to 70s fusion comes in Tohpati's use of rapid fire unison melody lines that recall Shakti, Dimeola, RTF and Mahavishnu. The references to classic progressive rock come in the occasional sentimental melodies and Fripp like guitar intricacies on tunes like 'Drama'. Another influence could include the gypsy raga rock of Gabor Szabo which seems to influence tunes such as 'Inspirasi Baru'.

Probably the salient feature to this recording is the fiery brilliant guitar technique of Tohpati. Easily in a class with the greats of modern Asian fusion such as Pranna, McLaughlin, Shankar and Ranjit Barot, Tohpati's guitar lines burn with fierce intensity and display an extremely polished technique. Despite the extensive use of Indonesian percussion, the overall sound of this band is probably closer to the big sound of a rock band than a jazz band.

Highly recommended for fans of high octane Asian fusion, Tohpati and his band have the speed and skills, but they rarely settle for simple 'paid by the note' fusion, but instead keep things interesting with electronic textures, intricate percussion breakdowns and occasional pastoral melodies.