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SHARKMOVE

Symphonic Prog • Indonesia


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Sharkmove biography
Sharkmove was established in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia in 1970 by Benny Soebardja (lead guitarist and vocals) who also wrote songs titled "My Life", "Butterfly", "Evil War", and "Insan". Benny, at that time was


registered as student at the Faculty of Agriculture, Padjadjaran University. He invited his best friend, Soman Loebis, a student at ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology) to join Sharkmove as keyboard player as well as percussion. He then contributed writing one song "Bingung" for the band's debut and only album "Ghede Chokra's".

They then recruited one of the best bassists in Bandung, Janto and also drummer: Sammy. Janto wrote two songs: "Harga" and "Madat". The music of the band was then recorded in the Musica Studio, one of the well-known label in Indonesia until today, and sponsored by Bhagu Ramchand, an Indian with Indonesian nationality. The contribution of Bhagu was significant as he contributed financial support as well as ideas to make the one and only album of Sharkmove "Ghede Chokra's" became a reality. The band was considered as pioneer in Indonesian rock scene by combining rock music with traditional harmonies and progressive sounds.

Some songs in the album were written using English lyrics while at that time most of Indonesian played sweet music and Indonesian lyrics. It was considered as "experimental" in the way the album was made. Right after the release of this album in 1970, the band performed frequent gigs in Indonesian big cities like Bandung, Jakarta (capital city), Palembang, and others.

At the end of 1970, a tragic event occurred when Soman Loebis passed away due to traffic accident in Jakarta and Benny Soebardja decided to stop the band and all of its related activities because at that time it was quite difficult to find Soman's replacement who could play keyboards as good as him.

After approximately 6 months in vacuum, Benny Soebardja went back to rock music by mid of 1971 and formed a new band called GIANT STEP which was one of important rock bands in Indonesia during the glory days of 70s and 80s.


(The write-up was originally written by Benny Soebardja on October, 2006 as appeared at the remaster's sleve notes; modified a bit by Gatot Widayanto - a die hard fan of Sharkmove, Honorary Collaborator of http://www.progarchives.com, Chairman of i-Rock!, Indonesian Rock Music Community)



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SHARKMOVE discography


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SHARKMOVE top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.75 | 22 ratings
Ghede Chokra's
1970

SHARKMOVE Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

SHARKMOVE Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

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SHARKMOVE Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Ghede Chokra's by SHARKMOVE album cover Studio Album, 1970
3.75 | 22 ratings

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Ghede Chokra's
Sharkmove Symphonic Prog

Review by apps79
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

3 stars According to Shadoks' reissue this Indonesian band from the city of Bandung was formed in 1970, but its leader, singer and guitarist Benny Soebardja has stated they were found by him and keyboardist Soman Loebis in 1972.Both were previously playing with the Pop band The Peels, which they left in search for a more adventurous sound.Soebardja had registered at the Agriculture Faculty of the Bandung University at the time, while Loebis was a student at the local Institute of Technology.Recruting Bhagu Ramchand on vocals, Sammy Zakaria on drums/vocals and Janto Diablo on vocals/bass/flute they recorded one private-pressed album, ''Ghede chokra's'', which reputedly came out in only 100 copies, pretty reasonable, when you see these four-digit bucks spent by collectors on auctions.

Of course the music on the album isn't worth its outlandish price, on the other hand Shark Move moved far away from the syrupy style of The Peels to offer a well-played Psych/Prog with Heavy Rock and light symphonic overtones, dominated by the electric guitars and organ and sung mostly in English, a standard value for 70's Indonesian Rock groups.The vocals though are an acquired taste, they are delivered in high-octanes and sound pretty irritating and melodramatic, often connecting nicely to the music, but sounding a bit pretentious at times.Regarding the instrumental parts, the album offers a semi-progressive, semi-heavy Psychedelic Rock with good keyboard parts and occasional bursting electric textures, complemented by acoustic flourishes and some tasteful, melancholic flutes.It lacks the true progressive spirit, but at least the material is quite enganging with ballads, rockin' fields, muddy instrumentals and some complicated themes characterizing the arrangements.The production sounds pretty cloudy, but the blistering guitar moves are pretty amazing plus Loebis' keyboard work is consistent and solid.The rhythm section is typical of such a band, confident and supportive from the first to the very last minute.There are even some light jamming sections in the process, but ''Evil war'' surfaces as a real winner here, featuring electroacoustic passages, an excellent rockin' atmosphere and great organ waves, despite the 60's Pop-sounding vocals.

Shark Move disbanded the following year, after Loebis died unexpectedly in a car accident.Soebardja and Zakaria later formed the great Heavy Proggers Giant Step, the first album of which is a masterpiece of Indonesian Prog.

Decent Psych Prog from the unknown islands of Eastern Asia.A bit dated as a whole, but played with energy, passion and love for the sport.Not a fan of the melodramatic vocals, but I find the instrumental work pretty great.Recommended, legit CD and LP reissues out by Shadoks.

 Ghede Chokra's by SHARKMOVE album cover Studio Album, 1970
3.75 | 22 ratings

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Ghede Chokra's
Sharkmove Symphonic Prog

Review by niantoro

5 stars History is part of Shark Move. As local progrock in Indonesia, Shark Move has spread around germ for the prog-rock supergroup also founded by Benny Soebardja, Giant Step a group was founded after Shark Move disbanded upon the departure of Soman Loebis to God Bless.

On period 70's most of rock group from Indonesian used english lyrics on part of track, include Shark Move. Those track was created with complex arrangement and full of prog-rock touch suchs as My Life (the longest Indonesian song on early 70's, 9'04), Butterfly and Evil War. Meanwhile other track, using Indonesian lyrics with simple arrangement even inclined to poppy.

As a part of prog-rock Indonesian's history, the one and only Shark Move's album which was released by Shadoks is considerable for collection.

 Ghede Chokra's by SHARKMOVE album cover Studio Album, 1970
3.75 | 22 ratings

BUY
Ghede Chokra's
Sharkmove Symphonic Prog

Review by Gatot
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars Indonesian "first" prog band ..!

This might have been the greatest sin that I have ever made for the musicians of my beloved country, Indonesia, who named themselves under the banner of SHARKMOVE because I only got a chance to listen to their music decades after their debut and only album was released in 1970. My prog friend gave me a copy of "Ghede Chokra's" album by Sharkmove from his LP collection. Because it's just a CDR copy from LP, I could not get full information about the band. Only lately I knew that an international label company, Shadoks Music (Germany), was interested to remaster the album and release it in CD and LP format. The CD that I have on my hands is the one remastered by Shadoks Music, given to me by the band's original member and founder: Benny Soebardja.

It's interesting to review this album on the basis of "time" in which this album was recorded on January 2, 1970 or the very beginning of the year. This is very important to mention because by analyzing when the album was made we all can see what sort of influences the band adopted. My initial (and natural) reaction when I saw the cover artwork it was very similar with Gentle Giant's "Octopus". But, looking back the time, it's impossible that Sharkmove copied the concept of Gentle Giant "Octopus" album because the latter was released two years later in 1972. Not only that, Sharkmove released an album before Gentle Giant debut album.

To put things into perspective, there were practically not so many prog albums available in the market at that time. Yes, for sure King Crimson did release "In The Court of The Crimson King" couple months before "Ghede Chokra's" was released. But I barely identify any close similarity, musically, between Sharkmove and King Crimson. Prog masterpieces albums like Yes "Close to The Edge", Yes "Fragile", Genesis "Foxtrot" or "Nursery Cryme", Pink Floyd "Dark Side of The Moon" were not born yet. Couple of releases in 1969 were : Yes debut album, Pink Floyd "Ummagumma", and King Crimson. With this limited number of albums, we can simply conclude that there was practically not so much influence the band adopted from legendary prog bands. That's the theory. And . the reality proves it.

The Music

My Life (9:04) starts mellow in ambient mood with traditional texture through the sound of flute played by Janto Diablo. Benny's vocal line enters beautifully in catchy and memorable notes. The song moves beautifully with excellent melody through vocal line and it then flows in crescendo as drum work by Sammy Zakaria enters. Beny's vocal quality is crispy and powerful and it reminds me to the vocal of David Byron (whom later formed a band called Uriah Heep). This song is to me very emotional because the overall tagline melody is very catchy, memorable, and it touches my emotion - deeply. Composition-wise, this is a masterpiece symphonic progressive rock offering which successfully blends excellent melody with challenging arrangement, especially knowing that it was written those days in 1970 when music was not that complicated and challenging in nature. (This is not to undermine a great album by King Crimson "In the court of The Crimson King" which is really masterpiece with its "21st Century of Schizoid Man").

"My Life" also moves dynamically through its passages with changing styles and tempo from a mellow one at opening part and to heavy part with music riffs and vocal shouting (beautifully) by Benny Soebardja. One thing peculiar is the way Sammy played his drum (at approx. minute 2:01) which then being followed by Guruh Gipsy through its "Indonesia Mahardhikka" composition. Guitar work by Benny is stunning especially when it's augmented by Soman Loebis' hovering organ work that represents truly the 70s sound! The guitar solo during interlude that starts at 3:13 is really top notch! For sure, this is a masterpiece song that all of you, prog warriors, would definitely enjoy! AT the later part of the song, when the song in mellow passage, flute work makes its mark beautifully.

Butterfly (4:28) cools down the music a bit through an ambient organ sound played by Soman Loebis. This song can be considered pop with some progressive touches like Procol Harum even though there is no such thing similar, musically, between the two. Throughout the song, Benny sings nicely, backed by organ sound that characterizes this song, augmented by acoustic guitar rhythm section. Again, this song is strong in melody-line and it's enjoyable for many ears, I believe.

Harga (2:51) is a mellow track with acoustic guitar serves as main rhythm section followed by organ in jazzy mood, augmented beautifully by flutework. This song features Janto Diablo on vocal as well as maintaining his role as flute player. The interlude part offers nice flute passages with acoustic guitar as rhythm section. This song is simple but it has a nice composition that makes it enjoyable listening to it.

Evil War (5:42) is another beautifully crafted song that features Bhagu Rhamchand on vocal. The unique characteristic of this song is its energy cast by Bhagu's vocal line combined with its composition that comprises classic rock style of music plus some musical jamming (well, at least it sounds like "jamming"). From the start of the song, Janto has demonstrated his virtuosity in playing bass guitar which serves as main rhythm section throughout the song. The most challenging part of this song is during the jam session part that starts at minute 1:43 where Janto gives his bass guitar solo augmented by Sammy's drum for approximately 1 minute, followed by Benny's stunning guitar solo.

The remaining three songs are basically ballad with unique texture through flute work. "Bingung" starts with piano followed with guitar fills to accompany vocal by Soman Loebis. "Insan" features Sammy on vocal while Benny focuses on guitar and Janto provides nice flute work. "Madat" starts with nice piano work followed by vocal line performed by Janto Diablo. The lyrics contain social protest and the heroic spirit to fight against its enemies.

Conclusion

Overall, this is an excellent vintage progressive rock - classic rock music that successfully blended the elements of progressive music, traditional harmonies and nice melodies throughout the songs it offers. One thing I need to mention here is that this album is quite original in musical ideas as you can see from the music. It's not totally a prog album as some songs are just ballads but the prog elements are quite significant. This album was a landmark and foundation of Indonesian progressive rock scene. It's truly a gem. Highly recommended. Keep on proggin' ..!

The Plan

For Indonesian prog fans, it's a good news that Sharkmove will perform a Reunion Concert on May 8, 2008 at Mario's Place, Jakarta. Initiated and organized by i-Rock! - Indonesian Biggest Rock Community. Be there guys! It's like dream comes true .. it's like imagining Gentle Giant Reunion Concert! . sort of .

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Thanks to gatot for the artist addition.

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