Mira'nda sings soulful sounds<\/p>\n
By Adrian Smith and Lise Aumeunier<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): In a world that tends to pigeon-hole musical
\nartists, Mira'nda's music proves something of an anomaly.<\/p>\n
The natural ease and conviction with which she uninhibitedly
\nexpresses herself is inspiration to all those who feel that their
\nindividuality can only come to nothing in today's seemingly
\ntechnocratic world. This refreshing musical approach came across
\nat her recent concert held as part of JakArt at Lasalle College.<\/p>\n
The Australian self-styled musical artist combines her own
\nstrong passionate vocals with guitar. This, you may think, sounds
\npretty run-of-the-mill stuff, but her vocal range and combination
\nof varying vocal techniques, from humming, singing, yodeling (for
\nwant of a better word) through to chanting, is impressive and
\nseemingly unrestricted. The closest comparisons that came to mind
\nwere Alannis Morrisette and P.J. Harvey, though even they, it has
\nto be said, occupy radically different musical realms.<\/p>\n
Not content with only playing a guitar in a horizontal
\nposition, she extended the spectrum of sounds normally associated
\nwith an accompanying guitar by moving the instrument to an
\nupright position and dabbing the strings with what looked like a
\ngiant cotton earbud to produce a rich resonant sound, followed
\nsoon after in contrast by scratchy more dissonant sounds produced
\nby a small bow.<\/p>\n
When asked of her musical influences, rather than name
\nparticular figures she referred to her childhood and the desert
\nlandscapes that surrounded her in southern Australia to which she
\nstill returns for inspiration.<\/p>\n
"I don't draw inspiration from anyone in particular, my
\ncreations are borne from my experience of the world, of
\neverything that I have so far encountered," she said.<\/p>\n
Nature and the experience of "being" are not only evident in
\nher lyrics, but also in the symbolic content of the design
\ncreations that adorn her debut album, So Bravely Human, which
\nwere projected onto a white fabric screen as an accompanying
\nslide-show. This provided rich, earthy visual color to her
\nsoulful music. By and large, they were photographic close-ups of
\nliving organisms and her own arrangements of various natural
\nitems with slogans that accompanied her lyrics. One that comes to
\nmind was 'spontaneously free'.<\/p>\n
She opened and closed the hour-long concert by standing in
\nfront of the screen wearing a white costume that absorbed the
\nprojected image, displaying her own voice against prerecorded
\nbacking vocals and twisting her body in different movements in
\naccordance with the music. Throughout the rest of the set she
\nremained seated and played songs from her current album, as well
\nas the one she is working on at the moment (due to be released
\nsometime at he end of 2001 or early 2002), pausing briefly
\nbetween each song to talk playfully with the responsive audience.<\/p>\n
The venue itself proved an unusual yet interesting choice. The
\ncollege is located on the fifth floor of Mal Ambassador on Jl.
\nCasablanca, which has all the hustle and bustle of local shopping
\nmalls on the lower floors, but appears progressively more sparse
\nand vacant on the upper storeys.<\/p>\n
Mira'nda's textural music clearly reflects the voice of
\nsomeone who is still in the process of exploring different ways
\nof expressing herself.<\/p>\n
"I feel I have evolved from someone who began by taking an
\nintellectual, philosophical approach to music to one that is
\nproducing music from the heart. I'm interested now in
\npopularizing music that was formerly considered peripheral."<\/p>\n
Her rise from penumbra to prominence began when she was
\nawarded the 1999 Dolphin Awards for Best Female Vocal and Best
\nAlbum of the Year in Australia and she has since then performed
\naround the world, from intimate theaters to huge stadiums, to
\nmuch acclaim.<\/p>\n
The title of her only album to date perhaps indicates the
\nstruggle she has had to endure to evade musical conventions and
\nclassifications to retain her own individual voice. It
\nundoubtedly comes across as all the more powerful for it.<\/p>",
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