On Dictionary 2,
the trio blazes through eight volcanic studio performances of highly
creative collective compositions. A prime example of the threesome’s
collaborative approach is the track “Stravinsky,” built on Hamzah’s
inventive arrangement of Igor Stravinsky’s “An Easy Piece Using Five
Notes” and transformed into something entirely Ligro’s own through the imaginative contributions of Adi Darmawan and Gusti Hendy. Propelling Dictionary 2 are the volcanic guitar excursions of Agam Hamzah,
a force of nature who breathes fire with his bruising, aggressive tone
on tracks like the space-rock epic “Don Juan,” the hyperkinetic
barnburner “Bliker 3,” and the maniacal (again in the best way) “Etude
Indienne.” With him every step of the way are Hendy and Darmawan, who make the trio pulse and breathe like a single organism.
Ligro
manage to be both impressively tight and appealingly loose in their
execution, combining the energy and enthusiasm of a basement jam session
with the assured technique of players thoroughly grounded in the best
of contemporary instrumental music, with echoes of Hendrix, Buckethead,
Fripp, vintage Rypdal, and the more adventurous precincts of progressive
rock and jazz – including Miles Davis, who gets a sly nod in “Miles
Away.” The result is an arresting combination of the raunchy and the
sophisticated that delivers an electrifying jolt to the field of global
fusion.
