Mixes for 2024

This set was curated and performed for the political and cultural campaign "Where is Kajol?', led by Monorom Polok for the release of his father, Shafiqul Islam Kajol. The photojournalist Kajol went missing for 53 days, only to be detained for "trespassing" border lines and also under cases filed against him under the Digital Security Act. He was finally released with bail after being detained for 237 days. Read more here: https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2020/12/25/journalist-kajol-released-from-jail

Photo: Where is Kajol? Social Media

Where Is Kajol?

I played this fun set for Queer Feminist Festival 2021 at Villa Vida. I wanted to mix together songs to create a journey that queer folks could relate and dance to with nostalgic throwbacks, especially in ways that would acknowledge histories of black queer contribution as well as the diasporic joys and contributions of people of color to dance music. Enjoy!

wtf is this happiness? @ Queer Feminist Festival 2021, Villa Vida

lately, i've been making nostalgic throwbacks with a cool friend to the era of trance that had engulfed us dance music enthusiasts at the turn of the century. i can't help but be amused at how i've grown out of it while also holding such fond memories of being in trance with the music. as i've become more and more critical about discourses of "dance music" and what kind of music is DJed on dancefloors, my heart has opened up to the possibilities of decentering white/western/european conceptions of the club and the dancefloor. 

i worry a lot about how playing diverse music from other regions, especially the global south, can give chances for fetishisation and appropriation too, and here i think a lot about how to curate dancefloors. but i also don't think that this should stop us from becoming better listeners, audiences and dancers to music from around the world, especially as a way to resist and diversify. 

as someone who is in love with diverse percussive arrangements and rhythms of/from the South Asian subcontinent, South America, Africa and Latin diaspora, i also want to acknowledge how music all over the world and especially in western/european dance music has taken inspirations from these long-lasting, rich traditions of music. and i really, really want to hear and celebrate artists from these regions who have also put their music out for global audiences and demand to be heard.

so, here's a different kind of trance, built on percussions. 

Track List:
1. Mc Buzzz - Bota Bota
2. Nidia - Capacidades
3. DJ Danifox - Se Eu Cantar
4. Moonshine ft. Maître Magellan, NoKliché - Ancestors Dance
5. Omaar - Arriba y Abajo
6. Prince Kaybee, Lady Zamar -Charlotte
7. Karen Nyame KG - Sensei

This is only part of the set. As always, enjoy and engage. Help me learn more!

percussive trance

this september, i was live on @radiofm4 for @daliawest 's Late Night Lemonade with  @perillazine, bringing you the best of the bangers i played this summer in one mix to rule them all.

Track list:
Tshegue - M'benga Bila
Tia Maria Produções - TKKN
Ahadadream - Tabla GQOM
DJ Habias & DJ Nax - Brasil
Branko, PEDRO - MPTS (Chords Version)
Jlz, Pedro, INVDRS - Vai Amor
Niniola - Boda Sodiq
Mijangos - Aqui Se Baila (Afro Latin Mix)
Peggy Gou - I Go
Bhangra Knights vs. Husan - Husan (Extended Mix)
Dr Alban - Sing Hallelujah! (Short Version)
LSDXOXO - Mutant Exotic
Mina - Boing (feat. Nané)
90s Allstars - Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now)
Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless) (CHAMOS Remix)
Devdas - Dola Re Dola (OmarMakesMusic Remix)
Daddy Yankee - Gasolina (Soulely Baile Edit)
Bassbear, Swisha - Dancefloor Jam
Amerie - 1 thing (Loffe Ninja Vogue Mix)
Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You (DJ Florentino Refix)

summer '22 for FM4, Vienna | Late Night Lemonade w/ Dalia

a hi-energy throwback to the wild 6 months i spent back home in dhaka for the winter of 22-23.

a big part of my work as a dancefloor organizer is the work i do with karkhana collective. it makes me so happy that we got together again after a long pandemic-hiatus to organize the Ghurni Listening Sessions in person again, where we strive to organize safe, accessible context-specific dancefloors in dhaka. i played this set for ঘূর্ণি: আতিক্যা, a surprise shoe-box rave we threw on a Tuesday night with a 36hr notice only. big shout-out to the collective and guest DJs who make this work possible. and a special one to Ruhul aka DJ Khan-Ki who drove the dancefloor with his MCing, some of which you can hear on this set.

this set is very close to my heart, moving between 130-160 BPM as i cruise through genres, sounds, rhythms, beats and dance music that can be traced to various histories and lineages of musical movements in and out of the global south and Black diaspora. however, i am especially fond of this set because i start with sounds of the asian underground scene from the 90s, and end with the most contemporary sounds of diasporic bengal in electronic music.

Enjoy!

Track list:
1. Rebel Warrior - Asian Dub Foundation
2. Chittagong Chill - State of Bengal
3. Bhir - Enayet
4. Dip Dop Afrobeat - DJ Flex
5. Bad Girls - Surusinghe 
6. Dojilson Cat - DJ Lycox
7. Rebenta - DJ Bboy
8. Shout out Gaia Beat (Exclusive Sunday Mix) - Sam Blans, Gaia Beat
9. Tu Tu Tu - BJF
10. FREAKBODY - DJ Swisha
11.Unavailable - UNIIQU3, R3ll
12. Let me be your fantasy - Baby D
13. Mehbooba Mehbooba - Bally Sagoo, Muhammad Yunus
14. Soundbwoy Rudebwoy (Bianca Oblivion Remix) - DJ co.kr
15. Tchiriri - Costuleta
16. MEGA MACUMBINHA DO JLZ [[CLUB TOOL]] - JLZ
17. MONTAGEM DA XERECA - BADSISTA
18. JUNGLE TEKNAH - SHERELLE 
19. Desire - Yazzus, Magnum Larry
20. Phiriya (Provhat and Enayet's Club Refix) - Enayet

frenetic_for Ghurni/ ঘূর্ণি: আতিক্যা _ dhaka, '23

part of a set i played recently, where i tried to keep it chill because i was the opening act for the night. but i don't think i managed to stay chill for long. but that's just me. 

recorded in one take while snacking on yoghurt and trying to dodge the sunlight in my room on this hot afternoon.

image: the latest bruise i have acquired most recently by falling from my bike on a perfectly fine bike lane. because, u know, i have no chill.

Track list:
Tia Maria Produções, Puto Márcio - Coisas da Vida
VHOOR - Verde
Moonshine, Pedro - Faz Assim
Mulatoh Prod - Faka Dan
Barbatuques - BaiãoDestemperado - Borchi Remix
Merca Bae, Nick León - Agua
Sangre Nueva - Moskito
Sylvere - Rez Drums 2
Wallwork - Hacienda
Ayesha - Swim
Kamo Mphela - Nkulunkulu
DJ Plead, Stain - Rent Request
DJ Haram - Body Count
Cruel Boyz - Cruel Drumz
Moonshine, Vanyfox - Off-white

tried to keep it chill, but not really

put my post-exhaustion-manic energy to work and made this blend of 3 tracks i love bopping to. all the names, when put together, really represent me fully right now.

mixed on my controller in one go, and Siaminium took a minute to raise the loudness later. because i live in vienna and my neighbour keeps making noise complaints about the music on my speakers in true austrian fashion. 

1- Biance Oblivion - Respire
2- Jaewynn - Spice Girl (Lazy Flow Remix)
3- Mina & Bryte - Make Money (Sam Interface Remix)

Spice Girl, Respire And Make Money

i woke up tripping balls cos it's the 50th birthday of Hip-Hop! Whaaat, can you imagine the world without hip-hop. i can't.

so, anyways, i took the frenetic 'On Bouge Un Peu' from Kass Kass Rizer's 2023 EP, 'Landing', which reimagined Coupé-décalé, the club-dance genre of Ivory Coast that originated from it's diaspora in France. And then i took Busta Rhyme's very-speedy verse from the 2004 hit from Chris Brown, 'Look at Me Now' where he featured with Lil Wayne; you guys remember that?

And then i put them together cos LOL. all before 8am too cos i like waking up early, ok, stop it with the judging.

What i enjoy the most is how i played with the last echo on Busta Rhyme's verse and kept it going, cos i've been learning a lot about early MC-ing these days and the function of the echo box and how it contributed to the cadences of what later became hip-hop. 

enjoy!

On Bouge Un Peu To Look At Busta

a couple of years ago, my Palestinian-Egyptian friend Y.A introduced me to Daboor & Shabjdeed's (of the Ramallah-based label, BLTNM) "Inn Ann," a hip-hop single that became a symbol of resistance, solidarity, pride and hopes for an entire generation of Palestinian people. The song was released after the 2021 protests erupted in Sheikh Jarrah and spread throughout Occupied Palestinian territories. You can read more about the song's impact in the diaspora and visual symbolisms (it is shot in front of the occupation wall) here: https://www.milleworld.com/bltnm-inn-ann-palestian-anthem/

I mixed Daboor's verses over ANZ's 2017 track, "Panrico", from her self-titled EP. This track was out way before ANZ broke through as a genre-defying producer and DJ of Black electronic music in the UK with drums, dubs and bass. "Inn Ann"s drill-influenced sound and flow over ANZ's bass-&-percs-turbo-ed track makes complete sense to me, so here I am sharing it with you too!
Both of the pieces have very prominent bass-lines,  and i initially thought i would sacrifice "Inn Ann"s bass-line, but i found a way to feature both of them with some playing around because they speak together and complement each other so well.

i decided to end Daboor's verse with 
"حتموت من الرعب من الارض نطلع زي جن, بخ" 
(you'll get scared shitless, we come up from the ground like ghosts (jinn)
BOO).
i've been thinking about abundance a lot, especially along the lines of Robert Orsi's discussion of the abundance of faith in miracles and manifestations as an alternative to modernity. Cynthia Bhuiyan, a transwoman entrepreneur and activist I've been working with for a while now as a researcher and community organizer in Dhaka, is also the heir and custodian of the family home, properties and religious community of her father, Hajji Mohammad Montaj Shah Rizvi, a Sufi Pir (spiritual guide). On her family property, she employs, houses and organizes, mobilizes queer people and ensures security for queer assemblies, all the while being a prominent member of the society. She claims that several jinn - followers of her father - are guarding this property. i often think about how these jinn are manifestations of the abundance that gives her -a transwoman born to a Sufi leader - the social, political and economic power to be an important provider of resources for queer peoples, in a country where transgender people's inheritance is still being debated. Upon occupied territories of Palestine, too, i hope resistance will be remembered by the ghosts of these sounds as they travel against the forces of settler colonialism, apartheid and violence - both physical and epistemological. 
With this mix, i'm thinking about how the ghosts and spiritual forces of our resistance, subversions, and acts of changes manifest the abundance of further transformation on dancefloors too.

@BLTNM بلاتنم x @Anz

Inn Ann X Panrico

It is an honor to accept Cinema Palestine Bangladesh’s invitation to make this mix/sound collage.

The original brief of the commission was that I make a playlist of selections that would connect Palestine’s struggle for liberation with Bangladesh’s and the historic solidarity between the two peoples, while also keeping it contemporary and rooted in the present day. We had a shared understanding of how the internationalist struggles which connected many freedom struggles in the past have morphed and have taken troubling shape including a turn towards neoliberal globalization. Still I had to proceed with caution and awareness of the complicity of Bangladeshi leadership and ruling classes in the same violences (and more) it once fought as we are also painfully aware of the colonial and modern conditions of power and state structures that fuel them. Today, Bangladesh is enmeshed in that colonial legacy and trauma as a modern nation-state with some devastating effects, having strayed far from socialist values, people’s resistance and liberatory aspirations that it was once led by. Here, workers, indigenous people, non-Bangla-speaking peoples, Dalits, and non-Muslims, among many more, continue to fight for better lives and liberation from many oppressions.

I decided to make a mix that could defy and reach beyond the restraints of the colonial project of border-making while also respecting particular geo-political locations, histories and moments. Instead of a sentimental connection between Palestine & Bangladesh, I attempted to trace solidarities for liberatory futures against common oppressors and (our own) complicities. And I decided to do so with the idea of “return.”

I trace the sentiments and yearnings for “return” here, not as an attempt to reach for a time or place lost, but in honor of losses that precede us, continue to remain with us and drive us in shaping our liberatory futures. As a Chatgaiya Muslim currently situated in Vienna, I am perhaps not the best person to speak for all struggles in Bangladesh, as is evident from how I have failed to include any indigenous selections. But I do draw upon my own locations and life in the diaspora, my (privileged, but shouldn’t be) experience of “return” to my family’s origins that precede me, and the strengths of the resistances in Bangladesh, Palestine and beyond that I have had the honor to witness. It is an honor to select and bring together the works of artists, scholars and people I admire so much.

Curated, mixed live & recorded by মm.
Commissioned by Cinema Palestine Bangladesh
Mastered by Siaminium
Created with support from Parsa Sanjana Sajid, Arfun Ahmed and Siaminium

Set List:
•	Phiriya (ft. Provhat, Nishit Dey, Meera Mehzabin, Moumita Haque, Siaminium) - Siaminium Remix - ENAYET 
•	Amshi - Kamilya Jubran & Werner Hasler
•	Gaza Sea Minor feat. Ghassan Kanafani - checkpoint303
•	Sample: Rohingya refugees remember the sixth anniversary of the Rohingya genocide with song - BenarNews
https://t.ly/4qqBX
•	Utopia Is A Colonial Project - Sarathy Korwar
•	Sample: Edward Said 
https://t.ly/RRqn-
•	El Madeeneh Namat - Asifeh
•	Yabnel 'Am - Al Nather, Shabjdeed
•	Mr. President - State of Bengal
•	Gidam - Drums of protest in Khartoum - Siaminium Bootleg
Original film by Pan African Music: https://t.ly/5D6Db
•	Tidallal – Toumba
•	আমি অপার হয়ে বসে আছি - Farida Parveen, Lalon Shah
•	It has been no easy flying home - Abdullah Miniawy
•	لا شيء يعجبني - Mahmoud Darwish
https://t.ly/JjtuV
•	Complain - Deena Abdelwahed
•	Narrative by Man - Palestine Lives! Songs from the Struggle of the People of Palestine
•	Shadow Unit - Asifeh and Firas Shehadeh
•	Sample: Sabina Akhter, RMG Worker - The Daily Star
https://t.ly/cpwMh
•	line break مدخل - Dakn داكنْ
•	Note from মm.
•	Chol Mini Assam Jabo - Basudeb Das Baul and friends

Cinema Palestine BD
https://www.facebook.com/people/Cinema-Palestine/61553655182412/
https://www.instagram.com/cinemapalestinebd/

Return | Cinema Palestine Bangladesh | Sound Collage by মm.

i've been introducing myself in shows and teaching people how to say my name. and making them say it.
i figure most people in this part of the world don't even know that my name is just a bangla letter. i was playing for the Hyperdub 20 showcase at Elevate Festival, Graz, here and i figured people should know who i am *flips hair*

"i don't think you know my name because my name is the hardest to read in the poster. it's in bangla. so i want to make sure that you know who i AM. can you all say মm. (read: mwo)? harder! can you say মm.?! i've come all the way from Bangladesh. this is my first time in graz, my first time in elevate and i want you all to move your bodies! are we doing this?!"

make the world move in the direction you lead.

Photo: Clara Wildberger
Outfit: Kareem al-Adhami

how to say my name

For this mix, Vienna-and-Dhaka-based DJ, curator and dance floor organizer, মm. starts with Riz Ahmed's powerful commentary on questions of origins to bring all of their worlds together. They draw inspiration from their diasporic lives and their coming of age in Dhaka, the big city they call home and where they learned to DJ and politicize dance floors, to weave together sounds & rhythms in a mix that defies distinctions of so-called high and low art in music & dance. And they do it with their love for percussions, and by centering music created by artists of/from the global South and Black artists.

Track list:
Riz Ahmed - Where You From
DJ Haram - Body Count
Jlin - Challenge (To Be Continued II)
DJ PLEAD X DESTINY'S CHILD X حلالاماما  - حلالامام SOFT EDIT
Vv Pete - Frauds (DJ Plead Remix)
MM - 9th Ritual
Tzusing - Balkanize
JLZ - SIGILO
El Alfa El Jefe - UZI (Siu Mata Edit)
DJ Fucci & CRRDR - FRESEO
BADSISTA - VEM PRA ZONA LESTE - Batu remix
Florentino, MC Bin Laden, MC Buzzz - Na Fuga - Kelman Duran Remix
Sylvere - Fields
Dinamarca - Juguete
dj g2g - MY HUMPS JUST WANNA VROOM VROOM
Aleroj - TRUNKS EL SICARIO (GUARACHO)
Sweety, DJ Dilip Roy - Pasher Barir Chengra Pola
Asal Kolaar, ofRO - Jorthaale
BADSISTA - VEM PRA ZONA LESTE (DJ Marfox 3 de la mañana Remix)
Kass Kass Rizer - Boukan
Moonshine - DaftBeat ft. DJ N.K
The Glitch Mob, Samurai Breaks, UNIIQU3 - Body Moves
IDLIBRA - Xrqnha
Turkana, Authentically Plastic - Diesel Femme
Swadesi - The Warli Revolt feat. Prakash Bhoir (Bandish Projekt Remix)

With support from Siaminium



Ghurni Listening Session 06: মm.

Every now and then, মm. invites me to play with them, opening the night at Pony Hof Wien.

We hardly prepare for these sessions -  we just bring whatever we are listening to at that given time. We like to keep it Jazz style, improvising and responding to each other's cues as they come. 

This is the recording of our last b2b. We prepared only with an intention: to move away from all the "hard and fast" stuff happening everywhere & start slow and focus on narratives and pacing, and to make space for our love of layers, little sounds, atmosphere and drama.

This b2b is not "perfect" and u can hear the fails and us struggling to figure out the filter settings on the Xone-92 and missing the fx, but that's why we love this so much because you can also hear us craft in real time.

we hope it makes you feel as inspired as we felt leaving the club 
(づ￣ ³￣)づ

Tracklist:
Kòmsadwa's Wisdom (Èzili) - (feat. Commeungrand) - Moonshine
Signal - Pugilist
Through The Glass - Batu
The Fool - Sister Zo
Back Innit - K Wata, Sputnik One
Turtleback - SMIFF 
Tr!cknology - Cassius Select 
Household Deity - Amazondotcom
Ramanujan Prime - rrao
Adentro - Victoria Mussi
Psyspi - Ma Sha
Spirit Caller - Alleged Witches
Desert - T5umut5umu
Y6Y9 - RHR
Blood Omen - Black Rave Culture
Virgo - Dodi Palese
Paradise Baile - Vhoor
Love on the run - Broosnica
way ur touchin me - Skin On Skin
Rozay - Jonny From Space
Bottlepop - Suchi
Vem Dançar - Golden Kong & Gaspar Muniz
Details (Bok Bok Remix) - Ikonika
Levels - Atrice
Rap GQOM - Chrisman
Mind - Laksa
Diesel Femme - Authentically Plastic, Turkana
Passage (Tech dub) - Nico
Void - Bapari
AREA S-53 -  Skwig, Funest
Quer Dançar? - Amor Satyr
S.S.I.V - Vazquez
Section A - DJ Skothan
Conference - Mala
Sabah Fakhri - Toumba
Bajo Locura - TFried
Métele (Omaar 2016 Remix) - Zutzut
Selfcare dot gov - Despina
Shoulder Dance - 3Phaz
Desatado - Pelada

মm. + call me daddy - b2b@PonyHof-Wien (May 2024)

মm. (read: mwo, just like the bangla alphabet)
dhaka, bangladesh & vienna, austria

DJ, curator and community organizer
percussions, booty bounce, discourse
Sounds of/from the global South, along diasporic movements :: South-on-South.

instagram: @m_read_mwo

founding member:
karkhana collective, dhaka
Spice Mixers, vienna

curatorial assistant:
Struma+Iodine, vienna
Unsafe+Sounds Festival, vienna

Coming up:

31.05 : b2b call me daddy : Vienna Shorts x Wiener Festwochen, Funkhaus (DJ set)
11.06 : MQ Pride Night : MuseumsQuartier (DJ set)
13.06 : Horn of Africa Pride, Ankerbrotfabrik (DJ set)
14.06 : TRANS-DIMENSIONAL, (Pride) Pratersauna (DJ Set)
29.06 : On Your Side UK Fundraiser, Margate Arts Club, Canterbury (DJ Set)
25.07 : Spice Mixers x Free Spaces, Praterbrucke (DJ Set)

মm.

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