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CanyouhearthEkaching??

Untitled by Muqata'a (@muqataa) and Mazen Kerbaj (@mazenkerbaj). Taken from Mazen Kerbaj new album Sampler / Sampled, out February 25, 2022, via Morphine Records (@morphinerecords)

Read: https://bit.ly/3GbOaed

Sampler / Sampled is an album made of two interdependent parts rather than a double-album.

The first part of the project, Sampler, is a trumpet solo album that catalogues the unique sounds and extended techniques that Mazen Kerbaj developed for the instrument in the past 25 years; it consists of 318 pieces ranging from less than a second to forty seconds each, and presenting different sonic materials.

This catalogue of sounds works on various levels: first and foremost, it is a trumpet solo that could be played in its original order, or in random mode to create different pieces of music. But it is also a collection of samples that could be used for various applications (ringtones, phone sound effects, cinema) and, of course, to create new pieces of music based on sampling.

The second part of the project is the composition Sampled for a musician working with loops and/or samples. The composition has one instruction: create a piece of music using solely tracks from Sampler as your sound source (with the possibility to use all kinds of effects or treatment).

Each interpreter/musician becomes thus a co-composer who appropriates the piece and makes it their own. In this regard, the musicians that were commissioned to play Sampled were chosen from different geographical origins and musical genres to create highly different and personal pieces of music.

One important output of this project is putting in practice the overused idea of music as a universal language. This idea is very present in “free improvised music” where musicians from different origins can meet for the first time and make music together without the need to adapt to different musical traditions.

But here, the collective part of creating music in real time is not involved. It is rather the contrary: it starts with one middle-eastern musician creating a new language/vocabulary for his western instrument, to be later used by other musicians from around the globe who will appropriate this vocabulary and use it with their own language/grammar.

The final output of this double faceted album that was recorded during the Covid lockdown proved to be a very efficient new way to collaborate from a distance in times of world isolation, and ultimately put in practice the universality of music by breaking the boundaries of genres that are the most difficult to break.

Sampler / Sampled

Premiere: Muqata'a and Mazen Kerbaj - Untitled [Morphine Records]

Tor5y x Dua Saleh - Flavv SMUT

1127 Live@ In Potentia ii Falaki Theater

Between May 2012 and August 2013 I shared a flat in Heliopolis with 3 of my best friends. Because we were all artists, it was naturally one of the most inspiring times of my life. 

Now, there are few things in life I hate more than doing the washing up, so I cut a deal with them where I'd be in charge of doing laundry for everyone, and in return, never have to do the dishes - ever. We had this 1970s Whirlpool washing machine that used to make the most interesting sounds. 

I was hanging out in the kitchen one day waiting for it to finish and the sounds coming out of it were so rhythmic, I decided to have a go at emulating them, and that's how "Pt A" happened; I threw in an Anne Peebles sample and it became a Swag Lee beat. Of course the next step was to sample the machine using my field recorder. So I did that and made "Pt B", "Pt C" and "Pt D" (the latter revolves around clicks from twisting the machine's main knob). 

Almost a year later, I realized I had 4 finished Doing Laundry tracks, 2 of which people have only heard in my live sets. So I put them together on an EP along with an Abyusif remix of "Pt B" and - for jokes - a couple of mash-ups of some old Egyptian detergent ads.


03. ZULI Vs Swag Lee - Doing Laundry Pt B

Watch the video for INF0:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaZ8YowH9_4&t=85s
Elvin Brandhi & Bashar Suleiman are INSIN.

After self-publishing their first EP, Welsh producer Elvin Brandhi and Cairo-based Bashar Suleiman return with INSINCERITY on Amen.

Cover art by Aleksandar Vucenovic.

BORN BACKWARDS

adlir sharmuta bent kalb 
artwork: our boi @joul24 
@adlir
@hshshhshshs

Cake - El Msh || كيك - المش  [ADLIR.net]

Saint Abdullah's 'Where do we go, now?' out now on cassette and digital edition via PTP.

All proceeds of this album go to the New York Immigration Coalition: 
www.nyic.org

“'Where do we go, now?' captures the sounds, stories, and full weight of what it feels like to live in a country, and broader political context, that considers one’s identity as the root of all its problems. We are are not in search of answers, or a path forward; we are in the mood to grieve, the only way we know how.”

A cavern of noise, dizzying loops, field recordings, and free jazz. Saint Abdullah is the sonic language of Iranian-Canadian brothers, Mohammad and Mehdi.

Written / Produced: Saint Abdullah
Arranged: Saint Abdullah & Geng
Mixed: Saint Abdullah
Mastered: Jesse Munro Johnson
Artwork: Richard R Ross || Cassette Design: Geng

Tracklist:
1. The carnal soul
2. Let's mourn together
3. Nocturnal vigilance
4. Poverty as pride feat. Travis Laplante 
5. Pluto's porn
6. Philosopher Kings
7. Mined for disturbances
8. Movin' out of Harlem feat. ARP 220
9. Eastoxication
10. Broke my heart in '52

Where do we go, now? (2020) [PTP2018]

BUY DIGI & CS

Saint Abdullah - Eastoxication (from 'Where do we go, now?' [PTP2018])

See here for more info: bit.ly/32QrMXW

Support AQNB with a monthly subscription to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/aqnb

Sawa Sawa [APR126]

Lil Asaf, 'Balki (prod. Khadije)' (2020). Courtesy Astral Plane Recordings, United States.

Firas Shehadeh & Elvin Brandhi - Los Santos Cursed

I Was So by @thisisismael

Following the devastating explosion at the Port of Beirut on August 4, Ma3azef teamed up with New York-based mastering engineer Heba Kadry to curate a compilation by regional and international musicians to raise funds for the continuous relief work being done on the ground in Beirut to help those who have been failed by the Lebanese state.

Today, we're happy to announce two additional remixes to be added to the compilation: ZULI's Kiwii, remixed by El Kontessa; Deena Abdelwahed's Wein El Malayeen, remixed  by Ancient Methods.

The 19-track compilation includes contributions by the likes of Fatima Al Qadiri, Nicolás Jaar, ZULI, Slikback, and others. Bringing sounds together from the different crevices of electronic music, it is a humble attempt to galvanize musicians and listeners into supporting a city that has been integral in shaping the region’s contemporary music scene.

All proceeds from the sales of the compilation are going to local initiatives to provide assistance to those affected, they will be divided between Fundraising Campaign for the Arts and Culture Community in Beirut organized by AFAC; Beirut Musicians' Fund organized by Tunefork Studios, and Beit el Baraka.

All tracks mastered by Heba Kadry
Artwork by Studio Mooni

Ismael - I Was So

No poem is intended for the reader, no picture for the beholder, no symphony for the listener.

Firas Shehadeh & Elvin Brandhi - Los Santos Cursed

Firas Shehadeh

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