info: http://manarecords.com/005

Out on 2LP, August 24th 2018.

Mana is pleased to finally present Pomegranates by Nicolas Jaar as a double LP, with new mastering by D&M. The sleeve is designed by David Rudnick, with labels by Stéphane Jourdan and a new insert created by Jaar collaborator and friend Maziyar Pahlevan.

Longer and slower-releasing than his other albums, Pomegranates often parallels the cinematic epic on which it’s based (Նռան գույնը), with ideas pursued over long timelines and across dark landscapes, assembling elements and moods from the aesthetic and folkloric landscapes of Armenia. Jaar’s identity is perceived within this, folding in his heritage as Palestinian and Chilean as he attempts to build a musical architecture outwards that frames as much of the mess and sprawl of life as possible; using a language that investigates the movement and fluctuation of his own artistic career and character similarly to the film’s tracing of the coming of age of the young poet, Sayat-Nova.

At times, Pomegranates feels profoundly intimate, as though looking through the archive of a friend’s music and discovering the accent and common currency that lives within each of these tracks. Much of Jaar’s most elegant and touching melodic work is nestled here, its power residing in its simplicity and willingness to speak to the heart and not the mind of the listener.

In the text document included in the first freely distributed version of the album in 2015, Jaar writes that the album was conceived during a moment of change, and that the pomegranate became an icon that heralded that passage of time. The physical publication of Pomegranates closes one door whilst opening another, keeping promises and marking a significant point in the career of an artist who restlessly reinvents himself, with a document that illustrates a common language of lyricism, freedom, and emotional resonance linking his many paths and projects.

Distributed by Honest Jon's, London.

Nicolas Jaar - Pomegranates

I love music and strive to have an entirely eclectic & open-minded palette of the art form.

Mana is a record label established in 2017 by Andrea Zarza, curator at the British Library Sound Archive, and Blowing Up The Workshop founder Matthew Kent. 

Publishing works with an archival and contemporary sound, Mana is a platform redrawing narrative boundaries and perspectives through a playful, radical and unexpected approach.

DUB [remasters & b-sides]

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"Mixing electronic sounds with acoustic instruments playing, Fahmi has combined his different skills to create electro-acoustic compositions that in some cases also wear resemblance to the style of what we used to call post-rock. Composition and playing with the sounds or of instruments are merged close together here, resulting in an atmosphere of ethereal and austere."
- Post Global Recordings

"I got hooked on Fahmi’s music before, and … honestly, far from playing favorites, I find I keep accidentally running over it through aliases and different links and enjoying it over and over again. (While I was just in Indonesia for Nusasonic, it wasn’t the trip that made me discover the music – it was the work of musicians like Fahmi that were the reason we all found ourselves on the other side of the world in the first place, to be more accurate. They discovered new sounds, and us.)"
- Peter Kirn / CDM

"Although the excellent Tandem Tapes label is based in Jakarta, they’re run by an ex-pat Aussie and have a decidedly international outlook. Nevertheless they do showcase plenty of great experimental Indonesian artists, and we finish tonight with Bandung-based “sound sculptor” Fahmi Mursyid, who uses granular synthesis to transform found sounds, guitar and traditional Indonesian instruments into surging drone and glitch works. I love the snatches of choral harmonies floating in and out of this particular track."
- Peter Hollo / FBi Radio

"With an ever-increasing array of powerful, portable and affordable electronic instruments available, the temptation for producers is to go maximal with their sound. But as these videos—courtesy of Indonesian musician Fahmi Mursyid—prove, a seriously affective and versatile sound can be crafted from the most limited of means."
- Telekom Electronic Beats 

"Jakarta Indonesia based Tandem Tapes is quickly becoming one of my favorite labels. It seems like half of their artists are pulled from the pool of experimental music that the Tome swims in and half are undiscovered gems from around the world the Indonesian based Fahmi Mursyid. I find myself lucky to have discovered something like Fahmi's soundclash of the sacred and profane. Gorgeous vocal drones beneath playful, exploratory electronics that ward off any tendency for the heavy hand."
- Tome to the Weather Machine

Featured :

CDM (Create Digital Music)
http://cdm.link/2018/11/tape-loop-drones-fahmi/

XLR8R
https://www.xlr8r.com/news/donato-dozzy-album-fahmi-mursyid-and-alessandro-di-puccio-next-on-grand-rivers-one-instrument

Telekom Electronic Beats 
http://www.electronicbeats.net/the-feed/listen-drift-away-relaxing-ambient-tape-loops-indonesia

Brutal Resonance
http://www.brutalresonance.com/news/experimental-musician-fahmi-mursyid-releases-new-album-via-tandem-tapes/

FBi 94.5 FM Live Radio
https://fbiradio.com/945fm/programs/utility-fog/2018-02-18-2100/

Media Indonesia
http://mediaindonesia.com/read/detail/71038-sumber-irama-yang-tidak-kasatmata

Dewan Kesenia Jakarta
https://dkj.or.id/program/pekan-komponis-indonesia-2016-musik-eksperimental-elektronik/

A Musical Promenade
http://musicalprom.com/2016/10/04/mencari-makna-di-balik-suara/

MUSLAB 2018:
https://depositosonoro.com/2018/08/31/sesion-de-escucha-muestra-internacional-de-musica-electroacustica-muslab/

The Quietus:
https://thequietus.com/articles/27203-nurse-with-wound-klein-black-truffle-rum-music-review

Resident Advisor 
https://www.residentadvisor.net/news/44065

TOME TO THE WEATHER MACHINE PODCAST 019
http://www.tometotheweathermachine.com/reviews/2018/02/tome-weather-machine-podcast-019

One Year In Guangzhou
https://oneyearinguangzhou.blog/2018/04/07/new-music-china-zoogazer-the-foreigners-nein-or-gas-mus-pool-of-light-seippelabel/

Chinabot
https://www.chinabot.co/mental-maps

FACT
https://www.factmag.com/2019/07/09/donato-dozzy-ems-synthi-aks-one-instrument/

The Wire
https://www.thewire.co.uk/issues/417