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Pollution Opera - s/t
Cat. Nr: DN027
Format: DL / LP
Release Date: April 24, 2024
Buy / stream: dansenoire.ffm.to/PollutionOpera

Elvin Brandhi and Nadah El Shazly refuse to turn away from the horror. The intercontinental duo’s Pollution Opera album is an uncompromising futurist depiction of our disfigured, dystopian, and dying reality. Facing hell in full defiance, the experimental noise album catapults itself through a volatile compound of breathless shouts, screams, and screeches, in collision with vocal samples, environmental recordings, and acousmatic sounds. Ten tracks cover the spectrum of electroacoustic fragments and vocalizations, treacherously suspended between the roar of engines and synth distortion, of evocative intonations or guttural retching.

First conceived in 2020, Pollution Opera bubbled up organically from a first tandem motorbike ride through El Shazly’s hometown of Cairo. Singing and screaming through the second-loudest city in the world, Brandhi and Shazly found the extreme noise pollution served as catharsis from the suffocating smog that surrounded them. They then took these sonic specimens into studios across years and countries—from the initial recording and sessions in Egypt to Uganda, where their so-called “cacophony carbon orchestra” would carry into simultaneous but separate residencies at Nyege Nyege in Kampala. There, Brandhi and Shazly reprised the role of the motorbike as their “stage,” in a city where motorbikes are the main mode of public transport. They then developed a live A/V performance from video material captured by Arno Mery, collected from their travels, and reworked by Egyptian artist Omar El Sadek during Banlieues Bleues Festival 2023 in France.

The result is what the artists themselves describe as “an uncompromising world-spew, a shameless alloy of love and hate.” Haptic knocking, barking dogs, and human growls trample El Shazly’s famously evocative Egyptian singing style on “CRÎi Me A River.” Breathless vocal cut-ups and samples are bulldozed by arrhythmic acoustic percussion on “Danse Le Flou.” There are moments of respite within all the chaos, however, whether in the heavily pitched, Auto-Tuned opening of “Pollute Bold” or the wonderfully melodic closer of “Crisp Heart”—its derelict rhythmic thrust giving a listener something to dance about.

Both artists lend their unique positioning and idiosyncrasies to Pollution Opera, whether it’s in artist, vocalist, and musician Brandhi’s avant-garde noise music pedigree as both a solo artist and member of father-daughter duo Yeah You, or
singer, composer, and producer El Shazly’s hybrid catalogue combining electronic music with contemporary classical. Together, in asking the question of what a postmodern opera might sound like, the duo offer their existential answer in the true spirit of the often playful and ironic philosophical position by offering no answer at all.

Voice & electronics: Elvin Brandhi & Nadah El Shazly
Violin on ‘Crisp Heart’: Ocen James
Soprano on ‘Attention’: Marie Requa Gailey

Artwork by Omar El Sadek & Niels Wehrspann
Mastering by Rashad Becker

Pollution Opera

Pollution Opera - Your Tracks Are Too Dark (ft. ZULI)

Moderate thunderstorm warning, waiting for the sky to burst open on a hot summer evening.
 
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/heatwave/episodes/heatwave-summer-storms-can-strike-suddenly-w-uma-22nd-august-2024

SUMMER STORMS CAN STRIKE SUDDENLY W/ UMA 220824

Dancing In The Rain

dj :0 est de retour pour une nouvelle année de résidence sur LYL, et en direct du nouveau studio de LYL Paris à aperto, pour une heure de dancehall, trap et downtempo.


Aperto Opening Session w/ dj :0 (07/09/24)

Magic 8 Episode 116 - 11/16/2024

The unifying theme amongst my Magic 8 guests is that they are busy, and GENG PTP certainly fits the bill. He's a community organizer, visual designer, label head, sound engineer, teacher, archivist, DJ, musician, and has been at it in the DIY trenches for a long time.

Recreational DJ kicks it off with an hour of deep bass and techno grooves, with a couple of detours just to keep you on your toes.

GENG PTP takes over the second hour. He says "it’s actually two mixes stitched together that i found on tape earlier this week... documenting not only a time when i was experimenting with analog tech as a means of archiving/back up, but a time that a good few of us have been fondly reminiscing on concurrently by chance/coincidence... bringing that sound back but yea now w tape saturation and hiss (even better).

also it was when i was really starting to dig into a chapter of my own sound design and production."

Magic 8 Episode 116 with GENG PTP

CERVANTES

prod. dxlor
sample: lapulax ft. kerry leatham - without you
mixing. eyeblind

**lyrics**
sun in the sky as my eyes begin to cry
seasonal depression always makes me lie
think about that girl when i’ve already got a guy
is this shit right? this shit makes me wanna die
book full of notes i don’t want to be read
drop it in my casket with me when im dead
take my thoughts to the grave and nothing will be said
leave a boquet of roses at the foot of my bed
nostalgia feels so euphoric
overdose on memories that feel so historic
scroll through my camera roll cryin on the floor
ill delete my icloud and i hope it wipes my storage
 
ill have sex in seattle but it wont feel like u
ill have sex in new york but it wont feel as good
ill have sex in la but it wont feel like u
ill have sex anywhere but nothing beats u

Dancing In The Rain

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