Mazaj Festival of Experimental Middle-Easter Music

MazaJ (meaning mood in Arabic) is a place of free expression, of attunement that presents sonic experimentation from the Middle East and its diaspora.

The first edition of the MazaJ Festival is a celebration of contemporary and experimental Arabic music and Middle Eastern sonic culture, taking place in London. Curated by artist Seth Ayyaz, MazaJ encourages audiences to look beyond the ‘world music’ label by stripping bare the stereotypes of ‘Arabic’ or ‘Middle Eastern’ music. Forging links between UK and Middle Eastern artists and audiences, the festival takes the form of a one-day conference and concert at City University, followed by a weekend of talks and performances at Café Oto.

Instal 10 Extras

Music is about more than just music.

In fact, any radical music has always been provoked by something from outside: by non-musical ideas, ideas from and about our situation. And it only stays radical if it keeps saying something back to that situation, if it tries to change it.

An experimental festival of experimental music, Instal 10 addresses itself to these and subsequent concerns.

TLOBF Interview // Oneohtrix Point Never

There was – there is – something about Rifts. A two-CD collection collecting together over six years of recorded work from New Yorker Daniel Lopatin’s Oneohtrix Point Never project, this 27-track collection – clocking in at approaching two-and-a-half hours in length – was not just one of the highlights of 2008, but the sort of treasure-trove of music that you could dive into, Scrooge McDuck-style, and never come up for air. (read more...)

Alvin Lucier - I am sitting in a room

I am sitting in a room (1969) is one of composer Alvin Lucier's best known works, featuring Lucier recording himself narrating a text, and then playing the recording back into the room, re-recording it. The new recording is then played back and re-recorded, and this process is repeated. Since all rooms have characteristic resonance or formant frequencies (e.g. different between a large hall and a small room), the effect is that certain frequencies are emphasized as they resonate in the room, until eventually the words become unintelligible, replaced by the pure resonant harmonies and tones of the room itself.

I Am Sitting in a Room, 15:23 (1969, original recording)

Heavy Metal Drummer- Short film 2005 England/Morocco

Synopsis:
The film tells the story of a 15 year's old Moroccan who is the only heavy metal fan in his town Essaouira. He spends his weekends playing traditional ballads in a wedding band with his two cousins but dreams of playing thrash metal and headlining Monsters of Rock.

Year of Production: 2005 Momac film Ltd
Director, Screenwriter and producer : Luke Morris, Toby MacDonald, Amanda Boyle
Principal Cast: Yassine Jari

Musical credits Morocco/Maroc:
Music on headphones/ Musique sur walkman:
Clear Crisis Act
Closing Music/ Musique fin de film:
(In) The Nightmare

Video | Chris Watson and Sir David Attenborough in conversation

Calls of the Wild: Chris Watson and Sir David Attenborough in conversation from Forma Arts & Media on Vimeo.

From 29 May to 5 September 2010, co-producers Sound and Music and Forma presented Chris Watson's sound installation Whispering in the Leaves in the Palm House at Kew Gardens, part of Kew's Summer Festival.

Chris Watson is a renowned sound recordist and BAFTA winner for his work on the BBC documentary The Life of Birds. In this video he talks to long-time colleague Sir David Attenborough about their experiences sound recording in the wild. The talk was held on 10 August at the Royal Institution of Great Britain and was kindly chaired by Richard Ranft, Head of the British Sound Archive.

Please note this is an excerpt of a 1.5 hour talk.

www.whisperingintheleaves.com

www.davidattenborough.co.uk

www.chriswatson.net

Soundwalkers - Raquel Castro

Soundwalkers from raquel castro on Vimeo.

There are some fundamental principles regarding the construction of an acoustically healthy society, one where we can exist within the sounds of life. Respect towards voice and words, sonic awareness, the awakening of the sense of hearing. To preserve the sounds that tend to fade out, while remaining open to the sounds that spring out of each technological stride. To build an aural idiom that interprets its own symbolism. To accept the silence, enforcing it in the due moments. And, above all else, to listen.

Kjell Bjørgeengen & Keith Rowe: Porto VI 6.44-10.44 (Excerpt)

Watch an excerpt from a collaborative video by Kjell Bjørgeengen & Keith Rowe

Kjell Bjørgeengen & Keith Rowe: Porto VI 6.44-10.44 (Excerpt) from The Wire Magazine on Vimeo.

Porto VI 6.44-10.44 was made by Kjell Bjørgeengen and Keith Rowe during a residency at Porto's Esquilo Records in 2007. The video was produced from Bjørgeengen's audio oscillators and Rowe's audio outputs converted into a video signal.

Kjell Bjørgeengen and Keith Rowe will both be taking part in the Cut & Splice: Transmission festival in London, 4–6 November. Click here for more details.

The Wire Salon

Environmental Agents: The Art Of Field Recording

Lee Patterson recording in Dunadd, West Scotland, 2007

An evening devoted to listening to and talking about field recordings. The panel included Justin Bennett, Peter Cusak and Lee Patterson.

Listen to the October 2010 edition of The Wire's Salon