In Memory: Warda al Jazairia — وردة الجزائرية (July 1939 - May 17, 2012)

DOSSIER: Culture

Her voice was one that resonated with many of our younger years, whether we were old enough to see her performances on television or buy her records, or simply have her voice played by our parents in the car on in the living room. It is hard not to mention her name and not hum a little melody of hers or even sing a few words. 

She dedicated her life to music, leaving her home country of Algeria for the cultural capital of Cairo, becoming a known star amongst others established in the pan-Arab industry of the time. Many of us still associate her with those days of the majestic classic(al) pop song, her voice having both the commanding delivery of the old school and something of that radio sweetness of youth music.

Throughout her various phases, whether she sang of overwhelming romance or national identity in the older days of the 1970s or of a more grown up independence in love in her comeback years, there has always been a great deal of respect and loyalty to her as a singer amongst her many listeners.

Rest in peace, Warda. This short post means little when compared to the decades of memories that came about around the sounds of your voice. 

آيـــةٌ Aya — Omrak Maraakeb عمرك مراكب

DOSSIER: New Media

Music Wednesdays — I don’t post a lot of acoustic guitar stuff on here, but there are many, many people across the Arab region (and everywhere else) playing guitar to accompany their beautiful voices.Its easy to share that simple beauty of a string instrument and a song with friends, in concert, and alone in your room with a head full of thoughts and a notebook full of fresh lyrics.

Luckily Aya from Cairo records and shares her songs, and her appropriately sparse guitar supports her graceful, lyrical voice, full of small haunting melismas in a way that makes it seem like she’s singing alone, somewhere, to her self. 

تحت العشرين - فرقة الاصدقاء

DOSSIER: New Media

Music Wednesdays — There was that special sound in the Arab region about thirty years ago—where disco, post-nationalist boredom, serious synthesiser love, large collars and pant legs, raciness in song lyrics and in substandard [trashy] film narratives all came together. It probably sounded a bit like this song on youthfulness:

Firqat al Asdiqaa’ (The Band of Friends) were one of the fixtures of that sound. I know there’s some of their tapes lying around somewhere… What’s lovely about this particular upload is that you can download at your pleasure—great if you’d like to load this particular track up in your production suite and have a go at sampling or editing.

Bonus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR4l0OujGlI

Tamer Abu Ghazaleh - Mahragan el Balla3at - مهرجان البلاعات

DOSSIER: New Media

Music Wednesdays — I have a very obvious soft spot for sha’abi stuff. The dynamic well of energy and communicability is fascinating to me, and so important if one wants to make music that communicates. Here Tamer Abu Ghazaleh does exactly what I like, which is to use more avant garde, contemporary production with a sha’abi approach/influence (a pretty discernable Egyptian one to be specific) with a relevant presence that definitely has an edge. 

Let us know what you think.

“Beta Wall: A Sketch” by Hassan Hujairi

DOSSIER: New Media

Music Wednesdays — Hassan Hujairi is a sound and installation artist and independent researcher whose work has a stark, exploratory quality. Here a distorted oud and odd, effected electronic sounds interact in the austere environment of Hujairi’s making.

The description for the piece on the SoundCloud page is “Still in search of a new sonic constellation,” which is apt given the sense of loss one can project into the piece. 

Talal Obeid - “Friday”

DOSSIER: New Media

Music Wednesdays — More scouring, and more interesting bits of music every week. This one caught my ear with its interesting design, particularly that catchy organ lick that holds it all together. Its short, but that’s what I like about what people post online—sometimes these little sketches have great ideas that can be further developed and shared by listeners and producers.

For those who didn’t get the update—our Spring 2012 podcast is up on SoundCloud. Available for streaming and download, it nicely accompanies our Spring 2012 issue, which you can get (in print!) here. 

ISMA3OO no.5 — SPRING 2012 podcast now live!

Available for you to stream and download!

Ibrahim Maalouf — “Verdict”

DOSSIER: New Media

Music Wednesdays — I’m always on the lookout for something fresh. Luckily, the internet is full of people sharing—rather, a lot of talented people use the internet who share—their own music or act as archivists. Through the patient uploading of people on sites like SoundCloud, I’ve been exposed to a lot of fantastic or thought-provoking music, whether its recordings of virtuosic sheikhs singing breathtaking layalis from the 1920s to groundbreaking avant garde electronic samplers and sound-mashers today.

While going through my usual weekly rounds, I encountered the trumpet player Ibrahim Maalouf, currently based in Paris, whose production and playing style caught my ear.

This track, off his album “Diasporas” is full of interestingly designed sounds and production, dynamic rhythmic shifts that grows in scope and size, and soaring, emotive use of the trumpet in a way that evokes a sharqi aesthetic, but not in that clichéd way (thankfully).

Telepoetic — “Ensehab (إنسحاب)”

DOSSIER: New Media

Music Wednesdays — Telepoetic is a name that’s floated around if you’ve managed to dig into the Egyptian underground scene. Featuring compelling live drums and all sorts of moody sometimes aggressive, synthesizer and bass sounds, this Alexandrian trio is somehow both driving and introspective.

Good stuff!  You can catch these guys at the massive Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival in Cairo this Saturday at Radio on 24 Talaat Harb St., along with many, many other fantastic talents spanning many mediums. 

Music Wednesdays—More for your ears!

DOSSIER: New Media

Music Wednesdays — On Wednesdays we scour our channels, mostly through the wide world of SoundCloud, for new and interesting stuff to share with all you wonderful people.

One project we were able to find was It Will Be Wonderful, which brought musicians from Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine, Italy, and the US together in Tunis in July 2011 to record, perform, and professionally produce the tracks that they wrote. Two songs came of this, “Mamnou’/Forbidden/ممنوع” and “Al Thawra Mustamirrah/The Ongoing Revolution/الثورة مستمرة”. Check it:

I love the rhythm changes and interesting, jazzy arrangements. Fresh.

Here’s the cool part: they’ve actually uploaded all the stems for these two tracks and kept them in creative commons. That’s right, all the parts, trumpet, drums, bass, vocals—they’re all available for download and for your use. Remixers where you at?!

This is a great idea and allows the ideas that went into the production to reach way beyond the scope of just making the songs, but allows others to engage with the material in new and interesting ways, allowing for the collaborative spirit to reinterpret these tracks in multiple ways far outside the scope of the visa, travel, budget, and scheduling limitations of the musicians themselves.

Another interesting clip we were able to find was this emotive, cynical, darkly humourous bit of sound design from Gaza by imthaer:

Repeatedly, futilely, Thaer picks up the phone and tries to talk but finds no one on the line. “Hello?” he asks, “Can anyone hear me? There is something I want to tell you.”

Lots of potential for this type of sound production for complex, emotive, narrative that won’t come off as cliché and allows for things like underhanded sarcasm, wit, and dark humour.

Until next week, give us your feedback and your sounds.