Sonic Traces: From the Arab World

An Audio-Visual Performance about Music, Sound and Noise from the Arab World.

In this performance scientists, sound and video artists collaborate to present an audio-visual lecture on experimental and urban music from the Arab World (main focus: Mashriq). We hear propaganda music by various political groups and clans, psychedelic Arabic rock from the 1960s and 1970s, the noise of bombs and machine guns, synthesized «New Wave» Dabké, old and rare shellac recordings, Death Metal, Rap, Electro-Acoustic Music, Musique Concrète, and much more.

Next Performances

Swiss Tour for 2011 planed.

Trailer

Podcasts

War, Propaganda, and Bombs

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Urban Mashup

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More in the Dossier Arab World.

Detailed Info:

Speech and Sounds: Thomas Burkhalter (Switzerland)
Editing and Mixing: Simon Grab (Switzerland),
Image: Michael Spahr (Switzerland)

The Norient «SONIC TRACES» project translates the research on localized and globalized music into audio-visual performances. Focusing mainly on urban and experimental music in Africa, Asia and Latin-America these performances are created in collaboration with local sound artists, musicians, media activists, photographers, scholars and other people working in the field of music, sound and noise.

VOL 2: «SONIC TRACES FROM THE ARAB WORLD»

In this performance scientists, sound and video artists collaborate to present an audio-visual lecture on experimental and urban music from the Arab World (main focus: Mashriq). It shows how the sonic environment influences contemporary sound artists and musicians in their sound aesthetic. We hear propaganda music by various political groups and clans, psychedelic Arabic rock from the 1960s and 1970s, the noise of bombs and machine guns, synthesized «New Wave» Dabké, old and rare shellac recordings from the beginnings of the 20th Century, Death Metal, Rap, Electro-Acoustic Music, Musique Concrète, and much more. The performance and lecture shows the disturbing, challenging and surprising ways in which «locality», «place» and «authenticity» are created in today’s increasingly transnational and digitalized world.

Sonic Traces from the Arab World is produced and presented live by Thomas Burkhalter, Simon Grab and Michael Spahr. Thomas Burkhalter is an ethnomusicologist and cultural journalist who is currently finishing his PHD project «Challening Difference – Contemporary Sounds from Beirut». The video artist Michael Spahr aka VJ Rhaps has been working with several Arab artists (Mahmoud Turkmani, Kamilya Jubran) in the last years. Simon Grab is a producer and sound artist living in Zurich.

The project has been commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture (project sitemapping).

Performances

> Festival Les Urbaines, Lausanne 4.12.2008
> Künstlerhaus s11, Solothurner Kulturnacht, Solothurn 2.5.2009
> Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, 24.5.2009
> Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, 29.5.2009
> kulturcok, Düsseldorf, 6.11.2009
> Reitschule Bern – Grosse Halle – mit Praed, 9.9.2010
> City University, London (with Mazen Kerbaj and Sharif Sehnaoui), 18.11.2010
> Rietberg Museum, Zurich, «Tanger Trance»-Festival, 26.11.10

VOL 1: «SOUNDSCAPES FROM THE EDGES: NEW SOUNDS FROM THE WORLD

Musicians, sound artists and composers from Beijing, Mumbai, Beirut to Sao Paulo, from Istanbul, Belgrade, Lagos to Johannesburg create music and soundscapes that reflect the effects of localisation and globalisation processes on various levels. We hear new representations beyond exotic East-West-Formulas, we hear the noise of World Politics, Propaganda and War in challenging settings. A Multimedia Performance with artists who work towards new definitions of what is local and global music – main focus: The Middle East.

PERFORMANCES

> Bowling Club, Capetown (SA) 27.1.2007

> Club Transmediale, Berlin (D) 31.1.2007

> Bad Bonn Kilbi, Düdingen (CH) 7.6.2007

> Festival Muzyka i Swiat, Krakow (PL) 17.8.2008

THOMAS BURKHALTER (CH)

Thomas Burkhalter (*1973), an ethnomusicologist and cultural journalist from Bern (Switzerland), works in the field of cultural globalization. He finished his PhD «Challening the Concept of Cultural Difference – «Locality» and «Place» in the Music of Contemporary Beirut» in 2009 at the University of Bern. He wrote reportages on the music and cultural scenes in Beirut, Istanbul, Cairo, Duschanbe, Belgrade, Bamako, Cape Town, and Mumbai for Swiss and international media such as Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Swiss Radio DRS2, German radio SWR2, Die Zeit, TAZ Berlin, and many others. He presented academic papers at various international conferences, and created the sound lecture «Soundscapes from the Edges» that he presented in South Africa, Germany (Festival Transmediale), Poland, and Switzerland. He produced the documentary film «Buy More Incense» (2002) about Indian and Pakistani musicians of second and third generation in the UK together with the Swiss filmmaker and VJ Michael Spahr. Furthermore he worked as a project manager and consultant for institutions and organizations such as British Council Switzerland, Swiss Music Export and Dampzfentrale Bern. He is a member of the board of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia since 2001. In 2002 he created norient, the independent network for local and global soundscapes.

MICHAEL SPAHR (CH)

Michael Spahr was born in Switzerland in 1973. He studied history, philosophy and media science in Bern (CH) and Amsterdam (NL). After getting his MA degree in 1998 he started working professionally with video. He worked as a video journalist, assistant director, producer, editor and camera man for several Dutch and Swiss TV stations from 1998 until 2002. Since 2003 he is an independent film maker and video artist/VJ. Michael Spahr produced and directed three documentary films (“Buy More Incense”, “Bümpliz – A Day In Urban Switzerland” and “Grüsse von Laika”), several short films and video clips. He mainly works as a video artist, specialized in live performances as a VJ. He worked with several DJs and musicians (Kamilya Jubran, Manufactur, Mouthwatering, Töbi Tobler, 2nd Gen, Acid Mothers Temple, Kid606, Leeroy Thornhill, Bobby Friction & Nihal and many more) as well as writers and theatre directors (Marielle Pinsard, Ursina Greuel, Ruedi Häusermann). At the moment he works on his solo projects and collaborates with the Lebanese Swiss musician and composer Mahmoud Turkmani on the audio-visual performance “Ya Sharr Mout” (Oh, Evil, Die!/Son Of a Bitch).

www.rhaps.com

SIMON GRAB (CH)

Simon Grab [*1971] hat sich als Musiker und Produzent schon in den unterschiedlichsten Kontexten bemerkbar gemacht. Mit der Ska-Punk Band ‘Aligaga’ sammelte er als junger Gitarrist erste Band- und Tournee-Erfahrungen. Unter dem Namen ‘Die Bunte Welt der Zimmerpflanzen’ (Grab/Reuschenbach) produzierte er experimentelle Soundcollagen, Hörspiele und Drum’n’Bass Tracks. Zusammen mit dem Peruaner Gustavo Nanez und hochkarätigen brasilianischen Perkussionisten spielte er live Reggaeton an den electronics. Seit 2001 arbeitet Simon Grab regelmässig in Westafrika (Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso) als Produzent und Theatermusiker. Mit der Gründung des Tonstudios ‘ganzerplatz’ (Gründung Grab/Orza/Reuschenbach) sicherte er sich seine finanzielle Existenz. Seit 11 Jahren entstehen dort Musik und Sounddesign für Film, Theater und Werbung. Neben seinen eigenen musikalischen Arbeiten organisiert Simon Grab Projekte im Bereich experimentelle elektronische Musik (rough and ready electronics, Homemade Sound Electronics, From Analog to Digital / A2D), ist Kurs- und Projektleiter bei Klipp & Klang Radioschule, unterrichtet Filmmusik an der SAE Zurich, und veranstaltet mit Anderen zusammen die Reihe ‘Motherland – Musik aus dem urbanen Afrika’ im Klub Helsinki Zürich.

www.ganzerplatz.ch, www.r-a-r-e.net, http://motherland.ch

For bookings plays send an email to:

contact@norient.com