Soundscapes from the Edges

Podcast
by Thomas Burkhalter

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. This podcasts offers a short glimpse into the multimedia performance «Soundscapes from the Edges» with artists who work towards new definitions of what is local and global music – main focus: The Middle East.

Voice: Eric Facon (Swiss National Radio DRS)

Sounds Played

Iranian Orchestra for New Music «Chahargah» Hermes Records (Iran)

Das Neue Original Appenzeller Streichmusik Projekt «Glocken» Musikszene Schweiz (Switzerland)

Luc Ferrari «A Cypress at sunset. Tuscany» Subrosa (France)

Zimoun «Kabel» Leerraum (Switzerland)

Mani Matter «Ir Ysebahn» Zytglogge (Switzerland)

Kamilya Jubran + Werner Hasler «Nafad Al-Ahwal 2»  Unit Records (Palestine/Switzerland)

Mahmoud Refat «Mass» Leerraum (Egypt)

Asmahan «Unknown» (Egypt)

Elias Rahbani «Barilla Macaroni» (Lebanon)

Mazen Kerbaj «Starry Night» (Lebanon)

Raed Yassin «Feat. Hind Rostom» (Lebanon)

Mazen Kerbaj «TAGADAGADAGDAGA» Al Maslakh (Lebanon)

Shanghai Sound Unit «Leili Fengxing» Post-Concrete (China)

B6 «Pussy in the Taxy» Shanshui Records (China)

Sandeep Bhagwati, Ensemble Modern «Sangit Sambhav» (Germany/India)

Mzekezeke «Imbongo (Pedos)» EMI (South Africa)

Mzekezeke «Izinyoka» EMI (South Africa)

Biography

Thomas Burkhalter, PhD, is an anthropologist, multidisciplinary artist, and writer from Bern, Switzerland. He is the founder and director of Norient and the Norient Festival (winner Special Prize for Music 2025 – Swiss Music Prizes). Currently, Burkhalter's focus lies on his new music/AV duo, Melodies In My Head, and the podcast Long Take: Life as an Artist. He is a co-editor of the 2025 released book Home is Where the Heart Strives (Norient Books). Burkhalter has co-directed documentary films, including Contradict (Berner Filmpreis 2020, Al-Jazeera Witness), and created AV/theatre performances. He is the author and co-editor of several books, such as Local Music Scenes and Globalization: Transnational Platforms in Beirut (Routledge) and The Arab Avant Garde: Musical Innovation in the Middle East (Wesleyan University Press). His experimental radio feature, Gqom Edits – A Durban Visit, was nominated for the Prix Europa in 2017. Burkhalter teaches regularly at universities, leads workshops for arts institutions, and, since 2022, has produced the Norient Mixtape for Swiss National Radio SRF3. He currently serves on the board of the ERC/UKRI-funded project Beyond 1932 (King’s College London), Echographies: Journal of Sound Ethnography (Chicago/Zürich), and C:Pop – Transdisciplinary Research Center for Popular Music Cultures and Creative Economies (University of Paderborn). Burkhalter’s work combines personal and global perspectives, often in close collaboration with artists and thinkers from across the world. Follow him on Instagram, Research Gate, Academia.edu, Bandcamp, Spotify, or Meta.

Published on August 25, 2008

Last updated on August 14, 2020

Topics

Experiment
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