«Listening Is at the Heart of What I Do»

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«Listening Is at the Heart of What I Do»
«Listening Is at the Heart of What I Do»

In this interview, sound artist, composer, and anthropologist Hadi Bastani talks about his listening habits; his earlier research on noise music, glitch, and computer music; and the effect that online fieldwork has had on his collaborative works.

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On the History of Iranian Popular Music in Germany

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On the History of Iranian Popular Music in Germany
On the History of Iranian Popular Music in Germany

In comparison to Los Angeles, there was never an Iranian «community» of popular musicians in Germany. Nevertheless, Iranian popular musicians and scholars debating popular music left their traces. Why, our author asks here, were some of them more successful than others?

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Sound: Imperial Anthem of Iran, National Anthem of England

Collaborations Instead of Hierarchies

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Collaborations Instead of Hierarchies
Collaborations Instead of Hierarchies

In this essay, the conductor, researcher, and performer Yalda Zamani makes a case for more interdisciplinarity in the conductor’s practice. The search for new methods of collaboration and exchange could inspire new and progressive concepts of leadership in musical practice.

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Lass mich mit Hass nicht allein

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Lass mich mit Hass nicht allein
Lass mich mit Hass nicht allein

In dem Gedicht für sein gleichnamiges Lied beschreibt der iranische Schauspieler und Dichter Ali Kamrani seine Erfahrungen als Einwanderer in Deutschland.

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Sound: Mohammad Shams

Our Homeland

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Our Homeland
Our Homeland

In the German Democratic Republic, the song «Unsere Heimat» (Our Homeland) became an anthem that glorified the idea of a socialist homeland. After the fall of the Berlin wall, the song disappeared from public memory. At least this was what our author thought.

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«Yarmouk Is Missing You, Brother»

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«Yarmouk Is Missing You, Brother»
«Yarmouk Is Missing You, Brother»

This is the story of a Palestinian song. A song that originated in the beseiged Palestinian district Yarmouk in Damascus, Syria. After Aeham Ahmad, who played this song in the streets of Damascus, fled to Germany, the meaning of the song has changed.

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Design: Šejma Fere
Photo: Facebook

The Grain of Online Voices

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The Grain of Online Voices
The Grain of Online Voices

Every physical interaction leaves traces. In the fifth episode of «Sonic Vignettes», Salomé Voegelin reflects upon the grain of the voice as an irreducible trace of human contact and why it is it is endangered by AI cleaning language.

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Prelude in an Interrogative Mood

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Prelude in an Interrogative Mood
Prelude in an Interrogative Mood

Some people think they know what Italian music is, until you really start to ask. An introduction to the Norient special «Sonic Traces: From Italy».

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The Aesthetic of the Drum Machine and Mechanical Introspection in the Club

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The Aesthetic of the Drum Machine and Mechanical Introspection in the Club
The Aesthetic of the Drum Machine and Mechanical Introspection in the Club

This text is a literary remix of Enrico Prampolini’s «The Aesthetic of the Machine and Mechanical Introspection in Art» (1922), considered a key text to understand the so-called second wave of Futurism, also referred to as «futurismo degli anni venti».

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We, the Boys From Giarre: Growing Up as a Teenage Goth in 1980s Sicily

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We, the Boys From Giarre: Growing Up as a Teenage Goth in 1980s Sicily
We, the Boys From Giarre: Growing Up as a Teenage Goth in 1980s Sicily

In this short memoir, an excerpt from a longer version originally published (in Italian and English) on his website, London-based Sicilian visual artist and musician Seb Patane reflects on what it meant to be a young Italian fascinated with British subcultures.

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Photo: Google Street View
Sound: Seb Patane

Queer Bar Italia

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Queer Bar Italia
Queer Bar Italia

Through the intersections of new music styles, dedicated clubs, and unprecedented economic progress, the Italian LGBTQIA+ community found a mental and physical space that was free from the social and political pressure of post-WWII Italian society.

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Photo: Archive, courtesy of Luca Locati Luciani