Being on the Right Side of History

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Being on the Right Side of History
Being on the Right Side of History

For Iranian metal musician Nikan Khosravi, music is a way to articulate protest. Having lived under state repression, metal, as he explains in this personal essay, helped him to stay candid with himself and to express his dark feelings.

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Sound: Casanora

Bass Drums, Cowbells, Tambourines

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Bass Drums, Cowbells, Tambourines
Bass Drums, Cowbells, Tambourines

Woher kommt die Motivation, ein Festival für Musik aus Iran und der iranischen Diaspora zu organisieren? In diesem Text erinnert sich Klangteppich-Festivalmacherin Franziska Buhre an eine prägende Reise nach New Orleans im Jahre 2016.

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Quote: Charles Taylor
Sound: Casanora

Norient Playlist 6/23: Mexico City

Norient Playlist 6/23: Mexico City.
Norient Playlist 6/23: Mexico City
Norient Playlist 6/23: Mexico City

The tracks in the June playlist are a current source of inspiration for the Mexico City-based musician El irreal Veintiuno. It consists of a bunch of tracks somewhere located between experimental electronic music, tribal and dembow.

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Sound: Siete Catorce

Contentious Entertainment on TikTok

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Contentious Entertainment on TikTok
Contentious Entertainment on TikTok

An expanding group of Malian TikTokers amuses its audiences with funny virals, influenced by the country’s war-torn context. Here, our author asks: what can these audiovisual snapshots tell about the precarity between conflict and entertainment?

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Design: Boubacar Sissoko
Sound: Crystal Abidin, Lex Papy
Remix: Luca Bruls

Dimensions of Sonic Pluralism

Snap Artwork by Frederico Floeter
Dimensions of Sonic Pluralism

In this introduction to his book «Sawt, Bodies, Species», Gilles Aubry situates his research project on the sonic dimensions of our environment, tracing alternate genealogies of sound, listening, and technology in North Africa.

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And Who Sees the Mystery

Snap Artwork by Frederico Floeter
And Who Sees the Mystery
And Who Sees the Mystery

A film without images documenting the authors’ research in Tafraout, Morocco, a village where Paul Bowles recorded an ahwash music performance in 1959. In exchange with local musicians, the two artists engage in listening sessions and sonic experiments.

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Norient Playlist 5/23: Bandung

Artwork by Omar El Sadek
Norient Playlist 5/23: Bandung
Norient Playlist 5/23: Bandung

This playlist by Magis aka Magista Aristyo consists of tracks from artists and musicians from and near the city of Bandung, Indonesia. The selected music is based on his memories from the city.

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Sound: Prejudize & Digital Drama

5 Videos from Egypt: Suspended Realities of the Now

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5 Videos from Egypt: Suspended Realities of the Now
5 Videos from Egypt: Suspended Realities of the Now

Dreamlike states, magical realism, and suspended reality. Enjoy a new mind-bending list of music videos from rural and urban Egypt ranging from light-hearted pop to grim electronic dance music.

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Design: Maria Uthe

Norient Playlist 4/23: Nairobi

Norient Playlist 4/23: Nairobi.
Norient Playlist 4/23: Nairobi
Norient Playlist 4/23: Nairobi

Listen to this playlist of various artists from Nairobi, Kenya, and their current releases. Curated by EA Wave (East African Wave) from Nairobi. EA Wave is a producer-driven music label/collective pushing the boundaries of East African art.

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Hearing in the Borderland

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Hearing in the Borderland
Hearing in the Borderland

Hearing or listening is not a mere execution of the ear’s physiology. It is culturally relative. Yet, whenever hearing happens, the borderland between the audible and inaudible has already been crossed. Read an essay exploring the multiple potentials of acoustic perception.

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Design: Maria Uthe

The Invention of the Mechanical Clock

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The Invention of the Mechanical Clock
The Invention of the Mechanical Clock

How one measures time influences how one thinks. In his unedited essay draft, commissioned by the MaerzMusik Festival 2023, the composer Jakob Ullmann reflects on how the mechanical clock in Western Europe has influenced the composition and making of music.

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Design: Maria Uthe