Tag: Diamond Setter

Ziad Nawfal for Movement Radio’s “Exploring Mediterranean Futures” // 15 February 2022

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This mix was commissioned by Movement Athens for its radio festival “Exploring Mediterranean Futures” [Feb. 15-19, 2022], a 5-day radio festival focused on the sounds of the Mediterranean, searching for geographical and chronological connections through its culture, ideas and people.

Ziad Nawfal’s mix presents music recorded by various artists and bands from Beirut’s indie and experimental music scenes, between 2010 and 2021. A few of the tracks were officially released in some form or another, some of them are early drafts and demos, and a couple consist of live sessions recorded during Nawfal’s 35-year tenure at Beirut’s crumbling government station Radio Liban.

  1. Fadi Tabbal – After the Fire, Before the End [Unreleased]
  2. Charbel Haber & Sary Moussa – And Yet Another Romance on A Sinking Ship [V/A The Drone Sessions Vol. 1]
  3. Scrambled Eggs & A Trio – Beach Party at Mirna el Chalouhi (Diamond Setter’s Rework) [Unreleased]
  4. The Art of Boo – BoomKaboom [Unreleased]
  5. Safa – Dominant Gene [V/A Lost Archives]
  6. Jad Atoui – FDBCK [Unreleased]
  7. Tres Milliones Dolares – Jon Black [V/A Anthology of Electroacoustic Lebanese Music]
  8. Ziad Moukarzel – Questions of Worry [V/A Anthology of Electroacoustic Lebanese Music]
  9. Court Circuit (Osman Arabi & Heathen) – Ruptured Session February 2010 [Unreleased]
  10. Jawad Nawfal – Nawa Athar 0 (feat. Aya Metwalli) [V/A Istimrar Phase 1]
  11. Abed Kobeissy & Sary Moussa – A Simple Song About Weather & Murder [V/A Istimrar Phase 1]
  12. Aya Metwalli – Red Curtains Forever [Unreleased]
  13. Sharif Sehnaoui & Mazen Kerbaj – Ruptured Session April 2012 [Unreleased]
  14. Jana Saleh – Soupire [V/A Istimrar Phase 1]
  15. Julia Sabra – Three Days [V/A Istimrar Phase 1]
  16. Fadi Tabbal & Julia Sabra – Roots [V/A The Drone Sessions Vol. 1]
  17. Marc Codsi – Untitled #3 [Unreleased]
  18. Youmna Saba – Nafas [V/A Ruptured Sessions Vol. 6: For Beirut]
  19. Anthony Sahyoun – Two Foxes Trotting on A Lane in Qartaba [Unreleased]
  20. Radwan Ghazi Moumneh – Ya Dam’at Al ‘Ain [V/A Ruptured Sessions Vol. 4]

[This mix was commissioned and produced by Onassis Cultural Center, and presented for the first time in the frame of MOVEMENT RADIO]

Ziad Nawfal Guest Mix for Recordat // 07 February 2021

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Another “archival” mix, this one was commissioned for Recordat for their Re:levant series of podcasts; it showcases music recorded by Lebanese artists hailing from different genres and music denominations, between 2003 and 2012.

Some of the tracks are basic demos (Kitano Home Ensemble, Liliane Chlela), others are live versions (Court-Circuit, Kerbaj/Sehnaoui) or studio sessions, a couple were officially released, while overall nothing is properly mastered. They provide a window into a more frivolous, less rigid time, where experimentation and trial-and-error were often the norm.

1. Kitano Home Ensemble – Sunday Afternoon (Unreleased)
2. Liliane Chlela – I Scream (Unreleased)
3. Tarek Atoui / Uriel Barthelemi / Paed Conca – Session 01 (Unreleased)
4. Mazen Kerbaj + Sharif Sehnaoui – Ruptured Session April 2012 (Unreleased)
5. Court Circuit [Osman Arabi + Heathen] – Ruptured Session February 2010 (Unreleased)
6. Ae_Quo [Jawad Nawfal + Victor Bresse] – Maquette 01 (Unreleased)
7. AEX [Jawad Nawfal + Victor Bresse] – Electrolog (Unreleased)
8. Jad Atoui – Code Breaker (Unreleased)
9. OkyDoky & Radiokvm – Ein Souda (Unreleased)
10. Scrambled Eggs & A Trio – Beach Party at Mirna El Chalouhi [Diamond Setter’s Rework] (Unreleased)
11. Youmna Saba – Nasmet Hawa (Unreleased)
12. FEZANT – Message
13. Intensive Care – ficti(on)
14. Spoils & Servants – Saturn Fever (Unreleased)

Ziad Nawfal DJ Mix for Radio Raheem // 24 July 2020

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Ziad Nawfal’s live 60-minute mix recorded at/for The Ballroom Blitz‘s weekly takeover at Milano’s Radio Raheem. With artists from Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia and Sudan:

  1. Muqata’a
  2. Jad Atoui
  3. Stephanie Merchak
  4. Bachar Mar-Khalife [Sama’ Remix]
  5. Deena Abdelwahed [Dawan Remix]
  6. Sufyvn
  7. Zeid Hamdan
  8. Hadi Zeidan
  9. Ceasar K + Gme
  10. Rise 1969
  11. Diamond Setter
  12. Stephanie Merchak
  13. The Bunny Tylers [Jad Taleb Remix]
  14. Soapkills
  15. Index/Left [Ziad Moukarzel & Jawad Nawfal]
  16. Mutamassik
  17. Katibe Khamseh
  18. Rise 1969
  19. Munma
  20. Ceasar K + Gme

Watch video here

Listen below

DIAMOND SETTER // Ruptured Session // 25 Oct 2010

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Kevork Keshishian stage-name Diamond Setter is a reference to his previous occupation, when he used to spend strenuous hours in his workshop setting diamonds every day. He decided to relinquish this activity in 2008, and devote all his time to DJing and music production. Following stints in various Beirut bars, Diamond Setter became a resident DJ at The Basement; there, he played alongside several international DJs and musicians, including Tigerskin, Scratch Massive, P-Toile and many others. In parallel to his DJing activities, Diamond Setter holds an impressive track record in the field of production. His partnership with Lebanese DJ/producer Jade yielded a remix for Lebanese electro-rock band Lumi in 2007. The Jade & Diamond Setter duo went on to build a solid reputation as dance music producers, and their tracks received positive feedback on Lebanon’s dance floors. In 2009, Diamond Setter remixed Nina Simone’s “Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair” and Tunisian electro-jazz musician Dhafer Youssef’s “Man Of Wool”. More recent remix work includes Abe Duque’s “What Happened” and Gossip’s “Heavy Cross”, the latter in collaboration with German producer Lopazz. Diamond Setter’s live set is the longest to be recorded for “Ruptures” yet. Clocking in at 34 minutes, it provides an exemplary outlook on this young DJ/producer’s range of styles and influences, from soul to funk, rock to electronica, to film soundtracks and way beyond.

Listen:
Diamond Setter 1 + Diamond Setter 2

Track listing: 
Herbert
Ziad Moukarzel & Jawad Nawfal [Index/Left]
Diamond Setter LIVE
Yeasayer
John Coltrane

[Photo by Tanya Traboulsi]

Ruptured Live // Ghosts In The Machine // Art Lounge

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Save the date! On Saturday, September 25, will be held the first edition of ‘Ghosts In The Machine’, an event incorporating live musical performances, DJ sets, and visuals (VJ’s and others). To kick off this celebration-of-sorts in style, we will present the premiere projection of live electronic band Munma‘s first-ever video, ‘The Alchemist’, conceived and directed by Damoun Ghaoui.

‘Ghosts In The Machine, edition one’ will also feature the first live performance in Lebanon (and anywhere else, for that matter) of one Jad Atoui, the younger brother of famed Lebanese electro-acoustic musician Tarek Atoui.

Review // Scrambled Eggs // Johnny Kafta’s Kids Menu

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[April 2010]

A few hours ago, I caught myself trying to remember the first time I watched Scrambled Eggs perform live, here in Beirut or elsewhere. I couldn’t. Either my memory has started to fail me, or I’ve seen Charbel & co perform so often, and under so many guises, that the performances have merged into one gigantic, noisy blur in my head. Which makes these CD releases that much more vital, and evidently indispensable.

Both of these albums were released in April 2010, during the 10th edition of Irtijal Festival. They are the product of a new label, equipped with a fabulously sleazy logo (see below), entitled ‘Johnny Kafta’s Kids Menu‘. The records mark an intense bout of activity for Scrambled Eggs (a trio of Charbel Haber -guitar-, Tony Elieh -bass-, and Malek Rizkallah -drums-), beginning towards the end of 2008, and extending early into 2009. The tracks were completed in Fadi Tabbal’s Tunefork Studios.

The first of the CD’s consists of sessions recorded with the ‘A’ Trio (Mazen Kerbaj -trumpet-, Sharif Sehnaoui -guitar-, and Raed Yassin -double bass-), comprising two long tracks, epic, dissonant, and sinuous, and a third, shorter, “rockier” ditty, a tribute of sorts to early Japanese animé “Grendizer”. Interesting to hear Yassin, Kerbaj and Elieh scream Arabic insults over noisy, distorted accompaniment. And highly recommended. Also recommended is local Lebanese producer Diamond Setter‘s remix of the title track, “Beach Party at Mirna el Chalouhi”. You can listen to that one here:

http://soundcloud.com/diamond-setter/scrambled-eggs-a-trio-beach-party-at-mirna-el-chalouhi-diamond-setters-whatever-you-want-rework

The 2nd album, “Scrambled Eggs & Friends”, was recorded with various musicians hailing from Beirut’s (and Paris’) experimental scenes, namely Joe Ghosn (laptop & electronics), Abdallah Ko (guitar & electronics), Stéphane Rives (saxophone), Fadi Tabbal (guitar), as well as the aforementioned Kerbaj and Sehnaoui. Here, Scrambled Eggs indulge in newfound musical directions and tangents, far from the regular rock format, and marrying with grand ease experimentation, improvisation, and noise. I love the stuff. And the visuals too (these are by Mazen Kerbaj). Ya 3akarit.