Jawad Nawfal – Page 6 – Ruptured Music

Review // Munma & Trash Inc. // Live at B018

September 20, 2008September 12, 2023Press Archive3 Comments

[By Ziad Nawfal, September 2008]

Neither Jawad Nawfal (aka Munma) nor Nabil Saliba (aka Trash Inc.) is new to live venues or performing in front of a crowded audience. Jawad has taken his AEX and Munma formations to various venues in Lebanon (the Basement, Club Social, the Byblos Festival…), as well as abroad, while Nabil Saliba’s previous drumming duties with Franco-Lebanese rock band New Government also induced its fair share of live performing… but neither one of them was quite ready for this.

The atmosphere at B018 that night was quite different from anything the boys had witnessed before, or anything this famed dance venue had come to present its audience. As it slowly filled up, there was a general feeling of anticipation, of eager expectation, good humored and friendly, regarding this live electronic/dance concert, these two bands’ first in B018 . And those patient enough to wait for them to take the stage at 3am, were not disappointed.

Dj Caroline started warming the crowd at 2am, and had a hard time getting a grip on the venue’s rugged equipment, seeing that the available CD players had presumably been taken to hell and back by previous hard-hitting hordes of DJ’s, both local and foreign. She played a decent set, consisting mostly of breaks and electro-house, until Munma and Trash Inc. were urged to take the stage by an impatient crowd. From the beginning, they established the tone of the proceedings: an insistent, pumping electronic beat filtered through the speakers, giving them free rein to layer swathes of intricate loops and sounds. Nabil on synths and laptop-operated machinery, Jawad on yet another set up of computers and machines meshed and mingled a vast array of sounds, ranging from house-ish beats, minimal glitches and clicks, to synthesized riffs straight out of 80’s and 90’s early dance productions. They even threw in some vocals in the mix, to the general delighted disbelief of their fans and friends, now filling B018 to the brim.

Listen to the concert by clicking on the following link: munma-trash-inc-live-b018

As their set proceeded, the boys scaled some unexpected heights, even for those of us who had become habituated to their oblique musical directions. They created a dense, compact core of beat-based reverberation, allowing them to geneerate a vast array of intricate sounds, which were then looped back and forth, then layered again to create a bright, shining sound-mass hovering between breaks, electro, and hard hitting tech-house.

Review // Joanna Andraos // Khimaira

January 15, 2008September 12, 2023Press ArchiveLeave a Comment

[By Ziad Nawfal, December 2007]

This album marks the first foray into musical territory by talented Lebanese photographer Joanna Andraos. The young artist has spent several years studying classical piano, and has taken this knowledge to some strange, unexpected places on this sophomore album, released on Beirut’s Incognito Records. The record dexterously assembles classical strands and influences with modern, computer-generated sound constructions. The end result is reminiscent of Brian Eno’s Ambient Music series, tempered with a Middle Eastern edge and spiked with wandering electronics. The latter come courtesy of Jawad Nawfal aka Munma, who appears on several tracks, and whose unmistakable clicks and glitches make for some highly dramatic intrusions.

LISTEN:

Audio 1: Chorouq

Audio 2: Abyss (Aequo Remix)

Review // Munma // Black Tuesday

January 8, 2008September 12, 2023Press ArchiveLeave a Comment

[By Ziad Nawfal, December 2007]

Following an intense year performing live in Lebanon and abroad, Munma return to the studio in 2007 to deliver the 2nd volume of what is rumored to be a trilogy, hovering around the Lebanese-Israeli war of July 2006. The band’s familiar layers of synthesized sounds are augmented with a formidable array of processed bleeps and glitches, excerpts from radio speeches and political discourses, as well as expertly diverted samples of traditional Arabic instruments. The only live electronics band of its kind in Lebanon has managed to deliver yet another haunting masterpiece, a record that seems to defy any possible categorization and labeling, posed somewhere between ambient soundscapes, moody electronica, and weary world music.

LISTEN:

Audio 1: Pluie D’ete

Audio 2: IRM

JAWAD NAWFAL // Bande à Part Session // 19 Nov 2007

November 26, 2007October 13, 2020Music ShowsLeave a Comment

Don’t Border me est né officiellement le 9 juin 2007, à Montréal, grace aux efforts des journalistes Christelle Franca et Serge Abiaad. Le projet s’intéresse aux musiques et la création faite où les frontières géopolitiques sont trop rigides; là où la circulation des individus, des idées et d’une information honnête est aussi complexe qu’essentielle. Pour ses premiers pas, Don’t Border me a souhaité donner la parole à la musique libanaise actuelle.

Cinéaste du son et maître des machines, Jawad Nawfal a fondé Altered Ear, un laboratoire de recherche et de composition sonore assistés par ordinateur aux ramifications multiples : Ae_quo (expérimental), AEX (electro live), et Munma (oriental soundscape). Au croisement des disciplines multimédia, il collabore aussi régulièrement avec des réalisateurs et des artistes visuels, avec le Liban en bruit de fond.

Dans le cadre du projet Bande à Part/Don’t Border me, Jawad a soumis un soundscape (ou paysage sonore, un format qu’il affectionne particulièrement), deux photographies, et a présenté sur Ruptures 96.2FM une émission ayant pour sujet la scène électronique libanaise.

Ecouter:
soundscape-jawad
bande-a-part-jawad-nawfal-19-nov07-part-1
bande-a-part-jawad-nawfal-19-nov07-part-2

La ville en chantier

Beyrouth est une ville étrange.
Les chantiers y sont incessants.
Je découvre sans arrêt de nouveaux bâtiments
surgis du néant là où, quelques jours auparavant,
il n’y avait qu’un vieux dépôt désaffecté,
un terrain de foot, une bâtisse croulante.
Les rues muent et se transforment au fil des
semaines, sans que personne ne semblent
vraiment s’en étonner.
En Juillet 2006, le pays a été l’objet
d’une vaste offensive militaire Israélienne.
Des quartiers entiers et de nombreux boulevards
de la capitale ont été détruits.
Ceci a évidemment eu pour conséquence la
recrudescence des chantiers en ville.
Aujourd’hui, Beyrouth est grise de poussière,
elle respire le béton et le métal rouillé.
Et même si le pays vit un cauchemars politique et
économique récemment, le chantier urbain est
intransigeant. Le métal et le béton règnent,
incontesté, déterminés, et rien ne semble pouvoir
les ralentir dans leur lourde progression.
Je les entends souffler, gronder et grincer.
Les sons que j’ai traités et mis en scène,
ces masses sonores fluctuantes, sont à l’origine
des bruits capturés sur des chantiers et ailleurs,
pas loin de là où j’habite. Je les ai pesés,
décousus, et taillés. Je les ai modulés
et transformés, tel un nouvel alliage secret.
Je leur ai donné une nouvelle voix.
Ainsi, vous aussi, vous pourrez peut-être y entendre
les lamentations fourbes de la ville en fusion.

Jawad Nawfal

Review // Scrambled Eggs // Happy Together Filthy Forever

January 16, 2007September 12, 2023Press ArchiveLeave a Comment

[[By Ziad Nawfal, December 2006]

In July 2006, as another edition of the Lebanese-Israeli war raged around them, Lebanese rockers Scrambled Eggs went into the studio to mark down on record their most abrasive and violent set yet. Gone are the moody and introspective ramblings of their 3 previous albums, as the Eggs aim straight for the jugular in this short set (5 tracks) of angry and scorching punk nuggets, which bring to mind both the recent experimentations of Sonic Youth and the rash energy of early Pil and Cure.

The album also includes a remix of the track ‘Bleeding Nun’ by Lebanese electronica artist Munma.

LISTEN:

Audio 1: Bleeding Nun

Audio 2: Johnny Anti-Christ

Review // Munma // 34 Days

January 9, 2007September 12, 2023Press ArchiveLeave a Comment

[December 2006]

Although this is his first CD release on the Lebanese market, Jawad Nawfal has been active on the local dance scene for a solid number of years, under a variety of guises (AEX, Ae_quo, etc.). ’34 Days’ is a set of 6 electro-ambient tracks, featuring minimal beats, ominous vocal samples, and a rich tapestry of interlocking, layered sounds.

The album was recorded during Israel’s attacks on Lebanon in the summer of 2006, which explains to some extent the overall sombre and introspective mood of the tracks. At times, ’34 Days’ recalls the ethereal, hushed moods of Warp label artists such as Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin at his ambient best; with an oriental twist, added for good measure.

LISTEN:

Audio 1: Yaqiin

Audio 2: Qana