munma – Page 4 – Ruptured Music

(2011 end-of-year lists) – JAWAD NAWFAL

December 26, 2011December 29, 2011ChartsLeave a Comment

I asked some of my favorite musicians from Beirut and beyond, to tell me what their favorite records of 2011 were…

Jawad Nawfal: producer, sound artist, musician (Munma, formerly with Index/Left, AEX, Ae_Quo…)

– Amon Tobin: ISAM (Ninja Tune)
– Culprate:Colours (Gradient Audio)
– Kuedo: Videowave EP (Planet Mu)
– Vessel: Wax Dance EP (A Future Without)
– 2562: Fever (Doubt Records)
– Zomby: Nothing (4AD)
– Loops Haunt: Ark EP (Black Acre)
– iTAL tEK: Whip It Up EP (Atom River)
– Semiomine: From Memory (Ad Noiseam)
– The Third Eye Foundation: The Dark (Ici D’ailleurs)

Ruptured Live // TASHWEESH // Live in Beirut

September 21, 2011May 20, 2019NewsLeave a Comment

RUPTURED presents TASHWEESH Live in Beirut
Basel Abbas, Ruanne Abou-Rahme and boikutt from Palestinian audio-visual collective Tashweesh will be performing in Beirut for the 1st time, on two separate dates:

Wednesday 28 September 2011
BEIRUT ART CENTER
Jisr el Wati, off Corniche an Nahr

Wednesday 5 October 2011
THE CAVE
Saifi Urban Gardens,
Gemmayzeh, Pasteur street

Featuring additional live acts
MUNMA (Lb)
Jad ATOUI (Lb)

Tashweesh is an audio-visual performance group from Ramallah, Palestine, which brings together installation artists Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme and musician boikutt, in a joint performance that combines sound, music and image. The result is an exploration of the collision between sound and video field recordings, archive material, vocals, breaks and soundscapes.

Performing in Beirut for the first time, Tashweesh will present a premiere of their most recent set, following 2010’s performances in venues such as CCA (Glasgow), SouthBank Centre (London), Danish Film Institute (Copenhagen), Images Festival (Copenhagen) and Re:View (Katowice).

“Tashweesh is the latest ‘voice’ to emerge from Palestine, representing a new generation of artists who are not only cutting edge but blurring the edges between artists disciplines, social action and geographical boundaries” – Aaron Cezar, Director of the Delfina Foundation, London

JAD ATOUI // Ruptured Session // 21 February 2011

February 28, 2011June 12, 2024Live On AirLeave a Comment

Young Lebanese electronic musician Jad Atoui was quite busy in the months leading to this radio interview: he held his first live performance in Beirut, alongside Munma, at Art Lounge in September 2010, followed by a second gig during The Basement’s farewell concerts in January 2011, and culminating in an event at Hamra’s Jazz Club later that same month, organized by Acousmatik System; there, the 17-year old played alongside such luminaries as Belgium’s Kirdec and Singapore’s One Man Nation. Jad Atoui, the brother of electro-acoustic musician Tarek Atoui, was the guest of Ruptures to talk about his burgeoning career in electronic music, and to present his own live compositions.

Listen:
Track 01
+
Track 02

Ruptured Live // THE INCOMPETENTS, NADINE KHOURI & MUNMA // The Basement

December 30, 2010May 20, 2019News1 Comment

RUPTURED is proud to present FOND FAREWELLS

Three final nights of concerts at The Basement,
To celebrate the famed venue’s departure in style
———————————————————————–

< Monday 3 January, 9pm >

The INCOMPETENTS — CD launch party —
Opening by WHO KILLED BRUCE LEE
Feat. Dj BASILE
————————————————————————

< Tuesday 4 January, 9pm >

NADINE KHOURI
Featuring Djs AYLA & GEORGES
————————————————————————-

< Wednesday 5 January, 9pm >

MUNMA
Opening by Jad ATOUI
Featuring Dj CAROLINE

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

September 18, 2010May 20, 2019NewsLeave a Comment

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.

MUNMA // Ruptured Session // 10 May 2010

May 15, 2010June 12, 2024Live On AirLeave a Comment

One of the first and foremost Lebanese artists operating in the field of electronica today, JAWAD NAWFAL has held live appearances in Lebanon and France, and regularly collaborated with Lebanese electronic musicians (including TRASH INC and dubstep project INDEX/LEFT). He has released 3 albums of ambient electronic music between 2006 and 2008 on Lebanese label Incognito, under the name Munma. He was the guest of RUPTURES to present his 4th album “Previews & Premises”, a collection of tracks recorded by Nawfal between 2006 and 2010. Not exactly a compilation, not exactly a concept album either, this new release was accompanied by a live concert at The Basement, on May 14, which marked Munma’s first “solo” appearance on a Lebanese stage since 2007.

Listen:
Munma 10 May part 1
+
Munma 10 May part 2

Track listing:
Munma
Ziad Moukarzel & Jawad Nawfal [Index/Left]
Jawad Nawfal & Jad Atoui

_DSC2776wtmk — Photos by Tanya Traboulsi

Review // Munma // Unholy Republic

January 3, 2009September 12, 2023Press Archive2 Comments

[By Ziad Nawfal, April 2009]

MUNMA: UNHOLY REPUBLIC (Incognito, 2009)

The third official release by Lebanese electronic artist Jawad Nawfal sees him revisiting familiar themes and musical landscapes, while displaying the possibility for some radical departures in the near future. ‘Unholy Republic’ is the third installment of what is commonly referred to as the “Fate trilogy”, one that saw the day in the aftermath of the war waged by Israel on Lebanon in summer 2006. The first two releases, ‘34 Days’ and ‘Black Tuesday’, were marked by ominous moods and atmospheres, sets of menacing clicks and glitches, and a random selection of radio samples and speeches that conveyed brilliantly the mind-set and feelings of the artist, regarding the crisis at hand.

‘Unholy Republic’ picks up where ‘Black Tuesday’ left, with a rambling, brooding track haunted by static, radio noise, and some politician’s vehement preaching. This is followed by two tracks of subdued electronica, reminiscent of Munma’s previous releases. ‘Engram’, in particular, nods prominently towards South American musician Murcof’s output for the Leaf label. The rest of the album is more surprising, as Munma’s recent partner-in-crime, Nabil Saliba aka Trash Inc, enters the fray, and contributes his supple synth-enhanced melodies to ‘Broken Chime’ and ‘Deep Down Inside’. These show a different facet of Munma’s talent, and serve as a timely reminder that Jawad Nawfal is equally at ease devising ambient landscapes and dancefloor “stompers”. ‘Unholy Republic’ concludes on a short, ambient postcard entitled ‘Exodus’, signalling in the process the end of the “Fate trilogy”, and prefiguring realms of possibilities for Munma’s subsequent works.

LISTEN:

Audio 1: Engram

Audio 2: Deep Down

(2008 end-of-year lists) – JAWAD NAWFAL

December 17, 2008December 25, 2011ChartsLeave a Comment

I asked the main actors of this here blog (mostly musicians, of course, but also friends, family, support-givers…) to provide me with a list (5 to 20 albums) of their favorite records of the year.

The results are slowly coming in. There are surprises, resemblances, similarities, incongruous choices… I’ve left the responses intact, exactly as I received them, along with my friends’ comments. So here goes:

Jawad Nawfal: musician, DJ, producer (Munma, AEX, Ae_Quo)

Sunken Foal “fallen arches”
Eero Johannes “lipton service boy”
Vibert & Simmons “rodulate”
Last Step “1961”
Portishead “third”
Benga “diary of an afro warrior”
Distance “repercussions”
Apparat “things to be frickeled”
Somatic Responses “digital darkness”
Larvae “loss leader“

JAWAD NAWFAL // Interview // 15 September 2008

September 22, 2008June 12, 2024Live On Air1 Comment

The Ruptures program on 15 September welcomed Jawad Nawfal (from the group MUNMA), for a presentation of his new compositions in duet with musician Nabil Saliba (TRASH INC.).
Jawad presented a selection of his favourite tracks of the moment, as well as new compositions from his duo with Trash Inc. He also discussed his forthcoming concert at Lebanese club B018, planned for Friday 19 September..

Track listing:
Jackson
James Holden
Gui Boratto
Trash Inc.
Trash Inc. (Munma remix)
Modeselektor

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.