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AHWAR ⬩ NADAH EL SHAZLY
NAWA00710 NOV 2017 ⬩ Clear Vinyl LP ⬩ Black Vinyl LP ⬩ Cassette ⬩ Download
Starting out singing Misfits covers in a local punk band, then moving onto producing her own electronic tracks and making a name for herself in Cairo’s underground scene, Nadah El Shazly’s backstory is not that unusual. Her debut album on the other hand, is an entirely unexpected story.
Two years in the making, Ahwar (Arabic for marshlands) is an otherworldly record, not unlike an abstract mythological story-tale. Opening with the mangled and filtered vocals of the album’s lead track Afqid Adh-Dhakira (I Lose Memory) like an alien dream, the drones of a bowed double bass lead us into a drum groove that lays the groundwork for El Shazly’s sultry and captivating presence, singing: "(I am) coming, from a time far away. Going, escaping. Alone in the wilderness".
The Arabic prose lingers over interjections of slap-back delayed guitar twangs and an avant-garde arrangement of dissonant winds, horns and seemingly random drum fills, ending with an eerie soundscape that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Giallo classic. A daring and potent statement that sets the foundations over which the rest of the album can unravel.
Composed, written and produced by El Shazly herself in collaboration with The Dwarfs of East Agouza’s Maurice Louca and Sam Shalabi on co-composition and arrangement duties, the album was crafted across two continents, between Canada and Egypt, and features the crème of Montreal’s contemporary-classical and improvised music scene, most of whom are members of Shalabi’s own Land of Kush ensemble.
In between El Shazly’s five original tracks, we are treated to an abstract cover version of Sayyid Darwish’s classic Ana 'Ishiqt (I Once Loved). El Shazly’s haunting vocal floats over broken Kalimba and Harp arpeggios which slowly intertwine with a free, bowed double bass improv to nestle within the breaks between Younes Al-Qadhi’s early 20th century verses of love and betrayal.
More than that, it is difficult to really describe, but imagine the worlds of Nico, Björk and Annette Peacock with the Arabic language as their mother tongue, re-approached through acoustic avant-jazz harmony and re-constructed with a dash of Kamilya Jubran’s modern styling of Arabic maqam and you may be somewhere close.
Recorded and delicately mixed through miles of analogue cabling by Thierry Amar at Hotel2Tango and mastered by Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering in Montreal, the album is adorned with the surrealist artwork of Egyptian artist Marwan El-Gamal and designed with custom typography by Egyptian designer Valerie Arif. All editions come with dual-language booklets featuring the lyrics in Arabic with English translation by Nariman Youssef.
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Album Credits
Afqid Adh-Dhakira composed and written by Nadah El Shazly, arranged by Osama Shalabi and Nadah El Shazly.
Barzakh composed by Nadah El Shazly, written by Alia Ayman and Nadah El Shazly and arranged by Nadah El Shazly, Osama Shalabi and Maurice Louca. Features a sample from Dawr Afrahh Wesalak by Abd al-Hay Hilmî (1857-1912) from a recording on Baidaphone.
Palmyra composed and arranged by Nadah El Shazly and Maurice Louca, written by Nadah El Shazly.
Ana 'Ishiqt composed by Sayyid Darwish (1892-1923), written by Younes Al Qadhi (1888-1969) and arranged by Nadah El Shazly and Osama Shalabi.
Koala composed and arranged by Nadah El Shazly, Maurice Louca and Osama Shalabi.
Mahmiya composed and arranged by Nadah El Shazly and Maurice Louca, written by Nadah El Shazly.
Nada El Shazly: vocals, keys, piano (track 1), saz (track 6), kalimba, electronics, programming.
Maurice Louca: folk guitar/folk slide guitar (track 3&6), electric guitar (track 3), keys (track 1).
Osama Shalabi: electric guitar (track 1 & 6), synthesizer (track 3).
Alexandre St-Onge: electronic voice.
Dave Gossage: flutes.
Philippe Lauzier: tenor clarinet.
Simon Millerd: trumpet.
Yves Charuest: alto saxophone .
Devin Waldman: alto saxophone.
Jason Sharp: baritone saxophone.
Sarah Pagé: harp.
Josh Zubot: violin.
Gen Heistek: viola.
Kareem Taylor: oud.
Jérémi Roy: double bass (track 5), divan saz (track 2).
Jonah Fortune: double bass (track 1, 2 & 5).
Pat Conan: drums (track 1 & 5).
Konrad Agnas: drums (track 3).
Pierre-Guy Blanchard: riq, tabla, electronic drums (track 5).
Dina Cindric: choir conductor, piano (track 6).
The Monday Night Choir: Jeremy Eliosoff, Gordon Hashimoto, Martin Howard, David Simon, Spike Taylor, Jeremie Vienneau.
Recorded by Thierry Amar at Hotel2Tango, Montreal, Canada, June 2016.
Vocals recorded by Adham Zidan, Cairo, Egypt, February 2017.
Additional vocals on track 6 recorded by Peter Ayman at Studio Vibe, Cairo, Egypt, March 2017.
Drums on Palmyra recorded by Maurice Louca and Nadah El Shazly at EMS, Stockholm, Sweden, August 2016.
Additional electric guitar recording on Palmyra by Adham Zidan, Cairo, Egypt, Autumn 2016.
Keys on tracks 1, 5 & 6 and acoustic guitar on tracks 3 & 6 recorded by Maurice Louca and Nadah El Shazly in Agouza, Cairo, Egypt, Autumn/Winter 2015-2016.
Edited by Maurice Louca and Nadah El Shazly in Cairo, Egypt, Autumn/Winter 2016-2017.
Mixed by Thierry Amar at Hotel2Tango, Montreal, Canada, February 2017.
Mastered by Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering, Montreal, March 2017.
Album cover artwork by Marwan El-Gamal.
Design and typography by Valerie Arif.
Lyrics translation to English Nariman Youssef.
PRELUDE FOR THE TRIUMPHANT MAN ⬩ TWO OR THE DRAGON
NAWA006 ⬩ 02 JUNE 2017 ⬩ Download
Two or The Dragon are the Lebanese electro-acoustic noise duo of Abed Kobeissy and Ali Hout.
Founded in 2014 under the premise of exploring Arabic music’s ability to express industrial city scapes and the violence that has plagued the Arab world, the duo’s unique sound of processed Buzuq (levantine long-necked lute) and various hand percussions takes the sonic and visual day-to-day that is Beirut and reflects it hyper-realistically.
The drilling and banging of post-war reconstruction and urban development, the incessant hum and vibration of electricity generators, private water pumps and gasoline motors, the cacophony of car horns in unpredictable traffic, all are represented alongside a wailing pseudo-political rallying cry in an unfathomable psuedo-Arabic tongue.
Without allowing nostalgia or frustration to take over their narrative, Two or The Dragon manage to creatively express both the ugliness and the beauty of this bitter reality in a manner not unlike the early recordings of Einsturzende Neubauten or the soundtrack to David Lynch’s Eraserhead.
Released to coincide with their first European outings, including an appearance at the UK’s Supersonic Festival, this 17-minute long three-part work serves as an introduction to the duo’s aesthetic and a taster of what’s to come next year.
ALBUM CREDITS
Abed Kobeissy: buzuq, vocals, effects
Ali Hout: daholla, kalimba, effects
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Khyam Allami at One Hertz studios, Beirut, November 2016
Cover image: MEA (detail) 2011 © Margot Becka
Artwork by Jana Traboulsi
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BES ⬩ THE DWARFS OF EAST AGOUZA
NAWA005 ⬩ 29 APR 2016 ⬩ Green Vinyl Double LP ⬩ Black Vinyl Double LP ⬩ CD ⬩ Download
The Dwarfs of East Agouza is a trio from Cairo, Egypt, featuring Maurice Louca (Alif, Bikya), Sam Shalabi (Land of Kush, Shalabi Effect) and Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, The Invisible Hands, Alvarius B.).
Born during 2012 when the three were living in the same apartment building in Cairo’s Agouza district, the trio’s instrumental improvisation-based explorations are propelled by Louca’s North African percussion loops and shimmering keys, Shalabi’s West African tinged free jazz guitar and grounded by Bishop’s driving Krautrock-style acoustic bass.
Following many a late night jam session, the band recorded hours of material during a three-day studio run in April 2014. After compiling and mixing the album in Montreal’s Break Glass studio in July 2015, the refined result will be released as a double-album titled Bes via Nawa Recordings (NAWA005) on 2xLP, 2xCD and DL on 29 April 2016.
Named after the Ancient Egyptian dwarf deity who was worshiped as the defender of all things good and enemy of all that is bad, Bes captures the trio on a hypnotic yet unpredictable journey. From the the lilt of four-minute ethiopian tinged Resinance to the 30-minute free-form epic Museum of Stranglers, the album skirts the outer limits of a psychedelic soundtrack to a North African road trip.
The album artwork features a reproduction of an ancient Egyptian carving of the dwarf god Bes, painted by Egyptian artist Raafat Al-Kordy, designed by Iraqi-Palestinian graphic designer and illustrator Sara Sukhun.
ALBUM CREDITS
Recorded at 100 Copies Studio, Cairo, Egypt, April 2014 by Mahmoud Refat
Pre-Mix by Adham Zidan, Cairo Egypt, June 2015
Final Mix at Breakglass Studio, Montreal, Canada, July 2015 by Jace Lasek
Assistant Mix Engineer: Tonio Vargas
Mastered by Frank Merritt at The Carvery, London, UK
Front Cover painting by Raafat Al-Kordy
Painting Photographed by Maha Maamoun
Band Photograph by Maged Nader
Artwork Design and Layout by Sara Sukhun
All tracks composed, arrange, performed and produced by The Dwarfs of East Agouza
Percussion on Clean Shahin and Hungry Bears Don’t Dance performed by Pierre Guy Blanchard
The Dwarfs of East Agouza:
Maurice Louca - Organ, Synthesizer, Beats
Sam Shalabi - Electric Guitar
Alan Bishop - Acoustic Bass/Alto Sax/Vocals
Special thanks to Hicham Chadly, Lady Diana, Mr Koko
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AS I OPEN MY EYES/A PEIEN J’OUVRE LES YEUX ⬩ KHYAM ALLAMI
NAWA004 ⬩ 15 JAN 2016 ⬩ CD ⬩ Download
As I Open My Eyes by Leyla Bouzid (a winner of over 30 international film awards) tells the story of 18-year-old Farah (played by Baya Medhaffar), who sings in an alternative-rock band called Joujma, and her coming of age in pre-revolutionary Tunisia against the will of her mother Hayet (played by Tunisian songstress Ghalia Benali).
The soundtrack of the film features original music composed, arranged and produced by Khyam Allami for the band in the film (Joujma), alongside Oud-based incidental music and Maurice Louca’s Benhayyi Al-Baghbaghan (Salute the Parrot), the title track from his latest album (also released on Nawa Recordings in 2015).
Working closely from the early stages of casting and pre-production through to the final sound mixing of the film, Allami and Leyla Bouzid aimed to develop a new and youthful sound for the band, informed by Tunisian folk music such as the vocal driven songs from the city of El Kef, and inspired by artists such as Patti Smith, PJ Harvey and the female leads in alternative rock bands such as Sonic Youth and Stereolab.
The five-piece band of non-professional actors-musicians features Baya Medhaffar as Farah (vocals), Montasser Ayari as Borhene (oud), Deena Abdelwahed as Ines (keys & electronics), and the brothers Marwen Soltana as Sami (bass) and Youssef Soltana as Ska (drums).
During pre-production Allami spent much time with Medhaffar, who makes her acting and singing debut, to help her find her voice, all the while seeking inspiration to compose the songs based on her abilities and the nuances of her adolescent character. Teaching the band the songs by rote, Allami tried to keep a balance between their musicality and a natural yet amateur edge to their performance.
The lyrics for the band’s songs were written by Tunisian writer Ghassan Amami in colloquial Tunisian Arabic, based on the film’s narrative and dramatic context. Allami, who composed, arranged and produced the songs, alongside the Oud-based incidental music, used the lyrics as a catalyst to heighten their latent symbolism alongside their social, cultural and political referencing, whilst serving the dynamic trajectory of the film’s plot.
The songs in the film are performed live by the band, all of whom make their acting debuts. They were then recorded in a music studio in Tunisia to form the first part of this soundtrack album.
All editions feature artwork by Lebanese designer Jana Traboulsi and tri-lingual booklets with lyrics in Arabic, English and French.
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ALBUM CREDITS
ALBUM CREDITSOriginal music composed, arranged and produced by Khyam Allami.
Lyrics by Ghassan Amami except track 13 by Majd Mastoura.
Joujma is a fictional group created for the film:
Baya Medhaffar (Vocals)
Deena Abdelwahed (Processing, Theremin, Backing Vocals)
Khyam Allami (Oud, Bendir, Qaraqeb, Programming)
Marwen Soltana (Bass Guitar) Youssef Soltana (Drums)
All tracks performed by Joujma except track 5 by Maurice Louca, track 6 by Khyam Allami & Baya Medhaffar, tracks 7, 11 & 14 by Khyam Allami, track 13 by Baya Medhaffar.
Tracks 1-4 recorded by Helmi El Kobbi at AV Productions Studio, Ariana, Tunis and mixed by Khyam Allami.
Track 6 recorded by Ludovic Van Pachterbeke on location and mixed by Rémi Gérard at Empire Digital, Brussels, Belgium.
Tracks 8, 9, 12 & 13 recorded by Helmi El Kobbi on location and mixed by Rémi Gérard & Khyam Allami at Empire Digital, Brussels, Belgium.
Tracks 7 & 11 recorded by Khyam Allami and mixed by Rémi Gérard & Khyam Allami at Empire Digital, Brussels, Belgium.
Benhayyi Al-Baghbaghan (Salute the Parrot) by Maurice Louca is taken from the album Benhayyi Al-Baghbaghan (Salute the Parrot) available via Nawa Recordings NAWA002.
Tawazon II: or lack of by Khyam Allami is taken from the album Resonance/Dissonance available via Nawa Recordings NAWA001.
All tracks mastered by Jason Mitchell at LOUD Mastering, UK.
Artwork design & layout by Jana Traboulsi. Design assistance by Ziad Bou Assi.
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AYNAMA-RTAMA ⬩ ALIF
NAWA003 ⬩ 04 SEP 2015 ⬩ Red/Black Marble Vinyl LP ⬩ Black Vinyl LP ⬩ CD ⬩ Download
Alif is the collective sound of five musicians at the forefront of independent music in the Arab world. Conceived in 2012 and taking its name from the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, Alif features Khyam Allami (Oud), Tamer Abu Ghazaleh (Vocals/Buzuq), Bashar Farran (Bass), Maurice Louca (Keys/Electronics) and Khaled Yassine (Drums/Percussion).
Their self-produced debut, Aynama-Rtama (Arabic - translated as Wherever It Falls) is a reflection of its time and environment. Recorded between Beirut in Cairo in 2014, it is a shape-shifting album that twists and turns when you least expect it. Innovative instrumentation, poignant words from avant-garde poets such as Sargon Boulos and Mahmoud Darwish, and the abstract worlds penned by the band’s vocalist Tamer Abu Ghazaleh coalesce to create an intense labyrinth of sounds and emotions. The startling synergy combined with the band’s wide ranging influences, giving birth to a soundscape that is at once familiar and unknown.
Mixed by Ali Chant of Toy Box Studios, Bristol, UK (P.J. Harvey, Rokia Traore, Yann Tierson, Gruff Rhys, John Parish) and mastered by John Dent of Loud Mastering, UK (Bob Marley, Nick Drake, Yann Tiersen, Massive Attack, Nick Cave), Aynama-Rtama traces a complex labyrinth of genres, sounds and emotions, rendered as a unique postcard of the tumultuous rollercoaster-ride of its time.
The album is adorned in artwork featuring a painting by Syrian-Lebanese visual artist Semaan Khawam. His colourful and surreal paintings combined with original typography by Egyptian designer Salma Shamel perfectly compliment the complexities latent in Alif’s music and lyrics. All editions will also feature new English translations of the poems and lyrics by Nariman Youssef.
ALBUM CREDITS
Album cover artwork painting by Semaan Khawam: 'Don't Move, Stay With Us All Day' © 2014 Semaan Khawam
All music composed, arranged, performed and produced by Alif.
Holako (Hulagu) & Al-Juththa (The Corpse) are poems by Sargon Boulus
Dars Min Kama Sutra (Lesson from Kama Sutra) and Al-Khutba Al-Akhira (The Last Declamation) are poems by Mahmoud Darwish
I'tiraf (Confession) is a poem by Faiha Abdulhadi
Lyrics for Yalla Tnam (Lullaby), Watti Es-Sawt (Keep It Down) and Eish Jabkum Hon? (What Brings You Here?) by Tamer Abu Ghazaleh.
Mixed by Ali Chant, Toybox Studios, Bristol, UK.
Mastered by John Dent, LOUD Mastering, Taunton, UK.