fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 10: sonic heritage with Morgan Sully

Morgan Sully AKA Memeshift, a tall lanky figure with straight, dark shoulder-lenght hair that hangs down from under a beanie, a stands bent over a number of electronic devices connected with a tangle of audio cables.

This month’s episode is a conversation with Morgan Sully, an artist and organiser based in Berlin. Morgan records and performs music as Memeshift [Bandcamp] and also initiated “Latent Sonorities”, a “transcultural musical proposal” to explore notions of musical heritage, tuning systems and instrument-building among other things. Our conversation was recorded during a live broadcast at Refuge Worldwide Radio, Berlin, Saturday 7 September.

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 9: Mixed Feelings II

A close up photograph of a hand holding a plastic cup. It contains cube shaped edibles alongside a plastic spoon and a straw which extends beyond the frame.


Yet another live mix from, this time from DJ Abstract Vortex 😉 More thoughts soon.

Tracklist
01. The Maghreban & Omar – “Waiting (Paul Woolford x Special Request Rework)”
02. Uwalmassa – “Untitled 01”
03. T. Wiltshire – “Outbound”
04. Nakibembe Embaire Group – “133 (with Gabber Modus Operandi & Wahono)”
05. Bamz – “LASER QUARTZ”
06. Gábor Lázár – “Source”
07. Cut Hands – “Stabbers Conspiracy”
08. Silvestre – “Sozinho”
09. Wahono – “Prambanan”
10. The Maghreban – “Dust”
11. Lorenzo Senni – “XAllegroX (DJ Stingray’s Molto Allegro Mix)”
12. Nakibembe Embaire Group – “140 (with Gabber Modus Operandi & Wahono)”
13. LCY – “2020”
14. Gábor Lázár – “Stream”
15. Client_03 – “Symmetry Finder”
19. DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn – “DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn Meet Tshetsha Boys”
20. Tirzah – “Hips (Loraine James Remix)”
21. Special Request & Tim Reaper – “Straight Off The Block (Tim Reaper Remix)”
22. The Maghreban & King Kashmere – “M25160”

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 8: Mixed Feelings

A view from the crowd facing the stage in a music venue. The performers are not visible in white light. The audience is rendered in silhouette — one figures raises a phone.

Live mix by DJ Bandcamp.

Tracklist:
01. “Fosarune” – Rani Jambak
Rani Jambak is an artist based in Medan, North Sumatra and is of Minangkabau descent, her family migrating from West Sumatra. I’m interested in her work with field recordings, as a mode of environmental awareness and activism, and also how she thinks of sound as a means to connect with ancestors. “Fosarune” is her contribution to the Common Tonalities (2022) compilation, an outcome from the multi-year “Nusasonic” program, concerned with experimental music in Southeast Asia, 2018–22. Nusasonic was an initiative of the Goethe-Institutes in Southeast Asia, in partnership with Yes No Klub (Yogyakarta), WSK Festival of the Recently Possible (Manila), Playfreely/BlackKaji (Singapore), and CTM Festival for Adventurous Music & Art (Berlin).

02. “Salamander” – Takkak Takkak
A recent collaboration between Berlin-based Japanese producer Shigeru Ishihara AKA Scotch Rolex / DJ Scotch Egg and Vilnius-based Indonesian composer and instrument builder Mo’ong Santoso Pribadi, who is part of the duo Raja Kirik. Taken from their recent self-titled album Takkak Takkak (2024), released on Nyege Nyege Tapes.

03. “Untitled 10” – Uwalmassa
Uwalmassa is a group formed by Harsya Wahono, Randy Pradipta and Pujangga Rahseta who are also behind the visual arts and music collective DIVISI62 from Jakarta. This track is taken from their 2018 tour release Animisme (DISK15), featuring music “inspired by Indonesia’s urban slums, dangdut and pencak silat.”

04. “Sumergir (Toumba Remix)” – SIM & Sueuga
A recent release by Canadian-born SIM and Netherlands-based Sueuga remixed by Toumba from Jordan, put out by Sacrilejio Records in Lima, Peru. Taking cues from Jamaican dancehall, I suppose this track emphasises global connections, collaboration and genre hybridisation and mutation as evolution. Just don’t call it global bass!

05. “Wangga Rituals (Serial Experiments Edit)” – whypeopledance
From the Lithuanian collective/label’s 2019 compilation MATEDITERIA (MATERIÁ 005). I stumbled onto this gem of a track while searching for music by Aditya Permana, who is also on this compilation and who surface later in the mix as BAUR. I know nothing else about Serial Edits or whypeopledance, but I find this spiky collagist approach to “dance music and anti-dance music” a refreshing contrast to the slick productions that populate my playlists.

06. “Metallurgy Symphony (Simulacrum RMX)” – Dinoj M & SajaS
Dinoj M and SajaS who are involved in DreamSpace Records, Batticaloa are dear friends of fugitive radio. “Metallurgy Symphony” is from Upcycled Rhythms (2023), that repurposes found materials as musical objects. This remix is up on fugitive productions.

07. “Hantaran” – Sipaningkah
Taken from Langkah Suruik (2024), a recent notable release on Chinabot. Coincidently, Aldo Ahmad Fithra, is also Minangkabau West Sumatra, like Rani Jambak. He also invents and builds instruments, such as the “Tasauff”, that is inspired by three traditional Minangkabau musical instruments: the Tasa drum, Talempong gong and Rabab string instrument.

Lagkah Suruik, which translates as “step back” in the Minangkabau language, comes from a concept in the Silat Harimau martial arts philosophy. “The Langkah Suruik is the wisest step, choosing to step back and not fight,” says Sipaningkah. “However, I interpret Langkah Suruik as a way to see, search for and relearn the roots of our personal traditions, so that we can then use them in reading the current world situation.”

08. 나락 Pit – bela
From Noise and Cries 굉​음​과 울음 (2024) bela’s debut album on Subtext in collaboration with Unsound. Now living in Berlin, bela began developing the ideas for this album “about death” while living in South Korea. Bringing together Western influences guttural death metal growls and rasps and industrial music with the folk rhythms that rattled away in the background of state events and presented with the confidence and “cybernetic maximalism” of contemporary queer club music.

09. “African Sickos Ft. Citizen Boy” – Nazar
Taken the from the Amsterdam-based producer’s Territorial (2020), self-released during the Covid19 pandemic. Nazar is known for developing a style of “rough kuduro” that reflects on his family’s involvement in the Angolian Civil War (1975–2002) and I was drawn to his collagist aesthetics and as a counterpoint to sparser productions featured in this mix.

10. “MAKAN SUMPAH” – bani haykal
A Malay phrase that can be interpreted as “take an oath”, this is the closing track on the Singaporean artist’s recent release ANONYMOUS CURSES (2024) . In a country where protest is no possible, haykal has been steadfast in support of Palestine, and this album is dedicated to:

the people who are constantly spell casting, sending curses to end tyranny and injustices, those who tirelessly speak of resistance against the violence of colonialism, extractivism, occupation and apartheid.

I was fortunate to see haykal perform live at an event organised by Strange Weather in Singapore, where he set up on a small table, manipulating a drum sequencer and some effects, while performing his prose that he punctuated with ecstatic runs on the clarinet. Later, Yetpet [Instagram] played a sublime set, the memory of which serves as some inspiration for this mix.

11. “Necksnaps” – Wahono
I have somehow overlooked Harsya Wahono, and perhaps to compensate, his work keeps popping up in this mix. This is from an early release Abandoned Hi​-​Hats (2017) on Maddjazz Recordings , made when Wahono was living in New York after graduating from Berklee College of Music., Boston. Now living in Jakarta, Wohono is the founder of DIVISI62 and is also part of Uwalmassa, heard earlier in this mix. Like Sipaningkah, Wahono’s approach to percussion and drum programming draws on traditional Indonesian instruments and rhythms organised according to club production techniques.

12. “Kuvio” – Ø
An early release from the late Mika Vainio, taken from Metri (1994) released on Sähkö Recordings , a label Vainio co-founded with Tommi Grönlund. I was introduced to this album in the early 2000s by Miguel at Matéria Prima, Porto and it came to mind when returning to Finland this summer. In Singapore and Yogyakarta I became attuned to artists recalling industrial music and “proto-techno” experiments of the 1990s and I suppose this album aligns with those descriptors. Also it’s a lovely, minimal, analogue piece based around repetition and variation; a theme that emerges in this mix.

13. “Kutofaulu” – Wulffluw XCIV
From the first release by Sacrilejio Records in Lima, a compilation Expiation (2020). Wulffluw XCIV AKA Nikita Grunt music is described as “Avant Club”. From Russia he is the first non-African artist to release an album on Nyege Nyege Tapes subsidiary label HAKUNA KULALA, also in 2020. I think the textures are what drew me to this track, layered and detailed with sweeps and pans across the stereo field.

14. “Bussra” – ZULI
I am a fan of ZULI’s jarring rhythms and only learned recently the producer from Cairo had moved to Berlin, where he’s been co-organising a series of club nights, irsh [Instagram] with fellow artist and DJ Rama. This track is from Komy (2023), a collection of five club tracks released to make way for new material. Proceeds from the sales go to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).

15. “Fanta Rouge” – Neo Geodesia
Listening to 2562 Neon Flames (2021) was something of a revelation. Saphy Vong’s compositions as Neo Geodesia made up of field recordings, samples and instrumentation a digital production were like nothing I had heard before. I mentioned this to Morgan Sully AKA Memeshift, who concurred saying that he was amazed at how much feeling Vong evoked in his music. This notion of “feeling” in digital music became something of a prompt for this mix, as it is such a difficult thing to qualify. Vong, based in London, is also the founder of the label Chinabot.

16. “Shikorina (Zilla Remix)” – STILL
From the remix collection of STILL’s debut album, I, appropriately titled I (Remixed) (2018) both released on PAN. I became aware of Simone Trabucchi’s moniker gradually via a Slikback remix that stayed for some time in my crate. I am curious about the breadth of the Milan-based producer’s work that spans publishing and visual art. This track is reworked by Don Zilla, manager of Boutiq Studios, Kampala. This is another track I was drawn to due to its layered collaged sound, reminding me of the dub/reggae productions of the likes of the Scientist and Lee Scratch Perry and the Bomb Squad’s hip-hop productions.

The point of connection for many of these artists is Nyege Nyege, and STILL’s following mixtape, video series and book project, KIKOMMANDO, arose out a two month residency at the Ugandan collective’s villa.

17. “Cluster Drum” – 3Phaz
The Cairo based producer is an affiliate of ZULI and this track is from a compilation featuring artists who played at the latter’s video series cum club night, irsh. Humorously titled did you mean: irish (2020) it was released during the Covid19 pandemic. With a reputation for reworking Cairo’s urban Shaabi sound, I first encountered 3Phaz performing a live set at Unsound Festival 2023, a highlight of its club program.

18. “160 (with Gabber Modus Operandi & Wahono)” – Nakibembe Embaire Group
The embaire is a large, long wooden xylophone found in East Africa, that is played simultaneously by multiple performers. The Basoga—an Eastern Bantu ethnic group—have a unique way of playing this instrument and the Nakibembe Xylophone Group are one of the last remaining groups who continue this tradition.

Fixtures of Nyege Nyege Festival, this track is taken from a self-titled 2023 release on Nyege Nyege Tapes with extra production by Gabber Modus Operandi (GMO) and Wahono from Indonesia. From the release notes:

The group needed to work out a way to combine their techniques with GMO and Wahono’s own musical approaches, so they fitted the embaire’s keys with audio-to-MIDI triggers that allowed them to capture the instrument’s swing without drowning out the sound itself. Then, Nakibembe recorded a series of freestyle performances that would demonstrate the range of the instrument; Wahono and GMO took these recordings and the MIDI data and used digital processes to distort and shift the sounds into dangerous new places, adding vocal improvisations from GMO’s Ican Harem. The Indonesian trio wanted to explore a more minimalist approach with Nakibembe, and on ‘140’ do exactly that, slowing down the whir of embaire clunks to a crawl and adding sporadic squeals and punctuating bumps. ‘160’ is even more unexpected, losing the embaire completely and feeding the raw drum data into synthesizers that pop and squeak with the same unmistakable energy.

I was very fortunate to have caught this grouping at CTM 2020 and this release seems to encompass many of the themes that arise out of this mix; repetition and variation, cross-cultural collaboration, tradition and (digital) technology. As the release notes conclude: “dance music is neither static nor bound to its contemporary apparatus, and conversation rather than colonization can stretch concepts beyond phony borders.”

19. “Terowongan Jadi Underpass” – BAUR
I recently met BAUR AKA Aditya Permana during a performance at Yes No Klub Yogyakarta, introduced to me as “a legendary Drum n Bass DJ from Jakarta.” Unpacking a kit of electronics that fitted snugly into a suitcase, BAUR unraveled a set of squelchy rhythms over which he layered distorted phrases and yelps. I was concerned with composition methods at the time and after his performance, I asked him how much of his set was improvised. He replied that he had released a cassette of “songs” that he then deconstructs live, before adding: “it’s my therapy, but it seems other people get something from it as well”—a reply that also solved a lot of my problems!

This funky track is lifted from a cassette release, Pecundang (2024) on DIVISI62 . Translated as “loser”, BAUR is a defiantly analogue project that draws on industrial music shared via tapes in the 1990s

20. “Sad Sunda” – Memeshift
Morgan Sully is a fixture of Berlin’s experimental music scene and this track is taken from this year’s Echoes (2024) on Chinabot, who curiously have also chosen to pursue the cassette medium. Echoes is a self-reflexive suite of music concerned with issues of home, migration and diaspora — memorabilia, ephemeral recordings and memories wired through electronic instruments. From the release notes:

“Sad Sunda”, [which] samples a cassette of ‘pop sunda’, a form of popular music that blends western pop and traditional instrumentation from Java, that his mother brought with the family to Hawaii when they fled Borneo. Composed on an Elektron Octatrack over three decades later, Sully cut the samples into small snippets and randomly resequenced them. The percussion is from Roland CR-78 samples and drum loops pitched down and resampled in the Octatrack; through the frenetic club beats, we hear his current life in Berlin, where he now lives, bleeds into the music of his past.

–
Notes
These notes a part of an ongoing task that concerns writing about mixing; about what comes up in the mix and to think about DJing as a kind of (sonic) research.

“Mixed Feelings” is about leaving Singapore, Sri Lanka and the South East Asian region. It was meaningful to be there, reconnecting with family and friends, finding new freinds and peers and generally being open to its influence. “Feelings” also refers to an aspect of (digital) music production. Soon after returning to Berlin, I caught up with Morgan Sully AKA Memeshift and was gushing about Neo Geodisia’s 2562 Neon Flames (2021). Morgan concurred commenting that it had a lot of “feeling” for a digital production and I wanted to think about this further. I associate feeling with “emotion”, another term that has connotations for music. I think about “soul music” or power ballads, where certain emotions — joy, fury, heartbreak, angst — are aestheticised and emphasised. It conjures up notions of authenticity which makes me wonder about “cold feelings”, and more reserved or disciplined emotional states. Descriptors such as “surgical” and “precise” are used to describe DJs who rehearse every sequence and can execute their mixes on cue. Do these lack feeling? When I listen to a mix I like to hear the artist’s hand: the tempo being shifted, a slightly off beat being coaxed into place. Which is not to say I don’t practice, but I also like to improvise, to play, to trust and develop my intuition and go with what I am feeling in that moment. Perhaps a more risky approach, as things could go wrong—more chance of “dropping the ball”. Actually, I have mixed feelings about this mix because there are some stand out blunders that make me cringe, but I ran out of time to make another!

I’ve continued to approach DJing like a game and the plan for this mix was to begin with Rani Jambak and end with Memeshift, going by key tracks from Takka Takka, bela, Bani Haykal, Dinoj M & SajaS, Wahono and BAUR. As I was pruning my crate for this mix, I realised I was preferencing tracks from artists who are friends, peers, or I have met or seen perform in recent months. Notably, many artists are from Indonesia. A set by Yetpet at a Strange Weather event in Singapore in July was a key point of reference; a well-curated and deftly executed mix of unfamiliar tracks. A friend described it as “chilled”, and while it may not have been stocked with “dirty bangers”, it was full of great rhythms and hooks and was somehow euphoric.

While I had a preference for tracks with a lot of percussion and space, I noticed I was selecting tracks for contrast and texture—not all slick club production, but also spiky playful productions (eg Serial Edits), coarse textures (eg Nazar) and space (eg Sipaningkah).  Only after did I realise that this mix was as much about labels as artist-acquaintances; Yes No Wave, Divisi62, Chinabot, Subtext, PAN, Nyege Nyege Tapes, alongside self-released tracks on Bandcamp. (Indeed, I was surprised to learn I’d published a mix under the same moniker a year ago.) 

 

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 7: Subhas Nair, “The baton is in our hands.”

Subhas Nair, wearing a black COVID mask and tee shirt, both emblazoned with the URL: STATEVSUBHAS.COM

Subhas [Instagram] is a unique voice in Singapore, whose music and organising confronts issues such as capital punishment, the treatment of migrants workers, climate capitalism and racism while advocating for class solidarity. His activities have provoked the ire of authorities and our conversation took place as he awaits the outcome of a court case in which the State accused him of “promoting ill will between races and religions.” Subhas’ upcoming album is scheduled to drop when the verdict is announced.

If these issues concern you, take a look at the Migrant Worker Death Map, Singapore and consider supporting Migrant Mutual Aid Singapore.

If you like what you hear, sign up to receive details about Subhas’ upcoming album The State Vs Subhas Nair. You can also support Subhas via
Patreon.

Music used in the episode is on the major platforms Spotify and Apple, in chronological order:
Malabar (2021)
Riot! / Dumbshit! (2018)
PUNISHMENT (2018)
Bhasa (2021)
Long2befree (2021)
The Line (2020)
UTOPIA (feat. Migrants Band Singapore) (2021)
Blk101sunsetway (2018)
DMT (2021)
Time Of My Life (2021)
Some Nights (2021)

Our conversation was recorded 26 June 2024 while in residence at Singapore Art Museum, 1 April–29 June 2024.

Let Subhas take you on a tour of Singapore as he unpacks some of his music!

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 6: Good Morning Geylang

A view of a carpark entrance through a silhouette of palm fronds. The leaves of the fronds match with the hazard stripes painted onto the speed hump and the strong parallel lines of the image made by the railings and gate,

“Good Morning Geylang”, a deep listening dawn mix and a meditation on migration, labour, infrastructure and place-making in Singapore. Made in residence at Singapore Art Museum, 1 April–29 June 2024.

The field recordings that make up this mix were recorded in the streets, rooftops and void decks around the neighbourhood where I am staying in Geylang. Singapore is undoubtably an air-conditioned nation however I’m not a fan of such climate controls. I prefer to keep the windows open and as my apartment is on the 4th floor of an old shophouse, I am at tree height. I’m often stirred before dawn by the sounds of birds chattering. Soon after I hear the first MRT commuter train rumbling off in the distance and as the city starts to wake it is often the sound of a garbage truck and its distinct pungent scent that brings me to my senses. I’m in an area where many migrant workers also stay and in the mornings I can watch them gathering in the street below, waiting to be taken in trucks to work sites around the city. I’ve been struck by the interplay of daily rhythms at this time of day. With reference to Henri Lefebvre’s notion of rhythmanalysis, I can discern  the circardian rhythms as night turns into day, the institutional rhythms of the train schedule and the rhythms of the working day. Singapore imports much of its construction and domestic workers from neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Their wages are lower than locals and they have few rights. There has been some discussion about constructions workers who are transported around in lorries with minimal safety, an exception to Singapore’s road rules, and there have been several serious accidents.

“Good Morning Geylang” is the first iteration of a live sound work I am developing. Comprised of field recordings I’m making in Singapore as a reflection on migrant labour/leisure. I’m thinking of it as a deep listening work to be performed in pitch black — picking up on a recent discussion of sensory deprivation following the debut of REFUGE at Singapore International Festival of Arts, by the Observatory in collaboration with Duck Unit, Rully Shabara and Justin Shoulder.

A list of artists I’m thinking about includes:
33EMYBW, specifically Mandala (2023)
William Basinski
Robert Curgenven
Philip Jeck
KMRU
Francisco López
Oval (early releases)
Steve Reich (early tape pieces)
David Toop
Chris Watson

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 5: (Pseudo) Sino-Club

Rollerbladers in the underpass between City Hall and Esplanade, Singapore-

“(Pseudo) Sino-Club Mix” by DJ Ayam Hitam is a kind of sonic fan-fiction recorded in Singapore for Labour Day, 1 May 2024. With the artists Animistic Beliefs and Wanton Witch as its spirit guides, the mix invokes the Bangkok queer and feminist rave collective NON NON NON as its animating force, racing towards an inevitable climate catastrophe (cli-fi) dsytopia/utopia as evoked by Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective. DJ Ayam Hitam scrapes the surface of the so-called “Global Techno Underground” to fashion a sound shape-shifitng across South East Asia and that is allegedly “decolonizing dancefloors” (de-culo-nizing as they say in Latin America) in clubbing metropoles such as Berlin and London.

The art of crashing a mix
This mix was recorded live using a Pioneer DDJ-FLX4 controller and Rekordbox . The “game plan” was to start with Neo Geodesia’s “Wat Ang Ta Minh” and get to Rắn Cạp Đuôi’s “Bloody” by way of Animistic Beliefs and Wanton Witch. After landing in Singapore in April, I purged my playlist of UK bass, footwork, gqom—my go-to genres—to instead play around with tracks made by producers from South East Asia, or those who have some vested interest in this region. Over the last week I scoured my hard drives for odd bootlegs and also listened through the back catalogues of labels SVBKVLT and Genome 6.66 Mbp, affiliated with the now defunct Shanghai club Shelter and its successor ALL. Indeed, it was the recent release of Osheyack and Nahash’s Bait (2024) (notably none of the tracks from this EP made it to my mix) that prompted me to read accounts of this burgeoning scene in Shanghai, prior to Covid. In an interview from 2019 for zweikommasieben, Osheyack discusses clubbing as a new phenomena in China with no precedence or (rival) scenes:

I think the difference is that the club culture there is so new that there is not really a context or a hierarchy of “you need to do this” in order to play on Saturday night. So there are a bunch of people from a bunch of different places and Chinese kids—who are completely new to club music in general—and they are just picking up everything and re-contextualizing it.

I was also taken by his description of ALL’s patrons as a ”DJ-set culture of people wanting to hear a bunch of different shit mixed together.”

Last year I introducing a friend to DJ software, with which one can match BPMs at the touch of a button. She caught on very quick and was already working up a small crowd during this first afternoon session in a small bar. After some time, she turned to me and said something like: “I understand how to mix between tracks that are of a similar BPM, but what if I want to mix a track of say 120BPM with a track that’s at 160BPM? Is there a button for that?”. Actually, I think on Rekordbox there is a function that auto-mixes across speeds, steadily moving the pitch and crossfade between tracks, but I enjoy listening to the hand of the artist, and so I replied to my friend’s query: “That’s the real art of DJing, knowing how to crash a mix!”

Not that I’ve necessarily achieved that with this mix. I did attempt to plan and rehearse it before recording it for the radio, but I failed in my attempts to play it again (the) same. Mixing across a range of BPMs, nudging the pitch sliders back-and-forth, eventually I gave up trying to repeat myself and tried to get into the zone. Made to share on Labour Day, 1 May, it is apt that this mix resisted being laboured over!

Working with software, I’ve come to think about the parallels between DJing and console video gaming. Is not the (novel) musical instrument as much a toy as it is a tool? Making this mix felt a bit like playing a racing game in which one attempts to get to the finish line without crashing. The thrill is in the ride and the challenge is to not “drop the ball”, ie fail to mix in the next track. Wipeout would be the obvious point of reference, which I may have played once and was certainly terrible at it. Rez, a musical first-player-shooter, might be more appropriate. Although, as I recall its soundworld was more like progressive house and techno rather than the wonky sonics and “crash montage” mixing I tend towards.

Listening back, this is not my most elegant mix. I do cringe at some of the sloppy segues and there are some segments where I seem to have wandered astray and am clutching for the right track to get me back on course. I’m also reminded of the “bashment” ragga sound systems that first lured me into mixing. Here the selector might not always beat-match to the ones and instead employ sound effects, rollbacks and fearsome noise as part of the sonic collage experience. The spills are as much part of the thrill and are a counterpoint to interlocking rhythms that wind-up dancing bodies. Was there ever a sound clash video game?

Tracklist
01. “Wat Ang Ta Minh វត្តអង្គតាមិញ” – Neo Geodesia
Saphy Wong is the founder of the “multidisciplinary Asian platform and record label”, Chinabot. Under the moniker Neo Geodesia, Wong treats traditional Khmer music with experimental electronic processes. This track is lifted from the remarkable 2562 Neon Flames (2020), in which Wong revisits the sudden death of his mother during the celebrations of Khmer New Year 2562. I’ve heard nothing else quite like it.

02. “Edda” – Rui Ho
Rui Ho is a new discovery for me, whom I came across via Genome 6.66 Mbp. This track can be found on 戰記 (2017), which I believe was her first release. She has since evolved into a “non-binary pop singer”, and her more recent releases foreground vocals and narrative.

03. “吃掉” – Jason Hou & Yider
I assumed I found this on a Genome 6.66 Mbp compilation, but I cannot locate it. I have a feeling this track also crossed over into UK grime and dubsteps playlists circa 2016, which is how I might have picked up on it following some thread about Sinogrime. Here is a curious video of Hou performing an AlphaSphere, a curious haptic sensor-based instrument.

04. “Club Apathy” – Osheyack & Nahash
A definitive release on SVBCVLT, 2021.

05. “Shatter” – Hyph11E
Tess Sun is one of the most lauded artists affiliated with SVBCVLT and this track is a personal favourite lifted from Aperture (2020), an album about holes!

06. “Empty Spoon” – Wanton Witch
Miriam Alegria’s is relatively new to me. Currently based in Berlin, via Malaysian Borneo and Bangkok where she founded queer rave collective NON NON NON [Instagram]. Wanton Witch caught my attention at CTM earlier this year, performing as part of Thai artist Pisitakun’s takeover of Berghain’s Säule, launching his “The Three Sound of Revolution” project. She opened her set with a slew of what sounded like high velocity Baile Funk cut-ups, before nose-diving into 4/4 hard techno. This track is from her album AKU (2023) which struck me for its emotional breadth, shifting moods and polished production.

07. “Kniom Nahn” – Lafidki
Since 2008 Saphy Wong has released music as Lafidki. Taken from his debut album Chinabot (2017), “Kniom Nahn” has a charming music video, you can watch below. Chinabot has emerged as an important platform connecting South East Asian and diaspora artists pursuing experimental (club) productions.

08. “Medical Fodder” – 33EMYBW
While 33EMYBW (nee Wu Shanmin) is arguably the face of SVBCVLT, I first encountered her music from the Arthropods Continent on the compilation Alterity (2020) released by Houndstooth, a label affiliated with the London club fabric. “Medical Fodder” opens the album and remains for me one of its highlights.

09. “Kawasaki Outrun” – DJ Loser & Xiao Quan
I have no idea who these people are or how this track came to me. Invariably as I was slipping down some internet rabbit hole, but I cannot recall for what and when. That DJ Loser is based in Thessaloniki provides some clues, as I have spent some time in Greece in recent years. Is Xiao Quan a former pop singer in China responsible for the “Social Shake” meme dance craze? And/or this producer living in Sâo Paolo? Whiskers are trembling, what other treats await?

10. “Childhood Memories (Totobuang)” – Animistic Beliefs
Taken from the Rotterdam duo’s extraordinary album MERDEKA (2022), notably released on N.A.A.F.I. (No Ambition And Fuck-all Interest?) from Mexico City. As mentioned above, Animistic Beliefs were foundational for this mix, leading me towards this so-called “global techno underground”, and specifically some of the sounds surfacing in South East Asia, that are supposedly decolonizing dancefloors. I would loved to have caught them on their tour through China and Vietnam [Instagram] in the last weeks. I’ve heard murmurings about the unhinged rave scene in Vietnam, that is in contrast to Singapore’s relatively costly and thus closed party scene.

11. “虫草FIRE Edit” – RVE
From Genome 6.66 Mbp’s Club Shanzai Bootleg Compilation (2020), “a collection of remixes, edits, and blends by artists from Greater China.” This is all I could find.

12. “Puritan (Gabber Modus Operandi Remix)” – Homicide
Homicide, a political rap crew who formed in Bandung in the 1990s, are legendary. This remix by Gabber Modus Operandi, who are currently forging their own legendary status, was commissioned by the afore mentioned Pisitakun for his multi-faceted research project with the DAAD. “The Three Sound of Revolution”  focuses on the artist’s interest and involvement with revolutionary protest music in Thailand and expands its scope to consider the South East Asian region. The album Middle Sound (2023) was launched earlier this year at CTM. Incidentally, Pisitakun has also released music with Chinabot.

13. “The Border-Walking Monk” – Howie Lee
From the 7 Weapons (2020) series released by Belgian label Maloca Records. Splitting his time between China and Taiwan, Howie Lee is the co-founder of the label Do Hits, which also counts Jason Hou in its stable of producers. Lee is a veteran producer and visual artist who earned a reputation for music that melds traditional and folk instrumentation with contemporary club production techniques, working across a range of genres and aesthetics. I appreciate this track’s wonkiness.

14. “Sacrifice” – Selecta
From Genome 6.66 Mbp’s Genome Compilation Vol​.​1 (2016). I can’t find anything more about this artist.

15. “LCD (Estoc’s TFW Your Name Is Written On The Ostrakon Remix)” – Tzusing & Hodge
The Malaysian-born Tzusing is famous, no? I most likely came across him via his affiliation with the Berlin-based label PAN. This track is from an album of remixes, Next Life (2021), released via Tzusing’s label Sea Cucumber, that can be found “on the sea floor worldwide.”

16. “As If You Whisper” – Wanton Witch
Another cut from AKU (2023).

17. “With Us (feat. Nahash)” – Osheyack
From Osheyack’s Sadomodernism (2018) released on Bedouin Records from Tokyo. While a thought-provoking and theory-informed release that takes aim a complacent clubbing, I must admit to have simply reaped its bangers. From the 2019 interview mentioned above it’s worth noting Osheyack’s approach to performing live during this time:

When I play live, it’s a lot of short, small ideas cut up and pushed together, so that it’s digestible and danceable, but it’s trying to throw people off-kilter as much as possible, to shake people out of the “dancing experience.” And I’m very much trying to make a comment on that kind of static genrefication that goes on in Europe—to try and break down rules as much as possible.

18. “LilBlackDizzeeKidXCX6Truth” – XDD
Another track from Genome 6.66 Mbp’s Club Shanzai Bootleg Compilation (2020). No further info on XDD, but evidence that Sinogrime may have developed as a productive dialogue rather than simply a British projection.

19. “Scheme” – Evaa
It seems Evaa is based in Brussels. From Genome Compilation Vol​.​1 (2016).

20. “Boss 直聘 Bootleg” — GG Lobster
A favourite from Club Shanzai Bootleg Compilation (2020). GG Lobster co-runs the Hangzhou label/crew Functionlab, who have also released music by Xiao Quan—the weave tightens.

21. “Cows” – Gooooose
Gooooose is another stalwart producer for SVBCVLT, and this track is taken from the label’s compilation Cache 02 (2020). The sample is from a Saturday Night Live sketch “More Cowbell” (2020), depicting a recording session by the band Blue Öyster Culter and that features actor Christopher Walken as producer Bruce Dickenson. Here’s an entertaining and informative video of Gooooose making a beat for FACT’s “Against the Clock” series.

22. “Hyph11E X Dj Missdevana (Amor Satyr edit)” – Amor Satyr
An edit circa 2020 by Parisian producer Amor Satyr, who co-runs the label WAJANG with Siu Mata.

23. “ZENO” – Slikback & 33EMYBW
I had to slip Slikback in here. Taken off the Slip A (2019) EP released on HAKUNA KULALA, a subsidiary of Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Tapes. Slip B (2019) was released simultaneously on SVBCVLT, and the EPs are an outcome of the much respected Kenyan producer inaugral visit to China. Representing an exchange between East Asia and East Africa, this project maps out a cartography of (alter?)globalising club musics:

For the first stage of the project, SVBKVLT invited Kenyan producer Slikback to China for a 3-week tour and residency in April 2019. During these 3 weeks, Slikback performed in 5 cities (Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Beijing), spending time in the studio with artists throughout the tour. The results of these studio sessions are now being presented in the form of two EPs, to be released simultaneously across the two labels Hakuna Kulala and SVBKVLT on September 6th, coinciding with Nyege Nyege Festival 2019, Jinja – Uganda, at which Slikback and 2 of the collaborators, Hyph11E and 33EMYBW, will perform. All the artists involved in both releases will then perform at Unsound Festival Krakow in October 2019.

24. “Kurang Tidor – 幻觉” – Animistic Beliefs
Another track lifted from MERDEKA (2022). The title employs the Bahasa word for “independent” or “free” to describe the artists breaking free of expectations as they set out to explore postcolonial intergenerational trauma and their own changing selves.

25. “Bloody” – Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective
This track that is the finishing line for this mix is from the Saigon collective’s recent album 1 released on Nhạc Gãy, a Saigon-based music and arts collective who throw raves, release experimental club music and lead mental health initiatives. An earlier version of “Bloody” soundtracks a short video by Nhạc Gãy, SỐNG VỚI LŨ (2021), which translates as a “living with flood”, an idiom for accepting the situation, “any situation at all”. The video juxtaposes scenes of flooding with sequences of raving. As Nhạc Gãy explain:

Vietnam’s latitude puts it at the forefront of global warming consequences and a part of it will begin to be submerged within a few decades. Yet, playfulness and ingenuity of Vietnamese can turn the uncomfortable and unforeseen into a new playground.

The video can be viewed via this GoogleDoc.

–

LAFIDKI Kniom Nahn (Official Music Video)

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 4: Carnatic controversy

The cover photograph from Lalgudi G. Jayaraman and Party’s album "Violin, Venu, Veena". Six men sit on the floor of a stage, poised for the camera with their instruments.

Recently, when visiting my mother in Sydney, I came across a cache of vinyl records that she bought in the 1970s and was now storing in her garage. They are predominantly recordings of South Indian Carnatic music, often considered to be a “classical” form. Whenever I visit, I spend some time clearing out items accumulating in storage. While I’m certain these records had not been played for decades, my mother and I both agreed to hold on to them. Hidden in a cupboard I found the family stereo system from the late 1980s, and while its radio was useless, its tape deck was defective and its speakers had been misplaced, I was surprised and delighted that the turntable and amplifier still functioned. So I set about dusting off and digitizing some of these records, listening closely to a kind of music that I largely ignored growing up.

Coincidentally, my mother introduced me to a family friend; a distant relative who had recently moved to Sydney who is a musician and visual artist active in the Indian classical music scene. As we were getting acquainted, the conversation turned to the controversy rippling through the Carnatic music community. The singer Thodur Madabusi Krishna, popularly referred to by his initials T.M.K., had been awarded the coveted Sangita Kalanidhi for 2024. This is a prestigious accolade conferred annually by the Madras Music Academy (established 1928) and is considered to be the “highest accolade in Carnatic music.” The 48 year-old musician and writer has become a controversial and divisive figure for his criticisms of caste and class inequalities in the world of Carnatic music, notably as one of these privileged elites. Indeed, in 2023 Krishna was given another prestigious award; a Ramon Magsaysay award for his efforts to reduce inequalities, using “art’s power to heal India’s deep social divisions, breaking barriers of caste and class.”

While Krishna gave his debut performance at the Music Academy, aged 14, in recent years he refused to participate in the Academy’s annual month-long festival in December/Margazhi, known as Kutchery season, objecting to its caste favouritism. Instead, he was among a team of social organisers who co-founded the Urur-Olcott Kuppam Festival at an under-served, centuries-old fishing village in Chennai, to showcase a range of cultural forms across numerous sites and venues.

In 2023, T.M.K., who is of the Brahmin caste, commemorated the centenary anniversary of the anti-caste movement Vaikom Satyagraha, with music that honouring E.V. “Periyar” Ramaswamy, who is often referred to as the father of the Dravidian movement. Krishna’s critics responded that he in turn advocated for “Brahmin genocide”, recalling one of Periyar’s provocations.

“Carnatic controversy” does not include any music by T.M. Krishna. Rather, the task of digitising my mother’s record collection became a timely entry point into learning about Carnatic music and its current issues in the context of India’s Hindutva. The music in this episode in sequential order is:
N. Ramani, “Raga Ranjani”
Salem S. Jayalakshmi, “Muthu Vidhanam”
Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer, “Eka Tala” (excerpt)
Lalgudi G. Jayaraman and Party (N. Ramani, T. R. Mahalingham, R. Venkataraman, Umayalpuram Sivaraman, T. K. Murthy), “Violin, Venu, Veena” (excerpt)
Sivananda Vijayalakshmi, “Soundarya Lahari”

It’s worth noting that the family of the late Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer (1912–1981) have a particular “beef” with T.M.K. who interviewed the revered mridangam player’s for his recent book Sebastian and Sons (2020). Concerned with Dalit Christian mridangam makers and their relationship with Brahmin musicians, the family claimed they were not aware of the scope of Krishna’s concerns and felt deceived by the “caste-based” tone of his book.

Critical Radio, Springerin: “Art GPT” 01/2024

Hideakie Gushiken sits in an urban walkway. Wearing a lumbung radio tee shirt, his eyes are closed as he sings and plucks a stringed instrument. In the foreground of the image is the fluffy wind break of a hand held audio recorder.

“Hideakie Gushiken, documenta fifteen, 2022.” foto: Sumugan Sivanesan

“Critical Radio: Community Building and Solidarity in a Low-Bandwidth Medium” published in Springerin 1/2024, “ArtGPT.” Excerpts below:

At an assembly held during documenta fifteen, it was suggested that net radio is a kind of low bandwidth activism taking up digital space in a largely privatized and commercialized World Wide Web. While this may be so, fugitive radio claims that the critical front is not at public facing websites, rather “critical radio” emerges in the kinds of organizing, skill sharing and community building that occurs alongside the production of content. Hack-labs and live broadcast happenings facilitate sharing, co-learning and generate enthusiasm for alternative networked-sociabilities. While such gatherings are often premised on pursuing free and open (source) culture and promoting digital commons, it is arguably conviviality that shapes the micro-politics of experimental radio activity.

…

“Make friends not art” was a phrase that memed during the Jakarta-based collective ruangrupa’s takeover of documenta fifteen (2022), also known as “lumbung one,” valorizing of the social aspects of art-making over its commodified objects. Friendship was thus politicized as it determined the communities, practices and issues leveraged through infrastructural art power. This was notable as evidence of antisemitism alongside racist and transphobic attacks rocked the event, leading to censorship, withdrawals and the resignation of Documenta’s Director General Sabine Schormann. Nevertheless, solidarities resolved among those remaining and initiatives, such as lumbung radio, are ongoing. Organizations have since proposed to “learn from lumbung,” a reference to an Indonesian community rice barn, emphasizing the pooling and redistribution resources among inter-local networks and collective planning. I think it would also be wise to learn from the Humboldt Forum.

…

When I moved to Berlin in 2017, curators I met sought to politicize their practices. Now some admit to being strategically silent, contributing to a climate of self-censorship and antagonism that recalls East Germany’s Stasi era or McCarthyism in the United States. As spaces holding multiple perspectives are dramatically reduced, what are the alternative platforms for critical debate?

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 3: The Dham Dham Method

Participants in Dham Dham Riddim are clustered around computers and MIDI controllers.

A conversation between Dinoj M [Instagram] and SajaS [Instagram] of DreamSpace Records, artist Lucinda Dayhew [Instagram] and myself, Sumugan Sivanesan. Together we co-organised “Dham Dham Riddim”, a nine-day intensive music production “bootcamp”, held between 21 and 29 February at DreamSpace Academy, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. The workshop sought to introduce people to digital music production across a series of sessions that progressed from field recording to sampling, from rhythm programming to lyric writing, and then on towards making a song that will contribute to a compilation album or EP. It emphasised using free, open source and accessible tools, with a focus on the digital audio workstation, Reaper. It arose out of a three-day workshop “Thaalam Riddim Reapers” we organised at DreamSpace Academy as part of Dinacon 3, 2022.

The episode also features the voices of participants in the programme including: Sivanathan Nivethika, Rameshkumar Sathursaan, Sajanthan Vasanthakumar, A.H.M. Asaath, A.S. Sajeeth, Thavarasa Jeyashanth, Velrajan Rohan, Ravichandran Jeroem, Chandrujaan Sathiyamoorthy, Yash Kirirajah, Kabilashini Balakrishnan, Anantharajah Ajai, Mokeethan Sathiyamoorthy, Suresh Ashwin, Raviraja Rishahari, Sakithyan Jeyakumar, Christy Suthakaran Abiyashap, Christy Suthakaran Joshua, Joseph Jesreyal Jeyashanth, Dinoj Mahendranathan, Sajani Sivasithamparapillai and Nirushika Pragash…I hope I’ve not missed anyone!

Lucinda Dayhew and Sumugan Sivanesan’s travel was funded by Goethe-Institut Germany.

Media

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 2: disarming peace

A silhouette of a figure, backlit standing on a stage. The image is rendered in greyscale as a negative.
1. “Anti War Dub” – Digital Mystikz On 26 January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found [YouTube] there was a case for potential genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza. The court stopped short of recommending a provisional cease fire and rather required Israel report back in one month about measures taken to address its concerns (legally binding for member states). My friend, the artist Sybille Neumeyer, responding to the ongoing loss of (civilian) lives commented that there is no longer a neutral position. Indeed, I’ve heard arguments in Berlin that calling for a cease fire opposes Israel’s right to self-defence and is thus antisemitic—an accusation that can lead to serious repercussions in Germany. This episode is a playlist/meditation on how peace activism has become weaponized, reflecting on my experiences at Transmediale and CTM festivals this year. 2. “Afrotek” – Scratcha DVA The context of this episode is the Strike Germany campaign, that began in January 2024 when the Berlin Senate announced that it would adopt an anti-discrimination act as a condition of its cultural funding, which included a controversial working definition of antisemitism proposed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). It reads:

Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

To which the Berlin Senate added an extension which conflates criticism of Israel with the persecution of Jewish people. This decision was protested by a significant part of the cultural community in Berlin (see this letter signed by numerous Berlin-based artists and cultural workers). Strike Germany deploys similar tactics of Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS), understood as a means of peaceful protest used with success against apartheid South Africa. The BDS movement against Israel has been banned in several countries and in 2019 the German Bundestag passed a resolution to outlaw it in Germany. This decision is subject to ongoing dispute (see this letter from artists, academics and cultural workers protesting this resolution). The Strike Germany campaign can also be read as a retaliation for the forced resignations of artists and cultural workers in Berlin who have been critical of Israel, notably from South Asia (eg the resignation of Documenta 16’s finding committee in November 2023 and the cancellation of Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie 2024 soon after). Strike Germany has had a significant impact on the cultural sector, initially in Berlin’s club scene/economy, with artists withdrawing from performances at its famous Berghain club. The “sister” festivals, Transmediale and CTM, held annually in late January and early February were also affected this year. London-based producer Scratcha DVA is one artist who announced  his withdrawal via Instagram, and whom I was looking forward to seeing in Berlin. This track “Afrotek” (2021) with Durban producer Mxshi Mo brings together UK bass and gqom [YouTube].
3. “ANG INTERNASYUNAL BUDOTS BOMB STYLE REMIX [SISONS GREETINGS!]” – Teya Logos CTM opened on 26 January, the day the IJC announced its findings, so it seems significant that the festival’s first club night at the aforementioned Berghain featured a room curated by Thai artist Pisitakun, a recent fellow at the DAAD’s Music & Sound programme. Pisitakun’s research concerns the music of social movements for democracy in South East Asia and during his time at the DAAD he launched The Three Sound of Revolution project, named after the “three finger salute.” With reference to the popular TV series Hunger Games and derived from a signal used in the French Revolution, the gesture has been recently adopted by protestors in South East Asia to demand Solidarity, Equality and Liberty. The Three Sound of Revolution is divided into three sub-projects, “Middle Sound”, a compilation of protest songs, chants and speeches remixed as dance/party music by a selection of artists was released in November 2023. This was showcased during Pisitakun’s take over of Berghain’s Säule, with the artist inviting others representing South East Asia to perform and also installing a screen printing station to distribute talismanic revolutionary imagery. Given the situation of strike and withdrawals coupled with protests against the rise of populist Right wing movements in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, Pisitakun’s programming struck a chord. While CTM joined wide-spread criticism of the Berlin Senate’s anti-discrimination bill, it refrained from directly commenting on the war in Gaza and many of us were interested in—and perhaps anxious about—how participating artists would respond. Someone who clearly did not give a fuck was Filipinx artist Teya Logos playing “hardcore” Budots dance music, while screaming and slam dancing. She closed out her performance with a remix of the anthemic “Dammi Falastini” by Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf [YouTube]. 4. “MONn-aARCHhE-EAT-JACKAAAL” (Elvin Brandhi Remix) – Pisitakun

“Since I was born I witnessed three different coups: in 1991, 2006 and 2014,” says Thai artist Pisitakun. “The question is stuck in my mind: Why do we have so many coups?

This track, remixed by Elvin Brandhi, another artist featured in CTM, is from Pisitakun’s album Absolute C.O.U.P. (2020) [bandcamp] 5. “Prayers” – Pinky Htut Aung This recording is taken from the compilation Common Tonalities (2022) produced as part of Goethe-Institut’s Nusasonic project focused on experimental sound cultures in South East Asia, made in collaboration with CTM alongside Yes No Klub (Yogyakarta), WSK Festival of the Recently Possible (Manila), Playfreely/BlackKaji (Singapore). From Myanmar and currently based in Paris, Pinky is a multimedia artist and noise musician. She spoke on CTM’s panel “Revolutionary Music Movements under Distorted Rule of Law” (31 January 2024), where I asked about the connection between the kinds of popular protest songs that was discussed in the panel and the noise and “hardcore rave” dance music that was showcased at Berghain. While such sounds are often overlooked by music scholars and professionals, I was interested in how they had become popular in times of social upheaval. Noise music is distinct from commercial pop music and elite classical or compositional forms. It could be understood as being a liberatory or cathartic practice, and is often made collectively, but is it necessarily political? Or does it signify a politics that is different to conventional party systems, like anarchism? I was struck when Pinky said that for her noise music is therapeutic. To pick up on CTM festival’s theme “Sustain” for its 25th edition, could it be said that music sustains people through difficult times? 6. “Indignation” – Divide and Dissolve Divide and Dissolve [bandcamp] are well known for their commitment to Black and Indigenous struggles as much as for their slow, loud and lurching music, devoid of vocals. I said to a friend who is keen to play heavy music with other racialised people, that she might not be familiar with Divide and Dissolve’s music, but she would certainly know their tee-shirt emblazoned with the words: “Destroy White Supremacy.” A classic, is how someone described it at the band’s merch stand and Divide and Dissolve have since produced a series of tees with statements that are, according to the band, “designed to provoke a conversation.” Emerging from Naarm/Melbourne’s punk scene, where I first saw them play in 2017 alongside anticolonial death metal band Dispossessed [bandcamp]. Divide and Dissolve have gone on to achieve notable success, releasing their last two albums with Geoff Barrow’s (Portishead) label, Invada. So I was curious as to why they had not heeded the call to divest from Germany. With my mind still occupied with Pisitakun and Pinky’s panel about protest music and noise earlier that evening, Divide and Dissolve set the scene at Berghain with a large back-projection of a animated Palestinian flag, rippling in the wind behind a wall of amplifiers. Guitarist and saxophonist, Takiaya Reed arrived on stage wearing a black and white keffiyeh across her shoulders and the duo’s drum kit was similarly draped with the checkered cloth that symbolises Palestinian liberation. After Sylvie Nehill left the band in 2022, Reed has continued with a roster of drummers and tonight she was joined by someone she named “Ced”, “Syd” or “Seb” oder…? Having established that their performance at CTM was a statement of solidarity, Reed breathed into her soprano saxophone to begin the first song only to realise that it was broken. She asked that if anyone in the audience could help, she would appreciate them coming back stage. For some long minutes we stood around, before the super-sized animated flag chatting to our neighbours and sipping our drinks as pop music played over the club’s legendary sound system. This was turning out to be an awkward performance. Arguably, Divide and Dissolve decided to stay with the festival as their appearance would be more effective than their withdrawal. Indeed, artists critical of Strike Germany have argued that withdrawal is a privilege for only those who can afford to do so and often targets organisations working “behind the scenes” towards justice and peace. However, Divide and Dissolve also disrupted the smooth functionings of the event. Aside from delays due to her broken instrument, Reed took her time between songs to explain her position as someone with Black and Cherokee ancestry. She talked about cycles of violence, as those who have suffered genocide in turn perpetuate genocide, and elaborated on how some First Nations people in the US having survived colonial violence became slave owners. While Divide and Dissolve have cultivated a loyal and attentive following around the world, Reed’s ruminations were not well received by all at Berghain. I didn’t think it unusual when someone called out that she should stop talking and “play more music”, and certainly the audience was thinning out. Undeterred, Reed continued to address her heckler in a calm voice, without aggression, but nevertheless confrontational. With Reed holding the space and taking her time to discuss the issues that motivate the band and to name and thank all who had supported her, I began to think that Reed wields her vulnerability as a kind of power. Indeed, if Divide and Dissolve’s bone-rattling sound is as much therapeutic to experience as it is cathartic to perform, it is arguably during these times of violence and anxiety that it is most needed.
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Luiza Prado (@luizap)

7. “Holy Motor” – FITNESSS feat. LUnG FITNESSS’ striking intervention was into Berghain’s dance floor. Appearing among the crowd with a panel of backlit buttons strapped to their chest, FITNESSS’ provocateur (is it Jas Lin 林思穎?) encouraged the audience to push them and trigger sounds then heard on the main room’s massive surround sound system. FITNESSS are corporeal; physically confrontational and I suppose cathartic in a screamo kind of way. It feels more like a happening than a concert, as the crowd follows the action around the room. We are often pulled into to touch, mosh to crisp digital noise and so-called “sound design” or to pogo to pop music. I’m not sure if FITNESSS is the person I am watching being dragged around the room on their back, or the event in which the boundaries between performer and audience and the social conventions of the club are (physically) challenged. Towards the end of the performance, a shirtless vocalist lurches into the maelstrom of bodies, rasping into a microphone. I guess this is LUnG. Later online I read:

A FITNESSS performance is an expression of raw energy—creating immersive experiences that challenge conceptions of being and communion through movement, electronic sound architecture, and post-modern aesthetics. With an emphasis on audience involvement and collective presence, FITNESSS’ work explores the volatile nature of interpersonal dynamics, as well as the transformative power of crowd synchronization.

8. “Dimensional Spleen” – Aïsha Devi I have been looking forward to see Aïsha Devi perform for some years. Although she does perform often enough in Berlin, I always seem to miss it. Now, touring her recent album Death Is Home (2023) [bandcamp], I find myself sitting exactly front and centre in the Volksbühne theatre where Devi will perform the closing concert. The stage’s scenography consisted of patchwork drapes and flags, set in motion by fans. Strobe lights and fog machines further contributed to Devi’s theatrics, and I heard someone commenting about “the weather on stage.” Dressed in a sheer black dress and shiny black trainers, Devi was often rendered as a silhouette and it soon became apparent that she had a Palestinian flag affixed to the back of her outfit (see main pic above). I can’t be certain about Devi’s use of flags. Given the artist draws inspiration from her paternal ancestry in Nepal, I’m guessing they are a reference to the Buddhist traditions of the Himalayas; when the wind blows through “prayer flags” bearing sutras they are believed to recite them. Devi often discusses the links between her mediation practice and music production by way of the healing qualities of frequencies. In a recent interview for Metal she offers:

Modern physics acknowledges 11 dimensions, and we perceive life in just 3D. To heal this civilization, I think we will have to be much more aware of our existence outside of this corporeal reality and in a higher dimensional plane. I really think that hyper-materialism is annihilating our sense of immortality, and that’s why the intangibility of music is so present in our life. Music is one of the tools that can help us initiate this consciousness and open the portals. I want to bring back the essential ritualistic aspect in contemporary music.

I admire Devi’s open-mindedness and willingness to speak her mind as much as I enjoy her music. When she addressed the audience at the closing of the concert she voiced her support for Palestine and said: “I came here because this is my community—you are my community.” Despite several withdrawals (and at least one forced cancellation at Transmediale), I often heard people reiterate this sense of community with phrases like: “this is my community and so in these days of war, genocidal violence and the threat of fascism it is important that we come together and talk.” Certainly, there are those of CTM’s community who were missed. Kyham Allami, for example, who was instrumental to Nusasonics’ Common Tonalities project, announced his individual and indefinite strike from all German state funded work in October 2023, some months before the Strike Germany campaign. This prompts me to think about the politics of friendship during this time of polarization. TBC…