Today (December 24, 2023) at 8:00 p.m. Bethlehem time, Radio Alhara broadcast “Christmas in Mourning,” a program featuring the voice of Church of the Nativity choir head Laurence Sammour and composed by Beirut sound artists Abed Kobeissy and Sary Moussa. The following is their own description of the work:
It is with profound humility that we approached this work particularly in light of the inhumane brutality that present-day Palestine is witnessing. The immense cultural and spiritual significance of this land weighs heavily on us. Throughout the writing process Laurence’s voice and his presence served as a testament to an enduring vitality that this musical tradition holds. We hope this sonic piece reflects our awe of the heritage on which it is based, as well as our deep appreciation of the opportunity to contribute in producing art that, in many ways, sheds a brief light on the story of Palestine and its people. This commissioned work asserts Bethlehem’s decision to cancel all festive aspects of this year’s Christmas while Gaza is fiercely facing what can only be described as the purest forms of evil. For us, as musicians from Beirut, to be given the opportunity to be part of this stand, is a treasured privilege, to say the least.
This mix is bookended by excerpts from “Christmas in Mourning” and aims to represent global love and support for Palestine amidst not only an unambiguously genocidal campaign by the illegitimate settler state of Israel but also the complicity in and outright encouragement of it by white supremacist zionists everywhere. Though Palestinians grieve the unfathomable loss of life, livelihood, and liberty, they also have hope, and hope will always defeat fear, hatred, and any other monster that thrives in the dark. Solidarity now.
00:00. Abed Kobeissy, Sary Moussa & Laurence Sammour – “Christmas in Mourning” [excerpt]
04:00. Sary Moussa – “Distance” from Imbalance(Other People, 2020)
Following last December’s The Tryal of Old Christmas, the venerable Brachliegen Tapes has once again brought festive tidings to eager wind-reddened ears with The Yule Goat, a dark, icy trudge into the melodies and mysteries of the all-powerful solstice. In recognition of George Rayner-Law and friends’ consistently sublime work, and in the interest of remembering the roots of certain now-unrecognizable traditions, let’s gather around the hearth for a spell and listen to the snow fall. May Winter be merciful.
With both the immediate and the feels-like-distant-but-is-probably-also-immediate future looking bleaker than ever, I think we all need not just a break, but a break soundtrack as well. This mix began with a stylistic basis (the title comes from Davenport’s Free Country), focusing on tracks that repurpose country or Americana conventions/instruments for something much looser and, well, freer, but it evolved into what I hope is an auditory distillation of feelings many of us have all but forgotten: the gift, not the curse, of solitude; the strange comforts of the shadows and darkness that lurk just out of your reach; the alluring, unchecked expanse of the horizon; the unspoken promise that there will be something even more beautiful beyond it.
Patrick Adams, ‘Meadow Stream’ (2015)
00:00. Old Saw – “Dirtbikes of Heaven, Grains of the Field” from Country Tropics(Lobby Art, 2021)
The title of this mix comes from the artist description on RST’s Bandcamp page. A slab of heavy, enveloping, rough-hewn drone music: pillars of light exploding from your body and stabbing through the clouds.
The last mix was already quite calm and reserved, and usually I try to switch things up, but the description I wrote for that one was bleak as hell anyway and frankly my knotted-up brain needs all the cozy music it can get. I’ve realized that if I’m given curatorial control of any kind of mix I’ll inevitably turn it into the platform for some disturbing, mood-killing existential treatise, so the board and I have made the mutual decision to hand the reins to our in-house Comfort Robots. The cost of getting them fully programmed was pretty damn steep, so we didn’t do that, but they have had the concept of beauty verbally explained to them, which we feel is sufficient. If you find any errors in the content they’ve produced (available below) don’t hesitate to reach out; to be honest I really need a reason to turn these annoying little fuckers into scrap. They keep trying to hug me.
This is what CR-008b (“MOMO”) looks like when it asks me if it can use the botroom
00:00. Axolotl – “Telesma” [excerpt] from Telesma (Spooky Action, 2006)
06:22. Wim Dehaen – “Ústí OST” [excerpt] from 12 Elegies for Pierre Boulez / Ústí OST (ACR, 2018)
07:07. Désormais – “Brief Lights, Broken Compass” from Iambrokenandremadeiambroken… (Intr_version, 2003) [title comes from another song on this album, and no, don’t worry, your headphones are not broken]
13:12. Biographs – “ground felt softer today” from must dissolve (Reckno, 2014)
18:03. Belong – “I’m Too Sleepy… Shall We Swim?” from October Language (Carpark, 2006)
23:04. Pure & Ultra Milkmaids – first untitled track [excerpt] from s[e]nd (Vacuum, 2000)
25:16. Open Marriage – “Domestic Science” from Destiny USA (self-released, 2014)
33:23. The Hers – “How Night Works on the World” from Tough C~~t (Sex Lies Magnetic Tape, 2012)
35:09. Erik Levander – “Under timmerstockarnas stilla flykt” [excerpt] from Couesnon (Katuktu, 2018)
00:00. IT IT – “Pig Death” [ending] from IT IT (self-released, 2016)
00:39. Matinee Orchestra – “It’s a Fantasy World / Everyone Has the Right to Protest Even If No One Listens” [excerpt] from Matinee Orchestra (Arable, 2006)
05:21. Ludwig Berger – “After Nature” from Cargo (Canti Magnetici, 2019)
09:54. Áine O’Dwyer – “The Little Lord of Misrule” from Music for Church Cleaners (Fort Evil Fruit, 2012)
17:45. John Collins McCormick – “Oh Boy” from No Most Fatigue (self-released, 2018)
18:25. Horaflora – “Lunacy in the Garden of Forking Paths” from Eaves Drop (enmossed, 2020)
This is a collection of mostly abstract pieces that seek to converse with both natural and industrial surroundings in ways well beyond simply documenting them. The title comes from Nicolas Snyder’s recent release of the same name, which also provides the first track of the mix. Each of these tracks has its own unique world or environment of direct field recordings, skeletons of melodies, wistful drones, spidery percussion, assorted audio detritus, crackling auxiliary textures, low frequency rumble, and other elements, beautifully coalescing into semi-stagnant meditations, immersive excursions, temporary places.
Additional artwork for ‘Temporary Places’
00:00. Nicolas Snyder – “CLAYhands” from Temporary Places (Shhpuma, 2020)
07:29. Daphne X – “First the Mouth” from Água Viva (tsss tapes, 2020)
09:43. Ximes – “like some gamelan of the dead” [excerpt] from Zener_04 (Sensory Leakage, 2019)
A collection of pieces on the fringes of folk music, where the communal, earthy atmosphere has been lifted from the bounds of rhythm and conventional structure and carried into a realm of unbridled beauty. These tracks are often ecstatic and sublime, but there is also a mysterious energy that lurks beneath.
Noise Not Music 