After the impact of Exist in Ramallah festival back in 2019, and how relationships between the artists got established and the attendees contribution that helped to shape the identity and the vision of the project itself. Exist decided to take the next step and expand the project with a label that is runned between Amman based and festival founder Odai Masri and Amsterdam based and label co-founder Chafik Chennouf with the same ethics that the festival is standing for. Some of the main principles Exist upholds include resistance to homophobia, and the ongoing colonization of various parts of the world by state actors or multi-national oligarchs. In turn, we think that this colonization leaves no one free, and that it especially targets communities (human and non-human) that are most marginalized by capital and historical racial and ethnic structures. The first release 'Marks of Existence' is a collection of mind-melds with some of the scene's most continuously exciting and refreshing artists: Drew McDowall, Muqata'a, CASKO, Adel Poursamadi & Tegh. The Scottish, NYC-based experimental musician, Drew McDowall, has been subverting the formula for many years now, having clocked up storied work with Coil and Psychic TV back in the day. His track 'Conceal the Wound' is a stunning, exquisitely chiselled piece of synth music. It's like waking from a dream, only to return to its febrile clutches. Ramallah's Muqata'a came through flawless with his cut 'Administrative Detention', a blast of chaotic chopped breaks and lurching neo-beat tape MPC programming. The breakcore influence in combination with referencing crimes against humanity makes the tune an intense headmelter. The ideal soundtrack for unorganized resistance from a firsthand perspective. ‘The Price You Pay To Be Unattached Flesh’ sees CASKO push the hi-tech dirt of his Opal Tapes, Leyla Records and Voidance releases down darker ginnels to claustrophobic, anxiety-raising effect in a collection of brilliantly neon explosions of colour and exuberance floating on a sleazy and slow beat with bags of North-African swagger. Experimental electronic musicians from Iran have marked their prints on the face of the universal experimental music scene for some time now, though the manner in which their status went from "non-existent" to "present" and from "silent" to "noisy" might somehow seem "unpredictable" to the naked eye. Tegh, known for his work on Opal Tapes joined forces with Adel Poursamadi to come up with a beautifully bittersweet synthetic orchestration in a staggering fashion to close this EP with.
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Laurel Halo, Donato Dozzy and Teheran sound artist Tegh give us their "Glassforms Versions"alongside a new edit by Max Cooper. The works of Philip Glass are reflected and refracted in a myriad of ways by some of the most renowned electronic artists alive, making for a blissful, multi-dimensional listening experience.
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With "Glassforms", Max Cooper and Bruce Brubaker set out on an intimate, nuanced exploration of the works of Philip Glass. The resulting recordings, developed in a fluctuating exchange between the American pianist and the Irish scientist-artist, are an astounding testament to the innovation that artistic collaboration can achieve and what depths are yet to discover in Philip Glass' compositions. The two artists did not just rework, but fundamentally rewired the original songs using algorithmic software to process and augment the musical data it received from Brubaker's piano live on stage.
When approaching his remix, Donato Dozzy also tapped into that inspiration to create something new rather than just reworking it, which is one of the core motives that emanates from "Glassforms". The Italian producer and label owner is known for his drive to explore: he develops installations for public spaces and museums, uses obscure musical instruments and collaborates with classical singers or visual artists. "I chose "Two Pages" for it's hypnotic feel in the notes repetition", he says, "but I did not want to merely sample the piano, but instead ask someone I trust and admire to carve it from scratch and even go further." So he followed the lead of Brubaker and Cooper and teamed up with the renowned Italian percussionist and jazz musician Daniele Di Gregorio to completely rewire "Two Pages" into a gorgeous piece of endlessly modulating ambient electronica.
Laurel Halo, the second remixer on "Glassforms Versions", does not need a long introduction either: the American musician is at the forefront of electronic music in 2020, a bright star today after releasing her debut "Quarantine" on Hyperdub in 2012. Her remix of "Opening" brings to mind the string section of an orchestra tuning their violins before the performance - forever. They glide in and out of tune, sometimes individually, then together, then are accompanied by keys that are most likely a ghostly representation of Brubaker's piano, sampled and pitched down, but sound almost jazzy in the context of Halo's remix. It's a blissful listening experience, calling to mind her recent collaboration with cellist Oliver Coates on "Raw Silk Uncut Wood" and showing a deep understanding of Philip Glass' work.
Sound artist Tegh is the third on the remix bill - the electronic musician from Teheran delivers his take on "ƒTwo Pages", once again showcasing how versatile, how inherently complex the works of Philip Glass are. They can be interpreted in a myriad of ways - Tegh's version is a bounding, brooding piece filled with raw energy that feels like it is performed live, just for you, every single time you listen. His version is, at first, much more focused on the underlying moods, electronic undercurrents of the original than Dozzy's version, and yet, when the piano finally does break through, it becomes clear that we are listening to Philip Glass, reflected manifold: through the piano of Bruce Brubaker, the synths of Max Cooper, and then again through the mind of the artist Tegh.
Concluding the new "Glassforms Versions" is a previously unheard edit of "Two Pages". It's difficult to edit a piece of minimalistic beauty without losing it's essence, but Max Cooper - after many efforts and close conversations with Bruce Brubaker - managed to bring these shorter edit into a satisfying, conclusive form.
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