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  • Nablus

    Nablus

    I was asked to participate to interpret recordings from the Nablus project. Different artists were given recordings of Muslim call to prayers and we given the freedom to interpret it. 

    The Nablus Project compilation is a new and supremely unique body of work commissioned by Coco Zoabi and Luke Carrell (editors of Coco's OCD and International Tapes, respectively). The comp features exclusive tracks from Arc Light, Broken Boys, David Kanaga, Fiji Bijoux, Helado Negro, Lee Noble, Meadowlands, MEGAFORTRESS, Missions, and Ñaka Ñaka. Each composition is built around the same amazing field recording of a Muezzin's call to prayer in the Palestinian city of Nablus. 

    All proceeds from the compilation go to charity. 

    The Story 

    During a recent film shoot in Nablus, French sound recordist Pierre Gauthier stayed one night in a house in the Nablus mountains above the city, where he recorded the old city mosque's Muezzin (the chosen person at a mosque who leads the call to prayer). The shape of the valley in which Nablus rests creates a massive composite reverb effect that gives his recitation an otherworldly feel as it booms out from the mosque in the city's center. 

    We (Coco Zoabi, Editor of Coco's OCD, and Luke Carrell, Editor of International Tapes) were blown away by the recording, so we invited hand picked group of artists to create tracks using the field recording as a sample. What they came back with is a diverse and stunning array of tracks that's some of our favorite music we've heard all year. 

    Because of religious taboos, the adhan (call to prayer) has been largely kept away from reinterpretation by popular culture. Rather than aiming to be sacrilegious and demeaning, we hope this project will help spread awareness of an amazing piece of global culture that often goes unheard or is brutally caricatured. It is the only thing that's been left intact in a town scarred by bombings and occupation.

    credits

    released 22 May 2012 
    Thanks to Pierre Gauthier for recording the original sample. Please support all the artists and bands who participated in this project. It wouldn't be possible without their talents: 

    Algodón Egipcio: www.algodonegipcio.net 
    Arc Light: www.myspace.com/ryangabel 
    Broken Boys: brokenboys.bandcamp.com 
    David Kanaga: davidkanaga.com 
    Fiji Bijoux: www.fijibijoux.com 
    Helado Negro: heladonegro.bandcamp.com 
    Lee Noble: leenoble.bandcamp.com 
    Meadowlands: soundcloud.com/meadowlands 
    MEGAFORTRESS: megafortress.tumblr.com 
    Missions: missionsinspace.com 
    Ñaka Ñaka: soundcloud.com/naka-naka 

    Art by Coco Zoabi and Luke Carrell