Sunday Sounds (and Sights)

Sisters With Transistors, Arooj Aftab, Shams Dinn, etc

Photographer: Sophie King

Happy Sunday (or Saturday, wherever in the world you are). I just got back to Wellington from a weekend trip to Auckland for a 30th Birthday and a wedding reception and have a couple of hours spare - so - I figured I might see if I can draw a few things to you attention. Here we go.

WHAT I’VE BEEN WATCHING:

French-American filmmaker and artist Lisa Rovner’s visionary documentary Sisters With Transistors is up for on-demand streaming through Vimeo for the next week. You can rent a stream for 24 hours (here). Framed as the remarkable untold story of electronic music’s female pioneers, composers who embraced machines and their liberating technologies to utterly transform how we produce and listen to music today, it’s a beautiful journey into the lives and worlds of a generation of legends. Clara Rockmore, Daphne Oram, Bebe Barron, Pauline Oliveros, Delia Derbyshire, Maryanne Amacher, Wendy Carlos, Eliane Radigue, Suzanne Ciani, Laurie Spiegel, etc.

I’m not sure if this story is really untold, but with the quality of archival footage Rovner has managed to access and narration from Laurie Anderson, it’s an essential essential essential watch. Once again, you can rent it for streaming (here).

WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:

Arooj Aftab, Vulture Prince (New Amsterdam)

Vulture Prince is Brooklyn-based Pakistani composer Arooj Aftab’s third full-length album and how do I put this? It’s heartbreakingly beautiful. I saw someone describe it as Neo-Sufi music, which is probably about right. Over eight tracks, Arooj’s elegant voice soars over classical minimalism, new age synthesis, jazz and hypnotic electronica in a poetic and devotional style.

“'Vulture Prince' is about revisiting places I’ve called mine,” says Aftab, “places that don’t necessarily exist anymore. It's about people, friendships, relationships—some relationships that were unexpectedly short term, and how to deal with that.”

I’m entranced. I’m hypnotized. I’ve listened to Vulture Prince about six times in two days.

Shams Dinn, (Shams Dinn) شمس دين (Smiling C)

The Morocco-born rapper Shams Dinn must have been one of the coolest guys in Paris’ 1980s hip-hop scene. (Shams Dinn) شمس دين, originally released in 2018, is a collection of released and unreleased material he recorded between 1985 and 1990. Somewhere between hip-hop, raï and boogie, his tracks bounce, bop, shimmer and glow. Luxurious synthesisers, drum machine funk and energetic Arabic raps, what’s not to like? (Shams Dinn) شمس دين is so so so so so much fun.

Kaishandao, Hearsay (self-released)

Aotearoa-born, Chengdu-bassed producer Kaishandao has released ‘Hearsay’, her first track of 2021. Equal parts minimal, house, UK garage and RnB, it’s one of those tracks where the producer really shows off her influences and listening. In her case, that means “weaving a woozy narrative of unlikely bedfellows from ‘00s era DC and Mariah, a crowd-funded Xinjiang rapper and herbman Congo Natty.” Kaishandao has a full EP coming soon. Hopefully I can share more of her story with you.

LOOSE ENDS:

Newly-leaked UFO video is real, confirms Pentagon. Read more over on Dazed (here).

Ici Bientôt is reissuing Nyssa Musique’s minimal/experimental jazz masterpiece Comme Au Moulin (order here)

The sweet scent of connectivity.

FIN.