Franziska Buhre (ed.)
Klangteppich V Magazin
Festival für Musik der iranischen Diaspora

Editorial Support: Hannes Liechti
Design: MüllerValentini – Agentur für Markendesign
Copy Editing: Angus Finlayson, Tash Siddiqui, Meredith Slifkin, Tucker Wiedenkeller

Since 2021, Norient has been publishing an Online Special together with Klangteppich, the Berlin-based festival for music from the Iranian diaspora. In the meantime, this publication has developed into an archive of lively perspectives on contemporary music-making in Iran and the Iranian diaspora. 

The texts have been created as an invitation to festival artists and other authors to deepen their own narratives and meaningful historiographies of exchange between Iran and the world. 

With this Special, we want to raise awareness of the complex realities in which diasporic artists work. The fifth festival edition is now an opportunity to collect a selection of previous and new texts in a printed magazine.

Table of Contents:

Franziska Buhre und Hannes Liechti: «Prolog»
Impressionen Klangteppich I 2018 (Photo Series)
Shayan Navab: «And Somewhere I’ve Heard the Screams Before» (Short Essay)
Sophie Grobler: «Our Homeland» (Short Essay)
Amin Hashemi: «On the History of Iranian Popular Music» (Short Essay)

Impressionen Klangteppich II 2019 (Fotoserie)
Shaahin Peymani: «One Way Passage to Tehran» (Short Essay)
Franziska Buhre, Hadi Bastani: «Listening Is at the Heart of What I Do» (Interview)
Erum Naqvi: «Diaspora Comes Home» (Round Up)
Arshia Samsaminia: «Making Persian Music More Accessible to Outsiders» (Music Theory)

Impressionen Klangteppich III 2021 (Photo Series)
Franziska Buhre: «Bass Drums, Cowbells, Tambourines» (Essay)
Ali Kamrani: «Lass mich mit Hass nicht allein» (Gedicht)
Tanasgol Sabbagh: «Dard I Door» (Poetic Text)
Pardis Zarghampour: «Wann gehen wir zurück?» (Essay)

Impressionen Klangteppich IV 2022 (Fotoserie)
Nikan Khosravi: «Being on the Right Side of History» (Essay)
Shabnam Parvaresh: «Blinde Passagiere» (Essay)
Matthias Küntzel: «Der Rundfunk als Waffe. Die Persisch-sprachige Nazipropaganda und ihre Folgen» (Essay)

With contributions by Hadi Bastani, 
Franziska Buhre, 
Sophia Grobler, 
Amin Hashemi,
Ali Kamrani, 
Nikan Khosravi, 
Matthias Küntzel, 
Erum Naqvi, 
Shayan Navab, 
Shabnam Parvaresh, 
Shaahin Peymani, 
Tanasgol Sabbagh, 
Arshia Samsaminia
and Pardis Zarghampour

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Dear Friends,

We are happy you invite you to an open-air summer evening with lectures, readings, and a music performance to launch our newest Norient Book Politics of Curatorship on June 29 at Motto Books Berlin from 19:00 onwards.

In essays, academic texts, photo essays, poems, and short comments by 32 writers, artists, journalists, and scholars from all over the world, this volume attempts to encourage different approaches to increase diversity and equality in curatorship within the cultural industry.  

For our Berlin release party, we have invited the Berlin-based curator and book contributor Andrea Goetzke & the activist and DJ Ari Robey-Lawrence for a panel discussion, the musician Tatiana Heuman aka Qeei to play an exclusive music performance, and the sound artist Lendl Barcelos and Norient founder Thomas Burkhalter (both contributors) for remote readings in the lovely courtyard of Motto Books Berlin. Moderated by Carla J. Maier and Philipp Rhensius.

Expect an engaging evening with critical questions, challenging sounds and refreshing drinks. Co-moderated by Norient Books editor and Sound Studies researcher Carla J. Maier and Norient editor and writer/musician Philipp Rhensius.

Dear Friends,

We are excited to invite you to the finissage event of Lena Pozdnyakova’s “Hunting-Gathering” exhibition, featuring live performances by Eldar Tagi, Lena Pozdnyakova, and Stas Shärifullin (HMOT). The evening also marks the release of New r Age, ME003 (Motto Editions) by Eldar Tagi, Lena Pozdnyakova, and Japanese-American multi-instrumentalist & composer Patrick Shiroishi, based in Los Angeles.

Organised by Liza Kin.

Join us on Tuesday, June 27th, at 7:30 PM at Motto Books Berlin.

Eldar Tagi, a multi-instrumentalist and composer originally from Kazakhstan, is now based in Berlin, Germany. His live improvised performances use a range of instruments, including computers, field recordings, analog modular synthesizers, daxophone, guitars, other stringed instruments, found objects, and self-made sound-makers.

Lena Pozdnyakova, an artist, curator, and researcher from Almaty, Kazakhstan, explores the culture-nature dichotomy, the Anthropocene, and the boundary between life and art in her collaborative projects and research. She is also 50% of thezwo duo with Eldar Tagi.

Stas Shärifullin, aka HMOT, is a Basel-based musician, researcher and artist working with sound and decoloniality. Born in Central Siberia, with Bashqort roots, Stas is studying the political potential of various musical and listening practices through live performances, lectures, interventions and sound installations focused on the issues of extractivism, identity-based oppression, collective memory and militant (sonic) ethnography: action-as-research, research-as-action.

We hope to see you at Motto Books on Tuesday, June 27th at 7:30 PM for an exciting evening of live performances and art.

Side A: 
Quantum Echoes Pt. 1……..10.44 
Quantum Echoes Pt. 2……..8.42 

Side B: 
The Spirit Channel Pt. 1……..11.24 
The Spirit Channel Pt. 2……..8.54 

Patrick Shiroishi Alto Saxophone, Voice 
Lena Pozdnyakova – Amplified Objects 
Eldar Tagi – Serge and Ciat-Lonbarde synthesizers, Daxophone, Shtar 

Production, Mastering – Eldar Tagi 
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA July 11, 2021 

Cover Design: Lena Pozdnyakova 
Image Source: Painting by Liza Kin (“Eine Linie” series) 

Motto Editions

‘New r Age’ is the follow-up collaborative album from composers and improvisers Eldar Tagi and Patrick Shiroishi. This time around, they’re joined by interdisciplinary artist and researcher Lena Pozdnyakova, bringing a fresh twist to their creative partnership. The recording took place on a sunny afternoon on July 11th, 2021, in a cozy apartment in Los Angeles’ Rampart Village—a place Tagi and Pozdnyakova used to call home for several years before moving to Berlin.

In this recording, the trio used a broad range of sounds. Shiroishi contributed his expert alto saxophone skills, sometimes blending his voice with the music. Tagi experimented with a variety of instruments such as the daxophone and Shtar, as well as Ciat-Lonbarde and Serge synthesizers. Pozdnyakova, on the other hand, added her unique touch by incorporating noises from amplified everyday objects.

The result is a blend of sounds that shift and change in intensity, keeping listeners on their toes. While the raw energy of the improvised performances is still front and center, additional layers of electronic tones and careful post-processing give the recording an extra amount of density and dimension. So, sit back and enjoy this unique sonic experience that “New r Age” offers.

About the artists:

Patrick Shiroishi is a Japanese-American multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Los Angeles.

Lena Pozdnyakova is a Kazakhstan-born interdisciplinary artist and researcher currently based in Berlin, Germany.

Eldar Tagi is a Kazakhstan-born multi-instrumentalist and composer currently based in Berlin, Germany.

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Dear friends,

We’re pleased to welcome you to an enchanting evening filled with poetry and music at our courtyard, this coming Friday, June 16th, from 18:30 onwards.

We’ll begin the evening with the remarkable Robert Stastny, a Berlin-inspired artist, who’ll read out pieces from his acclaimed Portraits. He’ll also give us an exclusive glimpse into his latest works. Following Robert’s spellbinding readings, we’ll transition into a vibrant musical performance by Yellow Hotel.

Poetry is an adventure, in itself. A voyage to somewhere, where the world of men and women – and anything you want to be – has less of an influence.

Music connects onto poetry naturally, Yellow Hotel is Roy Estel Hughes, recently transplanted from Austin to Berlin, and Robert.

Together we will travel – from poetry, to music, to somewhere else.

So, come join us at Motto for a relaxed evening filled with amusing poetry, music, books, and refreshing drinks. We can’t wait to see you there!

»Chromacolor« is one of those records that immediately feels like home even though it is hard to locate stylistically. Written and recorded by Hanno Leichtmann in Berlin and Madeira between 2020 and 2022, it draws on rhythmic minimalism as a guiding principle and might call to mind organic, instrument-based ambient music, but also incorporates jazzy moments as well as Annie Garlids multi-layered vocals that permeate through these nine pieces.

The foundation for Leichtmann’s Chromacolor project was laid when the prolific Berlin-based producer, musician, and drummer borrowed a vibraphone and a Fender Rhodes from two friends. Combining their unique sonic affordances with those of a Guitaret, an electric lamellophone, he further expanded his sound palette by inviting other musicians—Anthea Caddy, Sabine Vogel, Tobias Delius, Els Vandeweyer, Sabine Ercklentz, Mike Majkowski, Andrei Ladeishchikov, Oona Farchy, Gonçalo Caboz as well as Rafael and Hugo Andrade—to play small but vital parts in the production of the album.

The opener »Kisses and Wine« masterfully sets the tone for an album that is as inviting as it is challenging. Working with relaxed repetitive rhythms, Garlid’s anthemic vocals and a sprinkle of saxophone and flute tones courtesy of Delius and Vogel, respectively, as well as tender piano notes played by Leichtmann, it evokes a lot with only few means: a certain melancholy, but also an elevated atmosphere that feels both exuberant and restrained. Leichtmann’s elegant study of the power of repetition, minute rhythmic shifts and subtle use of melodic and harmonic elements creates ambiguities and polyvalences like these throughout the entire record, up until its understated finale, aptly titled »A Beautiful Day«—a drone-jazz piece, if you will, both longing and joyful. As an album, »Chromacolor« is hard to pigeonhole, but rich and rewarding. All it takes is immersing yourself in it.

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Dear Friends,

We are happy to invite you about a special event coming up that we’re certain will pique the interest of those who delight in the fusion of music, video art, and performance.

X-IMG presents a program of audio-visual excess and dark dance music on May 18th at Ohm, Berlin.

Jubal Brown and Tasman Richardson, who recently awed us with a stunning reading and performance at our bookstore, are now set to light up the stage.

Find out more about the event here

Dear friends, 

We are pleased to share with you Motto’s April 2023 Music Mix, published on the occasion of the exhibition “STEPPUBLISHER” organized by Ho King Man, at Motto Berlin.

Listen to the Watt Chapter 1 mix here

Listen to the Watt Chapter 2 mix here

Listen to the Watt Chapter 3 mix here

A-B features two sound works made in 2022, both recorded and edited in Charlois, Rotterdam. 
Side A, ‘Walk’, is best listened to when going out for a stroll. It is a guided tour with a narrator-companion holding an essayistic monologue about how we observe the world and ourselves while walking. Side B, ‘Sticks and Bells’, is a pastoral play choreographed for an array of 12 cowbells and 12 walking sticks, which tells the story of a conflict between a group of hikers and a herd of cows. The riso-printed libretto to this instrumental piece is published with the tape.

credits

released February 16, 2023 

All sounds recorded in Charlois, Rotterdam. 

Printed at KIOSK Rotterdam, bound at De Boog Rotterdam. 

A big thanks to the performers of Sticks and Bells: Ash Kilmartin, Bobby Sayers, Bruno Neves, Claudia Schouten, Ghislain Amar, Kate Price, Kirsten Van Lienden, Lisa Meijer, Małgorzata Miśniakiewicz, Marie Saladin, Marloes de Vries, Matt Plezier and Ronja Calle. 

Further thanks to Ash Kilmartin, Flip Driest and Frédéric Van de Velde.

Shell-printed cassette with a riso-printed cover. Includes the libretto to Sticks and Bells. Hand-printed, cut and bound at KIOSK and De Boog Rotterdam. Edition of 50. 

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arbitrary presents Dissolvè / Scillions by Antoine Hubineau. Derived from the same series of compositions, Dissolvè and Scillions are drawn from modular synthesizer recordings which have been reworked, treated and composed in the computer.

Dissolvè is a mosaic which is in constant motion. The inner details are guided by an outer structure which act as a kind of rhythmic subtraction. It is destabilised to the point where it fractures, from the macro to the micro level; abstracting a filigree from the original rhythm.

Scillions breaks an initial path into several directions which create new paths. Directional blur in harmonic motion makes it difficult to predict the outcomes. Contrary movements, synchronisation and desynchronisation build and break the relations between these new paths. Finally, altered versions of these new directions give some familiarity, while adding to the ambient disorder.

Based in Latillé (France), Antoine Hubineau works in the electronic music field, as a composer, musician, teacher and co-founder of the Sillages residency. His practice is focused on sound synthesis, which become alternately pseudo-acoustic instruments, abstract matter and surreal spaces. In his compositions, he makes the most of the cracks between free pulsation and collateral rhythms, between harmonic stability and sound spectrum tearings.

Written & produced by Antoine Hubineau, Saint-Etienne (France), 2020. Tombak recordings: thanks to Cinna Peyghamy. Mastered and cut by Kassian Troyer at D&M, Berlin. Cover artwork by Morgan Cuinet. Layout by Mads Emil Nielsen.

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