After the unforgettable psychedelic trip Canadians Suuns took us on in May, two of their colleagues and collaborators, Jerusalem In My Heart, will treat us to another audio-visual delight, this time in November! The duo fuses traditional Arabic music and modern electronic compositions into hypnotic sonic adventures, enriching its live performance with projections on 16mm film. They’ll be joined by another duo, minimalist Slovenians balans, who craft an intimate lo-fi ambiance with subtle cheerfulness.
Radwan Ghazi Moumneh and Charles-André Coderre first visited us as Jerusalem In My Heart during the 2015 Sonica festival, when they wowed those gathered in a bunker in downtown Ljubljana with an intimate event, “where everything came together just right”, as described by Radio Študent. At the time, they played their still current second album If He Dies, If If If If If If, released by Constellation Records (Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, Tindersticks, Ought, Colin Stetson, Carla Bozulich, Do Make Say Think …) – an album that, according to Clash, “communicates across the bounds of culture and time” and deserves a high grade of 8/10.
Drawing on and blending influences from both of his homes, Montreal and Beirut, is characteristic of Moumneh’s music in general, infusing his avant-garde, post-rock, at times even droning songs with oriental vitality. In addition to the above-mentioned album, Jerusalem In My Heart’s discography also includes the excellently received debut Mo7it Al-Mo7it and a collaborative record with Suuns, released by Secretly Canadian and simply titled Suuns and Jerusalem In My Heart, combining the best aspects of both acts.
Moumneh’s unique sonic expression is complemented onstage by Coderre’s visuals on 16mm film. The duo will visit Šiška right before heading off to renowned Dutch festival Le Guess Who? as one of the curators of this year’s programme. The passionate, intense and original reinterpretation of Arabic music in a contemporary context is therefore an experience that is not to be missed.
balans first made their name known to the public in 2014. Following two online albums, documents of their jam-based creative process, the duo released their first physical record bunkerpop in the beginning of this year – “an accomplished and well-conceived product with which balans confidently present their unusual and adorable expression” (Mladina). With the help of a guitar, vocals, bass and synths, the pair set off from their lo-fi improvisational basecamp onto psychedelic expeditions with a retro slant. Their performance will be accompanied by an experimental socially critical film by contemporary Italian artist Alessandro Di Giampietro.
Organisation: Kino Šiška.
