Sublime Frequencies Communiqué: 2012

04 December 2012

NEW RELEASES OUT NOW: THE DIVINE RIVER DVD and KOUDEDE 7"

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KOUDEDE
GUITARS FROM AGADEZ
Vol. 6

SF076 EP

The second 7" from Koudede for Sublime Frequencies and the sixth volume in the now-legendary Guitars from Agadezseries. The circumstances surrounding these recordings are the stuff of which legends are made: In January 2012, a major insurgency brewing in the far north of Mali turned Timbutku's Festival au Désert into a heavily fortified spectacle. Just one day after the festival, rogue Tuareg rebels launched a full takeover of northern Mali, armed to the teeth with weapons from the Libyan war that ended in the murder of Col. Gadaffi, the spiritual father of the Tuareg in their struggle with the surrounding governments. By the time Koudede's group made it back to the capital city of Bamako -- with Sublime Frequencies' Hisham Mayet in tow -- discord had flared between the mostly Bambara ethnic south and the Tuareg community in the capital region. With a Tuareg exile already in progress, Koudede decided after much hesitation to follow through with a live concert at Toumast -- the Tuareg compound in Bamako -- in defiance of advice that all Tuareg should leave the city immediately. Recorded on location at Toumast by Hisham Mayet in January 2012, these two tracks are a scorching distillation of the urgency and fire in Koudede's music: the pure sound of his people and their constant struggles. Limited edition of 700 copies.
p.s. With deep regret, Sublime Frequencies is saddened to confirm that on October 28th, 2012, Koudede was pronounced dead from a fatal accident on the road back to Niger from a gig in Burkina Faso. This news was delivered the same day as the test pressing was approved for this release. His legacy will live on through his music. RIP Koudede!

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THE DIVINE RIVER:

CEREMONIAL PAGENTRY IN THE SAHEL

Directed by Hisham Mayet

SF075 DVD

Sublime Frequencies announces a new film by Hisham Mayet: The Divine River: Ceremonial Pageantry in the Sahel. Condensed from 40 hours of footage shot between 2007 and 2012, The Divine River is an exhilarating, hallucinatory, harrowing record of music, ritual, life, and landscape along the Niger River -- which the Tuareg call "Egerew n-Igerewen," or "River of Rivers" -- as it winds through Mali and the Republic of Niger. Traversing 300 miles of this transitional zone between the Sahara and the Savanna, The Divine River is not a linear record of a journey so much as a phantasmagoria of visual associations that create their own emotional topography and chronology (always accompanied by music) that blurs the lines between sacred and secular, past and present. Highlights include intimate views of ecstatic dance in the painted houses of the island-dwelling Wogo; the seductive courtship rites and trance vocals of young Wodaabe men; a mesmeric Tuareg and Zarma duet for guitar and molo; Hausa griots enchanting with comsaa strings; Zarma spirit possession ceremonies; and heart-stopping footage of the Dogon mask ritual atop the Bandiagara Escarpment in the village of Endele. True to Sublime Frequencies' "aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience," The Divine River refuses hasty contextualizations and rote interpretations that, far from "explaining" cultural displays, deaden viewers to the presence of mystery. Avoiding the temptation to reduce ritual to a simple matter of ends and means, its silence respects the chasm that separates concepts like "possession" from their lived reality. Rejecting the distractions of an imaginary understanding in favor of simple attention and humility, it traces the portal to deeper knowledge counseled in a centuries-old Sufi prayer: "O Lord, increase my bewilderment." 47 minutes/color; digipack; all-region DVD, NTSC format. Limited one-time edition of 1,000 copies.

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SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations. SUBLIME FREQUENCIES is focused on an aesthetic of extra-geography and soulful experience inspired by music and culture, world travel, research, and the pioneering recording labels of the past including OCORA, SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS, ETHNIC FOLKWAYS, LYRICHORD, NONESUCH EXPLORER, MUSICAPHONE, BARONREITER, UNESCO, PLAYASOUND, MUSICAL ATLAS, CHANT DU MONDE, B.A.M., TANGENT, and TOPIC. SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

07 November 2012

Anthology Film Archives film Screening: Vodoun Gods on the Slave Coast A Film By Hisham Mayet

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SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

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Sublime Frequencies and

Anthology Film Archives
Present:

Vodoun Gods on the Slave Coast

A Film By Hisham Mayet

Sublime Frequencies

50 minutes /2012

Anthology Film Archives

Saturday November 10th, 2012 - 9:00 pm

32 Second Avenue, New York, NY - (212) 505-5181

Part of the Jean Rouch Film Festival

http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/calendar?view=list&month=11&year=2012#showing-39993

Film Screening link

http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/calendar?view=list&month=11&year=2012#showing-40130

Hisham Mayet's exploration of West African possession ceremonies continues in Benin. Benin is the cradle and birthplace of Voodoo. Formally known as the Slave Coast as, most of the slave industry was exported from its shores. Voodoo worship is integral to the every day lives of the people of Benin. This film, shot in 2010 during the country's rich Vodoun celebrations, is an impressionistic lens on the myriad ceremonies that this rich and diverse culture has to offer. Showcasing intimate observations of a variety of Voodoo ceremonies; The cult of Sakpata (god of Pestilence and healing), Egoun dramas shrouded in magisterial costumes, The Secret Police of the Zangbeto night watchmen. This will be the premiere screening of this visual feast.

Opening the program will be an extremely rare glimpse of various possession footage shot between 2004-2010 in Niger by Hisham Mayet.

There will be a Q&A with the filmmaker and his colleague Brian Nowak.

HERE AND ELSEWHERE is a two-part retrospective of over thirty films by and with visionary anthropologist Jean Rouch. New York's Alliance Française hosts the first part of the series, which will revisit several of Rouch’s best-known features as well as seldom-screened works by African colleagues and include a special screening hosted by acclaimed director and screenwriter James Toback. The second part, at Anthology Film Archives, will present a broader selection of treasures ranging from his earliest ethnographic documentaries among Sorko fisherman and Hauka adepts to the edgy freedoms of his late fictions, with special programs of ciné-portraits, a rare showing of his only historical epic, and an exceptional night of films about music and ceremony hosted in conjunction with storied record label/travelers collective Sublime Frequencies.

Here is the Alliance Française program:

http://www.fiaf.org/french%20film/fall2012/2012-11-ct-jean-rouch.shtml

Here is the Anthology program:

http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/series/39985

Here is a standalone link to the SF/Rouch event at AFA:
http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/calendar?view=list&month=11&year=2012#showing-39993

29 October 2012

Koudédé

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES COMMUNIQUÈ

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

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« Ce dimanche 28 octobre 2012, Koudédé nous a quittés trop tôt suite à un tragique accident de la route en rentrant rejoindre ses proches chez lui à Niamey (Niger) après un concert à Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).

Au-delà de son Talent et de ces merveilleux morceaux, nous garderons dans nos cœurs et nos mémoires sa gentillesse, son charisme et tous ces moments partagés simplement avec lui.

Pilier de la musique et de la culture Touarègue, Koudédé a toujours défendu la paix au travers de ses morceaux et de ses mots. Il faut garder la Culture comme il le dit.

Son œuvre perdurera à jamais : « Alam’i, Algharge, Hatimanine, Souvenir… »

Au-delà de la tristesse que nous ressentons tous, nos pensées vont à sa famille, ses enfants et sa mère qu’il chérit, .

Repose en paix »

This Sunday 28th of October 2012, Koudédé left us too soon following a tragic car trash on his way back home to his family in Niamey (Niger), just after his very last show in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).

Beyond his Talent and thesis great master pieces, we will keep in our hearts and minds his kindness, his charisma and all these moments shared with him.

Pillar of the Tuareg music and culture, Koudede has always defended peace through his songs and his words.

Culture must be kept as he said.

His work will endure forever. «' Alam'i, Algharge, Hatimanie, Souvenir...» »

Beyond the sadness we all feel, our thoughts are with his family, his beloved mother and his children.

Rest in peace

27 October 2012

OLIVIA WYATT: FILM SCREENING TOUR DATES

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SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

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OLIVIA WYATT

FILM SCREENING TOUR DATES

Olivia will be at all screenings to answer questions

New Orleans, LA

October 28th

Domino Sound Record Shack Record Shop

screening: Staring into the Sun and The Pierced Heart & The Machete

New York, Ny

free

screening: The Pierced Heart & The Machete

Boston, MA

November 5th

Studio Soto

10 Channel Center St

8pm

screening: Staring into the Sun and The Pierced Heart & The Machete

Biddeford, Maine

November 6th

The Oak and the Axe

Time TBA

screening: Staring into the Sun and The Pierced Heart & The Machete

East Hampton, MA

November 8th

FlyWheel Arts Collective

screening: Staring into the Sun and The Pierced Heart & The Machete

02 September 2012

Olivia Wyatt interview for Greek Blog (in English)

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES COMMUNIQUÈ

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

2/9/12

Olivia Wyatt interview for 06:00 am

06: Can you describe your work for the people that haven't experienced it?

Experiential and experimental ethnographic explorations.

06: Where you did you grow up? Can you describe the neighborhood?

I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. All the kids in the neighborhood were friends and we would run around in the woods behind the house and go crawdad fishing in any creek we could find.

06: Do you have the tendency to work many hours without a break?

I could work 24 hours straight, sleep for an hour and wake up and do it all over again. I have more energy for work than anything else I do, which I think is a little unfortunate actually.

06: What is your parents' profession?

My dad is the Chief Information Officer for the state of Arkansas, prior to that he owned a computer software company in Little Rock and my mom is an oncology social worker for a non for profit cancer treatment center. (By the way, my mom is half- Greek)

06: What equipment did you carry with you during your trip to film Staring Into The Sun?

A Sony HD camera that shoots to mini DV tapes, a Sony TC-D5M audio tape recorder, a Rode NT4 stereo microphone, a Polaroid camera, and a lot of tapes and film.

06: How long did it take you to film it? Who did you have with you? Why did you chose Ethiopia? How open where the people in front of your request to film them?

I was over there for several months filming. I traveled with one translator in the north and another translator in the south and beyond that it was just me. My translator in the south knew all of the truckers because his mom owned a rest stop, so we were able to hitch hike our way through the south on the back of Isuzu trucks with ease.

06: Can you describe the scene with the man that feeds the hyenas? Where you afraid then? How did you feel protected?

There are several men in this area that feed the wild hyenas raw meet each night. This particular gentleman had names for each one of the hyenas he feeds and he summons them at feeding time by whistling and calling out their names. It is incredible to watch them slowly sneak out of the surrounding landscape as he calls them. Fear is not really something I let stop me from doing anything, because then I maybe wouldn’t do anything at all. I think in this situation I wasn’t afraid because he wasn’t afraid and because he had such an incredible bond with these creatures that I couldn’t imagine them turning on him or anyone surrounding him. I even got to feed one of the hyenas myself!

06: Do you have specific filming ethics and if yes can you talk a little bit about it? ( do's and don'ts while filming)

I am as honest as I can be with people about what I am doing, and I hope that my intentions are always translated accurately. I try not to let my presence interfere with any situation I encounter and am so graciously allowed to document and I am as real as I can be with the people whom I film.

06: What do you think that is added to the film Staring Into The Sun in a conceptual way when you keep the context out?

I am allowing people to take their own individual voyage into a country, a community, a ritual. I offer information for what they are witnessing within the book that accompanies the DVD so there is always the opportunity to further understand what is being seen but I am allowing people the choice to view with or without that knowledge. In this way I feel the experience is more enriched, more captivating, more magical.

06: Which is one of your favorite films and why and which is your favorite ethnographic film and why?

Most of my favorite films are ethnographic actually and I can not stop at one so I am going to list a few. Each of them I like for various reasons, but most importantly within each of them you are on a journey to a distant land and witnessing something entirely unique and completely different from the world you live in.

Les Maîtres Fous by Jean Rouch

Secret Egypt by Sheldon Rochlin

Mondo Cane by Paolo Cavara, Franco Prosperi and Gualtiero Jacopetti.

Sans Soleil by Chris Marker

Rivers of Sand by Robert Gardner

06: Do you go to the cinema?

Yes of course!

06: What is beauty for you?

Beauty is all around us, it exists in everything and when we cease to see beauty within our surroundings then we are not living life to the fullest and we are no longer in the present moment. We should be able to see the same thing every day and always appreciate it’s beauty…. every sunrise and sunset is unique.

06: How did you get in touch with Sublime Frequencies? What are the qualities of this record label that you like the most?

I just sent them an email and pitched the idea for the film along with some of my previous work and I got an email back saying they would be into releasing something on the subject matter, so that was enough for me to go over and at least try to bring them something back that they would dig. I have always loved and been inspired by Sublime Frequencies films for the same reasons I listed for liking the ones above. I am really into the lack of context and the experience they provide for the viewer.

06: The film Staring Into The Sun begins with a scene from the Borana tribe singing wells. Can you describe the actual scene and the purpose of the action?

The Borana dig wells deep into the earth and each clan has a designated well. Some wells are 500 years old. The wells have water pools at multiple levels and the clan members create a human ladder from the bottom of one pool to the next in order to bring the water up to a level where the other villagers, cattle and camels can benefit. To motivate one another through the arduous work, they sing beautiful polyphonic songs. I happened to arrive into this Borana village the morning after a heavy rain, so they were in the wells working the water upward. Had I arrived a day earlier the wells might have been too dry to witness such a thing.

06: What was the driving force that made you travel to film Staring Into The Sun? What is it that makes you create?

Initially it was because an ex-boyfriend sent me a link to The Festival of a Thousand Stars, which features most of the 80 diverse ethnic groups in Ethiopia, I was blown away by the music and the unique aspects of each tribe. Then once I pitched the project to SF and got a response that they were interested it was impetus enough to go.

Ever since I can remember I have been reading anthropological books, watching anthropological films, been interested in religion, and always loved to travel by myself to places that many people don't choose to travel to. I believe and have found that within tribal communities there is extensive knowledge of and a symbiotic relationship between the people and their surroundings. Whether it be with plants, animals, or the sea, there’s knowledge so vast and so rich, yet something that I personally am so disconnected from. Most people I know including myself would have to go to school for years--maybe even a lifetime--to learn the information indigenous peoples know almost innately.

With my work I am aiming to preserve these unique cultures in some way, and honestly it is mostly out of the fear that their way of existing will one day become obsolete due to forces beyond their control. Then all of that knowledge, all of their uniqueness, will die along with them. But in the same breath, I know that by documenting cultures like this inspires some spectators to want to go there and see it for themselves. And the more foreign visitors a tribal community has, the more it is likely to change, and that is the last thing on earth I want to happen.

06: When do you get mad?

I think I have the most difficult time when it comes to accepting things beyond my control and when it comes to matters of the heart.

06: What is art?

Anything and everything that people do to express themselves. I find that a lot of people are artists without intentionally making art. Every single person I met in Ethiopia was an artist from their hair, to the clothes and jewelry they made, right down to the gourds they carried water in.

06: Would you be interested to talk a little bit about analog vs. digital photography?

I do everything as analog as possible. If I could always afford to shoot film I would. I have nothing against digital by any means, it is just for what I document and the places I travel to I find that analog is the safer way to go and the best medium for capturing the subject matter I choose.

08 August 2012

STARING INTO THE SUN: Ethiopian Tribal Music 2 LP

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SUBLIME FREQUENCIES PO BOX 17971 SEATTLE WA 98127 USA

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com

A contemporary survey of the tribal music of Ethiopia. Recorded in 2009 by Olivia Wyatt, this double LP showcases an array of mind-blowing sounds from the "land of eternal sunshine." Presented in this visually stunning gatefold are audio examples ranging from remote tribes -- of the Ethiopian highlands, the lower Omo and the Great Rift Valley -- to their electric analogues in the sweaty beerhalls of Addis Ababa. This collection features songs from the Azmari, poet-musicians who play the krar (ancient lyre) and whose song repertoire includes everything from comic improvisation to lyrical elegiac, the Borana whose work songs are a transcendental polyphonic singing that stops time, and the Dirashe whose syncopated panpipes are as otherworldly as anything ever heard. Other selections include music from the Mursi, Druze, Gedeo, Konso, and Tsemay tribes as well as some fine examples of amplified roots music from the capital from the Habesha 2000 Band. This is a limited edition one-time pressing double LP housed in a gatefold full color tip-on sleeve with gorgeous Polaroid shots from Olivia Wyatt.

STARING INTO THE SUN: Ethiopian Tribal Music 2 LP SF074

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