| 1 | 15.3.26 | 38:43 |
Deeply atmospheric set from Berlin-based, Egyptian musician Assyouti, reworking the score for Carl Theodor Dreyer's seminal 1928 film The Passion of Joan of Arc. Matching the heightened expressivity of Dreyer's masterpiece is no easy feat, but Assyouti's skilful adaptation manages it, becoming less an alternative soundtrack than a heartfelt evocation of the film's astonishingly memorably imagery.
Voices and orchestral fragments are slowed, looped and eroded to the point of rupture, shifting from accompaniment to textural matter that flares and falls to ash as distortion and decay quietly overtake the image. Throughout, a richly expansive chorus teeters on the precipice between the spiritual and the sepulchral, the human and the synthetic.
It's hard not to get swept away with it all; this is music to get lost in. The set's near 40-minute runtime stretches from featherlight, angelic tones to a coruscating density. At times we sense things straining at the limits of the speakers themselves - not so much a matter of volume as an abundance of scope. This is sound-craft on a very broad sonic canvas indeed.
--
Recorded by Billy Steiger
Mixed and mastered by Oli Barrett
Born and raised in Egypt’s crowded, disordered capital Cairo, Assyouti is among his generation’s most distinct and unapologetic voices. Juggling hypermodern bass mutations, warped dancefloor snaps and percussive club experiments, he draws energy from the chaotic stimulus he grew up engulfed by, moving fluidly between supercharged, frenetic feverisms and moments of introspective emotional hypnosis, usually weaving (in and out of) both creating high-pressure narratives fueled by a sense of theatrical disorientation.
Since relocating to Berlin in 2021, Assyouti has appeared at renowned festivals including Unsound, Berlin Atonal, CTM, Intonal, and Uganda’s Nyege Nyege. In 2024 he founded No_Stone, an event series and cultural platform reflecting his commitment to expansive, cross-pollinated adventurous music. He has released on labels such as DAWN, Hundebiss, High Digital, Shepard Tone, PAYNOMINDTOUS, and a slew of other imprints.
