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Jerusalem in My Heart
Qalaq
Constellation - 2021
Michael Panontin
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Qalaq, Radwan Ghazi Moumneh's latest missive as Jerusalem in My Heart, is a stunning array of electronics and electroacoustics that mirrors the beauty and chaos in his homeland of Lebanon. Once the stylish and progressive jewel of the Levant, its capital Beirut especially, the country has since descended into an economic and political basket case, culminating in the massive and mind-boggling explosion in the Beirut port in August 2020.
Qalaq is JiMH's fifth full-length and features a guest collaborator on most of the LP's thirteen tracks. Right from the get-go, it is a stunningly intense ride. 'Abyad Barraq', for instance, opens with a blast of Arabic-tinged feedback and frenetic drumming (by Greg Fox) before settling midway into what appears to be a haunting lament (something Middle Eastern cultures are particularly deft at). Equally interesting - and challenging - is the side one closer 'Ana Lisan Wahad', this one featuring Farida Amadou and Pierre-Guy Blanchard. It's a riveting interplay of buzuk, bass electronics and field recordings that ought to please those familiar with Constellation's back catalogue.
Side two is the story of the Levant, and it is here that its lamentable fate really unfolds. The eight tracks, all named after the album's title, represent a litany of tragedies, Moumneh writes, from "the layered and complex violence" to "the complete and utter failure of the Lebanese sectarian state that drove the economy to a grinding halt, to its disastrous handling of the migrant influx from neighbouring failed states, to the endemic corruption that led to the August 2020 port explosion, to the latest chapter of Palestinian erasure and yet another brutally asymmetrical and disproportionate bombing campaign on Gaza."
Moumneh composed the album as a "bare skeleton" where each artist reinterpreted a track via the internet, which Moumneh then remixed according to his own vision. Some tracks on the second side, like 'Qalaq 1' and 'Qalaq 3', the latter featuring the spoken word poetry of Moor Mother, are sparse and minimal. Fans of more out-there music will probably salivate over the riveting atmospherics of 'Qalaq 7', Moumneh's excellent collab with Tim Hecker that'll have you reaching for the repeat button...or the tonearm if vinyl is more your thing.
Qalaq is admittedly not an easy listen. But those who already know Moumneh's music - or just those of a more open-minded bent - will be richly rewarded for the effort.
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Jerusalem in My Heart
Constellation
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