ListN Up playlists are commissioned by American Composers Forum. Artists are selected by ACF staff (including I CARE IF YOU LISTEN and innova Recordings).
Muyassar Kurdi is a Palestinian-American New York City-based interdisciplinary artist. Her work encompasses sound art, extended vocal technique, performance art, movement, painting, analog photography, and film. Her practice honors the futuristic and ancient through meditative movements and sonic sound explorations. Centered on embodiment with a non-linear approach rooted in improvisation, she explores memory, displacement, and the body in relation to nature.
A few words from Muyassar about her playlist:
In the spirit of liberatory music: sound with no borders. I am imagining a future. This imagination is our liberation. Music is a modality which I find very healing, and holds some of my earliest memories. The power of sound; a heart beat; I can’t help but be reminded of the percussionist Milford Graves. The music is our heart-beats. He had a very rebellious & embodied approach which resonated with me. “Who needs art school? Who needs the music conservatory?” This is what he said at his concert in Harlem, New York where most of the attendees were non-POC conservatory students. It crosses my mind, a question I have for many musicians: who do you play music for?
My upcoming performance For Hind Rajab (October 13th, 2PM), commissioned by ACF, aims to honor Hind and our Indigenous stories. I wanted to perform outside under a bridge in Prospect Park instead of on a fancy stage. I intend to explore this resonant space while also meditating on writings by Lawrence Abu Hamdan in his book Live Audio Essays that speaks on acoustic memories and the drone of warfare.
“For Hind Rajab” Flyer — Muyassar Kurdi
Instead of attending a conservatory, I grew up around music in my childhood. My mother was a folk singer that played classical guitar, and my father had this extensive collection of dubbed cassette tapes of SWANA music labeled in his messy Arabic script and kept in a binder. I took piano lessons for many years, but my favorite times playing the piano were when I put my sheet music away and just improvised. I improvised for hours to the background noise of my mother cooking in the kitchen. I would lose myself in it. This same feeling carries over into the present. It’s a sort of trance. I love the freedom of improvisation. Life: I suppose you can say I made it all up as I went along.
“Third Space” by Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones
This might be one of my favorite bands right now. This song opens with Lester St. Louis on upright bass, and every time I see it live, it gives me the chills, but also I want to dance to it. I really admire that Amirtha Kidambi creates music that reflects the injustices of the world so that there is no separation between life and art. Taking up space in such a way is brave and necessary. Some want to call their music liberatory and “free” yet remain silent and complicit in the midst of crimes against humanity. I have no interest in art or music that doesn’t challenge the status quo.
“Qalaq 9” by Jerusalem in My Heart, w/ Mayss, Mazen Kerbaj, Sharif Sehnaoui, and Raed Yassin
This Qalaq (dismantled orchestra) has inspired me with a mosaic of electronic sounds which has me thinking of the Levant. It reminds me of my childhood, but also has a very futuristic quality – one which reaches for liberation.
“Silvercoat the throng” by Hiro Kone, ft. Muqata’a
This is a sound I want to move to. This is the sound I want to get free to. The walls are falling.
Third Set at the Chapel of the Divine Child, Bethlehem University by Dirar Kalash
Dirar is a multi-instrumentalist, improviser, and composer who is an important voice of resistance in Falastin & beyond. I am reminded of my love for improvisation: while improvising one must remain open, connected, and embrace the spontaneous here and now. I also improvise when I paint, and create from a place of intuition. I don’t predetermine what something will be before my first stroke of color although I have fragments: hints of colors, shapes, form, a fleeting feeling. I let things form organically, slowly taking shape, and revealing itself over time.
Jerusalem by Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
Nothing brings me more joy than solo piano. Emahoy’s music connects deeply – as though it were marking the beginning or ending of (my) life. This particular song is titled Jerusalem (Al-Quds), which is the city where my grandmother was born in Falastin. I am named after her. “Muyassar” means “to make life easy” in Arabic so hopefully, I live up to it.
“Lahn Al Habu” by Abdul Aziz Mohammed Daoud
When I connect to a record, I tend to listen to it nonstop. That is what happened to me and Abdul’s Sudanese Blues record. I was traveling in Greece a couple months ago, and it was all I listened to when I was exploring the Mediterranean landscape. Such a joyful sound that energizes and uplifts my spirit. It also reminds me of my recent trip to Morocco where I picked up a Gnawa tape at this tiny place in the old city. I love these dusty old cassettes which serve as artifacts and memories, Indigenous rhythms and stories.
“Maya” by Ahmed Malek
When I paint, I listen to Ahmed Malek’s music. The entire record puts me in a trance. I can’t seem to stop listening to it. I also love his hypnotizing record The Electronic Tapes.
“.a body in post trauma.” by Dakn
Dakn is not only a Palestinian sound artist, but a really incredible rapper. I listen to a lot of Palestinian rap, it’s poetry to me, the flow of Arabic is simply the best. This ambient track was released on a Palestinian label called Bilnaes led by the visual/sound artist duo Ruanne Abou-Rahme and Basel Abbas who are based in NYC & Falastin. “.a body in post trauma.” swells and drones; it speaks to my diasporic experience.
“Love Theme” from Spartacus by Alex North, Performed by Yusef Lateef
The melody on this song really speaks to my heart. I tend to rebel against melody, but when I listen to Yusef I am pulled back into it.
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