Spring Break
Nettle chafes at traditions
by Wei Huan Chen
Staff Writer
Arts | 3/24/09
Posted online at 11:47 PM EST on 3/23/09
/ Last updated at 1:58 AM EST on 3/23/09
Last Saturday, an enigmatic combination of cultural and artistic diversity graced Slosberg Recital Hall. Barcelona-based Arabic/African folk-electronic fusion group Nettle entranced more than 100 listeners with music unlike anything heard before. It was the group's first official performance in the United States.
Nettle: Music for a Nu World featured DJ/rupture, interviewed last week in JustArts, along with Moroccan violinist Abdelhak Rahal, singer and guembri player Khalid Bennaji, cellist Brent Arnold, percussionist Grey Filastine and visual artist Daniel Perlin. The concert, part of the MusicUnitesUS World Music series, was the final event of Nettle's three-day residency that included lectures and workshops prior to Saturday's performance.
The type of music Nettle plays is not easily described. As far as words go, they blend acoustic traditional Arab and African folk songs with electronic hip-hip/trance style drum loops. Rahal and Arnold play a lyrical, somber melody while Bennaji accompanies with traditional Moroccan guembri and Filastine fills in the space with sparse, thoughtful beats. DJ/rupture suddenly enters with a drastic and unnatural sound effect that perhaps causes listeners to wince. Eventually, the audience realizes the distortion and hard bass beats are no longer just an opposing force to the violin solo, but they are in some wild way, a complement.
And even if there is no moment of "Oh, this makes sense," Nettle keeps the listener wondering. Why is this dissonance so compelling? What is the effect of expressing two completely different sounds as one song?
Nettle began the concert with "El Lebrijano," a melancholy Arabian duet between Rahal and Arnold. Perlin, who projected images on a screen behind the musicians, complemented the tune with animated doves flying in sunlight. DJ/rupture made his entrance with an electric loop, which the instrumentalists embraced by entering into improvisation. Arnold's cello lines were distinct and matched the energy of the beats.
Nettle: Music for a Nu World featured DJ/rupture, interviewed last week in JustArts, along with Moroccan violinist Abdelhak Rahal, singer and guembri player Khalid Bennaji, cellist Brent Arnold, percussionist Grey Filastine and visual artist Daniel Perlin. The concert, part of the MusicUnitesUS World Music series, was the final event of Nettle's three-day residency that included lectures and workshops prior to Saturday's performance.
The type of music Nettle plays is not easily described. As far as words go, they blend acoustic traditional Arab and African folk songs with electronic hip-hip/trance style drum loops. Rahal and Arnold play a lyrical, somber melody while Bennaji accompanies with traditional Moroccan guembri and Filastine fills in the space with sparse, thoughtful beats. DJ/rupture suddenly enters with a drastic and unnatural sound effect that perhaps causes listeners to wince. Eventually, the audience realizes the distortion and hard bass beats are no longer just an opposing force to the violin solo, but they are in some wild way, a complement.
And even if there is no moment of "Oh, this makes sense," Nettle keeps the listener wondering. Why is this dissonance so compelling? What is the effect of expressing two completely different sounds as one song?
Nettle began the concert with "El Lebrijano," a melancholy Arabian duet between Rahal and Arnold. Perlin, who projected images on a screen behind the musicians, complemented the tune with animated doves flying in sunlight. DJ/rupture made his entrance with an electric loop, which the instrumentalists embraced by entering into improvisation. Arnold's cello lines were distinct and matched the energy of the beats.
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