نه (no) by David Wallraf
David Wallraf returns to Brachliegen following 2022’s НЕТ ВОЙНЕ – and subsequent releases on Karlrecords and Falt – with NO, a new collection of anarchist noise-dub in solidarity with oppressed peoples.
Across the four tracks of NO, drum machines rattle unerringly as radiophonic voice fragments shift in the mix and deep-steppers-style baselines circle below. Emerging from a gale of static, acid bass is meticulously throttled by buzzsaws whilst a spectral choir laments the wreckage of this time. Debris is scattered across the plain before landing in a howl of anguish; picking up the detritus, Wallraf twists the haunted shards to craft a dubbed out industrial flux which confronts both the violence of our time and that which preceded it.
Bringing to mind WESTERN WORKS classics like TIME HIGH FICTION or POW WOW, NO mixes precise rhythms and controlled washes of noise and feedback into a relentless half hour of driving murk siphoned from the hellscape.
NO draws inspiration from Heinrich Heine’s 1844 poem ‘The Silesian Weavers’. For Wallraf, the three-fold curse is an age-old – and crucially – perpetual international struggle against God, masters and the concept of ‘fatherland’. The artist states that the revolt that erupted in Iran after the murder of Mahsa Amini and the global solidarity with the Jin Jiyan Azadi protests incited the political/creative motivation for NO.
While the revolt in Iran has since been silenced, Wallraf reminds us that it remains ongoing and should not be forgotten. The four tracks obliquely incorporate heavily processed samples of an Iranian pop song from the 1970s – prior to the establishment of the 'Islamic Republic' – as well as recordings from the Mahsa Amini protests which began in September 2022. The release is positioned by the artist as a journey “through a dark place”, with the concluding ‘no fatherland’ conceived as a utopian reverie – of “stepping out into a changed landscape in the early morning”.
Wallraf dedicates the release to all people keeping up the fight against oppression. Discussing the genesis of the album – as a response to the dire situation currently experienced by people in Iran and Afghanistan – Wallraf explains:
"Since the protests in Iran of 2022 have been suppressed by the government of the ‘Islamic Republic’ and since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, western media have by large turned a blind eye to the situation in both countries. Anybody perceived as a threat by the respective regimes – women, LGBTQ+ people, non-religious or non-Islamic persons, anyone in any form of oppositions – is in great danger of losing their freedom or life. This doesn't mean that the fights for a free society and against political Islam in both countries have ended.
The Federation of Anarchism Era is a group that is active in both countries. They organize(d) local struggles both in Iran and Afghanistan, translate and distribute anarchist literature and publish news on its website and various social media channels. Since 2021 they managed to help the escape of several people from the reach of the Taliban. On the local level, members of the federation participated in the uprisings in Iran after the murder of Mahsa Amini in police custody in Iran.
The groups organised in the Federation of Anarchism Era operate decentralised but united in the goal of fighting the fascist theocracies governing their respective countries. Internationalism, feminism, atheism and a pro-LGBTQ+ stance are indispensable parts of their struggle.
Since the groups organised in the Federation of Anarchism are at this point able to sustain themselves, they have closed all donations. Any non-monetary support is welcome. Get in touch, inform yourself, become part of the struggle. The logo of the Federation of Anarchism Era has been reproduced with their kind permission."
In solidarity, Brachliegen will donate all profits generated from NO to SDS: Solidarity Detainee Support, a grassroots abolitionist visiting group working to break the isolation of UK immigration detention.
SDS linktree: https://shorturl.at/5tc56
Tracklist
| 1. | A Threefold Curse | 9:52 |
| 2. | No God | 4:36 |
| 3. | No Masters | 4:44 |
| 4. | No Fatherland | 8:43 |
