Turning Jewels Into Water, the deep-beat ceremonial think-tank that sees the coming together of percussionist/rhythm-prophet Ravish Momin and Haitian experimental electronic engineer Val Jeanty, are set to expose the contaminating realities of our dysfunctional, dystopian present with an infectious blast of Blade Runner-esque retro-future. Half-organic, half-machine, total binary breakdown; their incendiary debut release, Which Way Is Home?, plots an emphatically liberated path. We would do well to follow it.
The duo’s alliance was initiated in the fall of last year in Brooklyn, NY, during a jam session at Pioneer Works, the creative locus for prime multi-disciplinary misadventure, where Momin held down an artist-in-residence slot – but that pact has rapidly evolved into a honed ritual revelation, where disembodied voices rise up amid scattered rim-shots and digital detritus, territories formerly deciphered in the linguistic dreams of hip-priest poet Nathaniel Mackey, where Martian phantasms encrypt gnostic cyphers between the tributaries of burnt-down cabling.
Yes, spiritual resurgence resides at the bursting cyborg pulse of this craft: Momin sourcing Indian, North African and Middle-Eastern traditions, liberated artefacts from a childhood spent in Mumbai and Bahrain, as Jeanty draws on her native vodou, communicating in cosmic pulse and sine wave from behind the command centre of her turntables. They are the co-pilots of an enchanted émigré vessel, carrying a belly full of outcasts looking for new worlds, wishing away the past for a fresh beginning. The flight-deck console flickers intermittent messages, the mutant dub-thrum of Shackleton (and that whole Skull Disco vibe), Muslimgauze and Hieroglyphic Being filtering dense poly-rhythms through the static-punctuated intercom. This is Afro-Futurism recast as Afro-Electronica. Historical log checks and counter-referencing throws up reams of raw data, paper mills of heredity casting trails back to DJ Olive’s 90s Illbient scene and Momin’s own experiences with everyone from Shakira to venerated AACM alumni. Jazz’s exploratory lineage – from Ornette to Zorn to Matana Roberts – lives on in this music’s creative and open-minded expositions.
Dial into the 1980s amusement-arcade delta of ‘Lights Below The Water’, the post-apocalyptic synth and abused syntax sprawl of the title-cut and set your course for home, anyplace where the absurdist jungle-temples of Raymond Roussel and Brian Catling are being cultivated by the cyber-horrors of Shinya Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo and the mischief-making syntax-gremlins of Kenji Siratori’s Burroughsian novel Blood Electric. Which way’s home? Take a tumble through a telescope. Pick your own planet. Home can be anywhere you make it.
Which Way Is Home? EP features three original tracks, along with two remixes by Nyege Nyege Tapes-affilliated, Kampala-based producers Slikback and Zilla. It’s available June 8, 2018 from FPE Records in VINYL or DIGITAL formats only (no CD version).
credits
released June 8, 2018
Turning Jewels Into Water is: Ravish Momin (electronic drums, live loops, programming), Val-Inc (turntables, electronic drums). Recorded at Pioneer Works Music Studio, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 2017 with engineering assistance from Justin Frye. Mixed by Alap Momin at Uptown Mixers, Harlem, NYC, Oct 2017. Thanks to Nyege Nyege Tapes for connecting us with Slikback (Nairobi) & Zilla (Kampala). Deep gratitude to FPE Records, Larisa Mann, Tristra Yeager (Rock Paper Scissors PR), and Pioneer Works for their support! Logo, cover art & design by Pana Li (Diana Castro). Mastering by Bob Weston, Chicago Mastering Service. This is FPE Records #19, 2018.
supported by 7 fans who also own “Which Way Is Home?”
My god, what an absolutely incredible Suite. I'll admit, I've struggled to get into Pharoah Sanders due to diving headfirst into some of his most challenging catalogue and that never worked. This is the perfect place to restart. Floating Points is new for me and I can honestly say I've never heard synthesizer music this lush and organic before. the LSO is just perfect. This is one of those albums that any serious music fan needs in their life. The perfect swan song for the great Pharaoh! 5/5 ClassyMusicSnob
supported by 6 fans who also own “Which Way Is Home?”
Intriguing, enchanting and terrifying all at once. To me it's the perfect soundtrack I'd envision for waking up in a strange nation and not knowing the name of the place, or any contextual understanding about the culture, or even remembering how you got there in the first place. It has the capacity to be a negative or positive experience in equal measure, a testament to the two talented women behind this record. Ben Harris
supported by 6 fans who also own “Which Way Is Home?”
I was brought here after listening to a live performance of Makaya's on you tube. I instantly loved the song Holy Lands so much that I had to see if the album version was the same rendition as the live one. Then I listened to the whole album! Universal Beings is a just a groove... It's a mix of traditional and something new, very nice. pandr1900
Hyperdub continues their winning streak with the latest from MHYSA, which slams together hip-hop and experimental electronics. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 7, 2019
Expansive, meditative electronics from San Francisco’s Sage Caswell using minimalist arrangements to fully hypnotize. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 3, 2016
supported by 6 fans who also own “Which Way Is Home?”
they picked the cotton that saved the world. that picked cotton propelled u.s. economy; a unique capitalist setup. (though anglo saxon colonizers are not unique.) so many pop stars and hip hop billboard mainstays trumpet u.s. capitalism ad nauseam; or escapism & distraction.
"Don't Die," also powerful.
"i don't believe they lies. don't believe their truth, need they heads for proof" -- that's direct and powerful.
the violinist Saydah Ruz stands out here, i think. Jeremy Leaming