Set for April 8, ‘Peace Carnival’ EP is Morphine Records’ first release in a year. In this ocation, Palestine’s Muqata’a, French-Irish Zoë McPherson, and Lebanon’s Rabih Beaini have merged their creative forces to remix the Belgian/Iraqi band Use Knife’s album, ‘The Shedding Of Skin’, a collective exploration of survival instincts, refuge, and leaving war behind.
Tracklist.
A1 / 1. To Feed The Gentry Feat. Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Rabih Beaini Edit)
B1 / 2. Ptolemaic (Zoë Mc Pherson Remix)
B2 / 3. Coupe d’état (Muqata’a مقاطعة Remix)
Artist. Use Knife
Title. Peace Carnival
Cat#. DOSER045
Format. Vinyl 10″/Digital
Label. Morphine Records
Release date. April 8 2024
Pre order Vinyl: Bandcamp
In an inspiring collaboration that unites artists from different corners of Europe and the Middle East, Palestine’s Muqata’a, French-Irish Zoë McPherson, and Lebanon’s Rabih Beaini have merged their creative forces to remix the Belgian/Iraqi band Use Knife’s album, ‘The Shedding Of Skin’, a collective exploration of survival instincts, refuge, and leaving war behind.
Set for April 8, ‘Peace Carnival’ EP is Morphine Records’ first release in a year. Following acclaimed releases by artists like Pauline Oliveros, Pierre Bastien, and Senyawa, the EP continues the label’s nearly two-decade-long tradition of cross-cultural dialogue.
The journey of ‘The Shedding Of Skin’ began in the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic at Ghent’s VIERNULVIER art center residency, where artists including Iraqi percussionist Saif Al-Qaissy, Stef Heeren and Kwinten Mordijck from the dark folk band Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat, as well as the talented multidisciplinary artist and scenographer Youniss Ahamad, came together to form Use Knife, later joined also by Jerusalem In My Heart’s Radwan Ghazi Moumneh. The project quickly gained the attention of prestigious platforms like BBC Radio 6 and The Quietus in 2022, documenting the universal resonance of Use Knife’s message.
Transformed into a captivating live show, ‘The Shedding Of Skin’ has enthralled audiences at esteemed festivals like Le Guess Who?, Sonic City, and is anticipated to do the same at Roadburn. Youniss Ahamad’s visual artistry, which involves dynamically shifting and reassembling abstract images and text across three separate gauze cloths, has added a profound layer of mystique and intrigue, obscuring the band and elevating the performance to an immersive experience.
Praised by The Quietus for its vibrant and wholehearted performances, Use Knife has been described as an electrifying live act that fully engages its members and audience alike. Their sound, dubbed ‘electronic outsider music’, is celebrated for its ability to immerse the audience in a hypnotic state, blurring the lines between a dreamlike trance and an exhilarating sensory experience.
Further extending Use Knife’s influence, Palestine’s Radio AlHara regularly hosts Use Knife’s ‘Feeding the Gentry’ show, with NTS Radio and Rinse FM occasionally re-airing the program, thus broadening the band’s international reach and impact.
One year later, in the lead-up to the Gaza crisis, Use Knife returned with ‘Sowieso F***ed’, a provocative anthem characterized by its chaotic blend of samples and sounds, raising awareness concerning the crisis in Palestine and Gaza.
The forthcoming ‘Peace Carnival’ EP, releasing on April 8, will challenge and expand the narrative around peace through its percussions, glitches, distortions, and Muslimgauze-esque minimalism to rethink and transform perceptions of justice and freedom.
Use Knife is Stef Heeren, Kwinten Mordijck and Saif Al-Qaissy
Mastered by Rashad Becker
Graphic design by Jef Cuypers
Arabic lettering by Farah Fayyad
Distributed by Rush Hour
DOSER045 – All rights reserved
(P)+(C) 2024 Morphine Records
morphinerecords.com
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