Daniel Welsch
Im Vergleich zum Vorgänger hat Yara Asmar ihre Soundpalette reduziert. Emotional bespielt sie aber erneut eine große Klaviatur von Trauer bis Hoffnung.
AGAMA
Yara is a local hero of an artist and her music is a conduit to enlightenment. Her production methods are very experimental and diverse. I listen to Yara’s music on a regular basis and truly admire her talent.
October felt like the appropriate time for Yara Asmar to unveil her intimate new album "synth waltzes & accordion laments" - a captivating new collection of home recordings
Acclaimed Lebanese artist Yara Asmar is set to mesmerize listeners once again with her new album, synth waltzes & accordion laments. This eagerly anticipated album, a collection of intimate recordings, provides another glimpse into Yara's world.
The album showcases her ability to channel raw emotion into her music. Vulnerable, intimate and moving these pieces were once again recorded at her home in Beirut using lo-fi recording processes. The sound palette here is richer than on her debut, with more focus on synth work and the warm drone of her grandmother's Hohner Marchesa accordion.
The album is available through all the streaming apps, as digital download and as a limited edition cassette (200 copies worldwide)
Press and reviews for Home Recordings 2018 - 2021:
“…Tiny worlds expand and contract in the palm of Yara Asmar’s hand. These recordings are remarkable in their ability to command attention in the gentlest terms. There are stories to find on this album and new worlds to discover.”
Brad Rose, FOXY DIGITALIS
“…How remarkable: through a series of highly abstract musical compositions, Asmar has communicated volumes about the world we live in...the most beautifully haunting music of the year.”
Pat Padua, SPECTRUM CULTURE
“…an uncommonly rich blend of experimentation, field recordings, and ambient sensibilities across seven tracks...Home Recordings 2018–2021 is a remarkable debut.”
Joseph Neff, THE VINYL DISTRICT
“…a truly dreamy, translucent and amorphous album of delicate classicism, explorative percussion and ambient; an ebb and flow of reverberations and traces of moods, thoughts that literally floats above the clouds and out beyond the Lebanese borders"
Dominic Valvona, MONOLITH COCKTAIL
“Reminiscent of a minuscule music box, these delicate, cinematic recordings might be likened to an album of snapshots capturing life in its most furtive moments. Imagine finding such a music box hidden away in a drawer, somewhere among the personal belongings of a soul that has moved on, leaving only scattered traces of its existence behind to be discovered and interpreted by others, never revealing their true meaning, but nonetheless inspiring a world of speculation. And as the revolving cylinder begins to play its soulful, mechanical tune, a multitude of emotions arise and the mind sets sail.”
Lev Nordstrom, GREEDY FOR BEST MUSIC
"These tracks hang on the edge of wakefulness, with the edges of diurnal reality melting into dreamt synthesiser waltzes, the chimes of deconstructed music boxes and accordion wash. Home Recordings resides at that weird periphery of our imaginative abilities, where playful endearment can so easily teeter into something more unsettling."
Jack Chuter, ATTN MAGAZINE
credits
released October 6, 2023
all music written, recorded and played by yara asmar at her home in beirut, lebanon.
poetry: majd chidiac
mastering: marc teare
photography: lynn sheikh moussa
this production was made possible through a grant from Culture Resource
supported by 62 fans who also own “synth waltzes and accordion laments”
This album is truly one of my favorite as it makes me think about the act of forgetting something when you don't want to. You can't control it and makes you feel miserable. This truly makes me enjoy the memories I can remember because there will be a point in time where it will be gone. tenr3d
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A collection of classical-drone loops that soothe and mesmerize, the latest from One Far West is the kind of music that hypnotizes you. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 17, 2022
supported by 50 fans who also own “synth waltzes and accordion laments”
I love these women. the voices mesh together perfectly; also the world music is exceptional. I have all of their albums and they're all excellent. Give them a listen. Steve Lake