Meira Asher

ARTIST: Meira Asher

COUNTRY: Israel

GENRE: Experimental, Noise, Sprechgesang, Avantgarde, Sound Art 

MORE ABOUT: Composer-performer and image-sound artist Meira Asher, was born in Tel Aviv and lives in The Hague since 1999. Studied Tabla and Dhrupad in Varanasi-India, and traditional drumming, voice and dance of the Ga, Eve and Dagomba people of Ghana, both of which she later taught and performed. BFA in percussion and multidisciplinary arts at California Institute of the Arts (1990). Master in Sonology at the Royal Conservatory, The Hague (2002).

Extreme music and socially/politically-charged messages from one of the most radical, original and uncompromising artists from Israel. Meira Asher has earned a reputation for her unflinching songs of protest that focus on subject matter ranging from incest to Middle Eastern politics, often combining traditional music and scripture with contemporary settings. Having studied percussion and dance in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, Asher has also worked in music therapy for autistic children and taught percussion in several universities in Israel. Her self-produced debut, 1997’s “Dissected”, introduced listeners to her style and subject matter, setting the table for the follow-up. Released two years later, “Spears Into Hooks” focused on the Israel/Palestine issue and was even more caustic, stripping away some of the world music of her previous effort in an attempt to create an electronic opera that combined spoken word and chants with the edgy music.

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY:

- “Face WSLOT (Woman See Lot of Things)” (2004)
- “VA: An Anthology of Noise and Electronic Music – Vol. 2″ (2003)
- “Infantry” (2002)
- “Spears Into Hooks” (1999)
- “Sida (Aids) / My Last Granny EP” (1997)
- “Dissected” (1997)

SELECTED VIDEOS:

SELECTED PRESS REVIEWS AND QUOTES:

“Although a painful and intense listening experience, cannot amount to the harshness of the reality it reflects. It will not leave you untouched” (Boomkat.com)

“Beware: this album is a nightmare. An exorcism. Dark voodoo to neutralize malevolent forces, to conjure ghosts from recent and current history. This album is an electronic opera. It’s not a pleasurable listening experience. No nice melodies or easy-going grooves to hang on to, no soothing sounds to lull you into an illusion of serenity, no fun, no escapism. This album is a warning alarm. This album is only for the strong-minded.” (Crammed Discs)

“Asher’s [album] is a fierce, techno-influenced disc, filled with rage and compassion specifically for victims of AIDS and the intifada, but by extension, all who suffer. Her lyrics are delivered in a mixture of English, Hebrew and Arabic – for whether she’s singing about the intifada or about feminine sexuality, Asher wants her message widely heard. The message, if one listens closely to the music, is a plea for tolerance and integration. Asher is effective in this aim, both literally and musically. This disc deserves the wider audience it hopes for, combining a driving force with dextrous and sensual technique. Unsurprisingly, it is a difficult record to classify – it’s not in any folk tradition, although Asher uses a multi-ethnic instrumentation and the vocal lines retain cadences of Middle-Eastern song. It’s a strong, no-holdsbarred record and all the better for it.” (New Internationalist)

“Quite possibly the most disturbing work of art on CD this year… extraordinary self-produced debut album… the fact that she is a woman who has to speak out against oppression and for peace is just her starting point…” (fRoots)

“This is music which combines a driving force with dextrous and sensual technique. An album that stands squarely at crossroads. European, Middle Eastern, Indian African textures and polyrhythms abound. They represent Asher’s own background as a student of percussion and dance in Ghana and India. But there is also a palpable interest in non-national genres: her vision takes in low-level techno and ambigious electronic divergences. There are numerous musicians working today who litter their music with ‘ethnic’ tat as a way of dressing something that is intrinsically dull with a bit of glitter. There are fewer performers who are actively engaged in seeking a method by which several systems of sound may meet in creatively profitable terms. Asher is one.” (The Wire)

“A woman who intones psalms of a radical liturgy. Aids, torture, intifada and sex are dissected with an incisive scalpel in this fascinating debut album. A work of synthesis which incorporates Indian vocal techniques, hypnotical tribal rhythms, hebraic rap, creative electronics and mesmerizing oriental melodies. A record which demonstrates that beauty shall be convulsive or shall not be.” (Ajoblanco)

SELECTED PERFORMANCES:

- REC festival, Teatro Cavallerizza, Reggio Emilia, Italy
- Hiroshima Mon Amour, Torino, Italy
- Ausland, Berlin, Germany
- Teatro Municipal da Guarda, Guarda, Portugal
- Casa das Artes, Famalicao, Portugal
- Rote Fabrik, Zurich, Switzerland
- Brakke Grond, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- New Forms Festival, Spui Theater, Den Haag, Netherlands
- Meltdown Festival, Royal Festival Hall, London, UK
- Zeitfluss Festival, Salzburg, Austria
- Words&Voices Festival, Heidelberg, Festival
- Fillmore, Piacenza, Italy
- Teatro di Scandicci, Firenze, Italy
- Grand Theater, Groningen, Netherlands
- New Electronic Serie, Kikker Theater, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Kees van Baren zaal, Den Haag, Netherlands
- B.B.I., Fribourg, Switzerland
- Reithalle, Bern, Switzerland
- Teatro Pasubio, Schio, Italy
- Alter Art, Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Mochvara, Zagreb, Croatia
- Periferias02, Huesca, Spain
- Bolzanopoesia, Bolzano, Italy
- Mercat de les Flors, Barcelona, Spain
- Zeebelt Theatre, Den Haag, Netherlands

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