Brute (album)

''Brute'' is the second studio album of Kuwait musician Fatima Al Qadiri. A protest album inspired by events such as the 2015 Baltimore protests and the Ferguson unrest, the album regards the authoritarian power of law enforcement in the United States and the illusion of democracy existing in the western part of the world. Its cover art by Josh Kline, Babok Radboy, and Joerg Lohse is a photograph of one of the "police teletubbies" found in Kline's art piece "Freedom," which was intended to present how civil rights were being destroyed in the 21st century. ''Brute'' features samples of the Ferguson protest, an MSNBC report of Occupy Wall Street by Lawrence O'Donnell, and an interview with a former member of the LAPD regarding the power of the police.

Released by Hyperdub in March 2016, ''Brute'' garnered significant media coverage for its unique political message and was listed in the "Top Ten Protest Albums Of 2016" by '' Shadowproof'', where Kevin Gosztola described it as "the kind of album that will carry even more resonance in the era of President Donald Trump." However, some critics with more mixed opinions towards the album called it too similar to Qadiri's previous releases and found many of the songs too formless.

History

Qadiri's experience of having her civil rights violated came from living in Kuwait during its invasion by Iraqi forces in 1990. It wasn't until she attended college that she moved to the United States. As she discussed how she viewed the nation before she relocated there, "I thought America was kind of like ''Saved By The Bell'' and ''Fresh Prince of Bel Air''. I'd never set foot there before going to college, and my perception of it was very far removed from the truth, you know? I was just consuming American TV shows like any other kid around the world, thinking, "Oh, it looks so cute."Woon, Madeleine (9 June 2016)
"Fatima Al Qadiri On Beyoncé, Police Brutality & Her Most Political Album Yet"
''Oyster''. Retrieved 14 August 2017. In terms of experience in protesting, Qadiri was at a counterdemonstration at a 1999 IMF World Bank meeting: "I have never seen more cops in my entire life. There were cops on horses, on bicycles, on bikes, in cars, and helicopters. I had a very rude awakening; the illusions of American democracy were destroyed almost immediately." She was also involved in the New York City protests against the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Qadiri began writing her second album around February/March 2015 while having to be a room in her Kuwait home due to a knee injury. She was looking at a "horrific news cycle" on Twitter, being "moved" by seeing protests going on in places such as Ferguson and Baltimore. This inspired Qadiri to make a record about protesting halfway into writing her next record. As she explained in a '' Thump'' interview, "I also saw it as a challenge. Protest music is a real genre, and there have been a lot of seminal protest records. I just feel like this is a subject that's moving a lot of people right now." The first track completed for the album was "Blood Moon," the last "Oubliette." On 20 January 2016, it was announced that ''Brute'' would be released on 4 March 2016 and "Battery" was issued as the lead single. On 23 February 2016, ''Mixmag'' held a Q&A with Brown and premiered the track "Power."Brown, Deforrest (23 February 2016)
"Atmospheres of rage and control: Fatima Al Qadiri on 'Brute'"
''Mixmag''. Development Hell Ltd. Retrieved 13 August 2017. Hyperdub officially released the album on 4 March 2016.

Concept

Compared by some reviewers to Hyperdub founder Kode9's album ''Nothing'' (2015) and his pieces about sonic warfare such as ''Sonic Warfare: Sound, Affect, and the Ecology of Fear'' (2009), ''Brute'' deals with themes of neoliberal fascism, authoritarianism, the rising power of the law enforcement system in the United States,Lhooq, Michelle (12 February 2016)
"Fatima Al Qadiri’s ‘Brute’ is the Powerful Political Album We've Been Waiting For"
'' Thump''. Vice Media. Retrieved 13 August 2017. and how democracy in the western part of the world is just a mirage.Hulyer, Jake (12 May 2016)
"Outspoken Electronica: An interview with Fatima Al Qadiri"
'' Huck''. TCOLondon. Retrieved 14 August 2017. Qadiri described it as a record in the vein of '' What's Going On'' (1971) by Marvin GayeCruz, Cynthia (4 June 2016)
"Fatima al Qadiri’s Poetry of Terror and Protest"
'' Hyperallergic''. Retrieved 14 August 2017. but also explained that it wasn't really a protest record: “It’s a meditation, but a very unpleasant one. Protest music is a call-to-action, and this is not a call-to-action because I don’t know what the action should be. I’m not offering any solutions, just saying that this is the reality.” Qadiri said that she titled the album ''Brute'' as a "counterpoint to the word thug, and how people over the last two years have been speaking about thugs in the media." She also reasoned that the word "contains a lot of savagery, but also, in English, it has a dandyish, almost 1950s-ish sense."

Composition and sound design

''Now'' critic Kevin Ritchie wrote that ''Brute'' has a minimal structure that "sometimes ris sin urgency before falling into a deceptive calm." ''Brute'' is the most grime-infused LP in Qadiri's discography, where signature sounds of the genre such as gunshot-like percussion, swirling melodies, and police siren sound effects are heard many times throughout. Joseph Burnett of ''Dusted'' found it unlike most other grime music in that it is "rarely propulsive or tailored for the dancefloor, but rather shift and shake convulsively under the weight of stark, metronomic beats, swathes of sub-bass and icy synth swirls." As AllMusic journalist Andy Kellman wrote, ''Brute'' uses a combination of real and simulated representations of protests that gives it a surreal feal.

Because of its themes regarding powerful law enforcement, ''Brute'' has a hopeless tone coming from its use of what Jake Hulyer labeled as a "cold and stark" structure with an "unwelcoming atmosphere:" audio snippets of political rallies, minor chord structures, synthesized horns and choirs, and what Lhooq described as "apocalyptic bass growls." While ''Brute'' is based on an American topic, Qadiri wanted to make the instrumentals "universal" for listeners from other nations across the globe to resonate with it. ''Brute'''s oppressive vibe comes from the drum parts, specifically how the "rhythms jerk at unnatural angles" and "beats drop like gas canisters," wrote Stephen Worthy of ''Mixmag''. As Derek Staples of ''Consequence of Sound'' wrote, "an ever-lurking, low-end wake" is used to represent an omnipresent police force on songs like “Battery” and “10-34," "volatile harmonic breaks signifying the frequent outbursts of unmitigated violence."

There are very few glimpses of a hopeful vibe on the album, such as the electronic harps on the song "Fragmentation." As Burnett wrote, "Listen carefully, and there is a certain melodicism nestled in the heart of this album, but its tone is despairing and subdued, glimmers of light in a dark and uncaring world." Burnett suggested that the reason for this was to show the "uncaring, uncomprehending barrier that has been erected between authority and the demos, between the powerful and the rest of us."

''Brute'' primarily uses three audio sources, which Qadiri garnered via YouTube. One of them is a live recording of the Ferguson protests where a policeman says "you are no longer peacefully assembling" through a Long Range Acoustic Device, which is played over an industrial instrumental on the opening track "Endzone."Burnett, Joseph (24 February 2016)
"Fatima Al Qadiri — Brute (Hyperdub)"
''Dusted''. Retrieved 15 August 2017. Another one is Lawrence O'Donnell's MSNBC report about Occupy Wall Street, which Qadiri chose for his "classic American media news anchor voice," which is played on the track "Blows." It is filtered in reverb and "half-shrouded" in synthesizers to put the listener far away from what's really going, wrote Rory Gibb of ''The Quietus''.Gibb, Rory (3 March 2016)
"The Lead Review: Rory Gibb On Fatima Al Qadiri's Brute"
''The Quietus''. Retrieved 14 August 2017. Another one of these samples is an interview with a former LAPD sergeant named Cheryl Dorsey about the power of police officers which plays on the LP's closer "Power" over synthesized glass-breaking sounds. The samples are used at a minimum "just to illustrate the context, to set the tone," Qadiri explained.

Cover art

In early 2015, American artist Josh Kline produced an installation titled "Freedom" at the New Museum in New York."Josh Kline: Freedom"
Modern Art Oxford Official Website. Retrieved 13 August 2017. It centers on four "Police Teletubbies" in SWAT gear that block an area modeled after Zuccotti Park, the location of the Occupy Wall Street protests. The art piece was meant to showcase how civil rights were being destroyed in the 21st century and uses Qadiri's cover of "The Star-Spangled Banner." The cover art for ''Brute'' consists of a photograph of one of the teletubbies altered by Babak Radboy to give it face hair, broken blood vessels, and chapped lips. Qadiri explained, "He Frankensteined it. He gave it life. He took something that was an object, and made it into a living, breathing monster." Writer Patrick Hinton put the cover art in his gallery for ''Mixmag'' of "The best record artwork of 2016."

Critical reception

''Brute'' garnered a significant amount of media coverage that focused on as well as honored its political theme,Robin Jones, Charlie (11 July 2016)
“A Planetary Crisis of Policing”
''032c''. Retrieved 14 August 2017. ''Thump'' calling it "the Powerful Political Album We've Been Waiting For." Writing for '' Hyperallergic'', Cynthia Cruz stated, "Like great poetry, her music provides just the right amount of world and politics with her references to protests, news clips and police force while allowing the listener enough space within each song and within the album to make her own connections." '' Shadowproof'' ran a list by Kevin Gosztola titled the "Top Ten Protest Albums Of 2016," where ''Brute'' was included. Gosztola summarized that it was "the kind of album that will carry even more resonance in the era of President Donald Trump,"Gosztola, Kevin (28 December 2016)
"Top Ten Protest Albums Of 2016"
'' Shadowproof''. Retrieved 14 August 2017. while in a review of the record for '' Clash'' magazine, Sofia Leadbetter stated, "Al Qadiri has invoked her own personal brand of protest in a world in which discussion over that right has become ever more charged." In a nine-out-of-ten review for ''Mixmag'', Worthy favorably compared the record to the works of Laurie Anderson as a "doyenne of experimental electronica."

In a review for ''Consequence of Sound'', Staples discussed the LP's ideas in relation to the Republican debates that were going on shortly before the 2016 United States presidential election; he praised the LP for mostly being an instrumental record, reasoning that her choice of not having any vocalist sing words show that "Al Qadiri has an acute awareness of human communication and the subtle impact of its many non-spoken factors." Gibb's review of ''Brute'' discussed how Qadiri used tropes from popular music styles in all of her works, opining that "the overt narrative framings of ''Brute'' nd_her_previous_LP_''Asiatisch''_(2014).html" ;"title="Asiatisch.html" ;"title="nd her previous LP ''Asiatisch">nd her previous LP ''Asiatisch'' (2014)">Asiatisch.html" ;"title="nd her previous LP ''Asiatisch">nd her previous LP ''Asiatisch'' (2014)highlight the way Al Qadiri's work seeks to create collages of themes — a bricolage approach that’s effective in bringing together ideas and allowing them to interact, even if the musical results aren't always as successful." He wrote that "the moments when ''Brute'' really comes to life are those when it leaves overt references behind and heads towards starker and more emotionally ambiguous places."

A common criticism in more mixed reviews of ''Brute'' were towards it not being different enough from previous releases by QadiriRobertson, Emma
"Fatima Al Qadiri – Brute"
''Crack''. Retrieved 15 August 2017. as well as most of the tracks being too formless.Jex, Andy (4 March 2016)
"Fatima Al Qadiri – Brute"
'' musicOMH''. Retrieved 15 August 2017. In a review for ''Pitchfork (website), Pitchfork'', Kevin Lozano called it a "frustrating mish-mosh of middling and artful." He highlighted its unique concept and felt the tracks that used samples were the best on the record; however, he also opined that most of the other songs were "shapeless tracks" that had too many elements borrowed from Qadiri's past releases. '' Resident Advisor'''s Andrew Ryce wrote that most of the LP's samples were its only parts that distinguished it from previous releases: "Otherwise, we're given titles like "10-34" and "Oubliette," words that gesture towards a theme without providing substance." A reviewer for '' musicOMH'' called it a "frustrating album" and a "missed opportunity," writing that it "has the ability to unnerve and unsettle to the point of creating a paranoid world for the listener" but too much of the songs are "formless pieces that drift instead of acting as a counterpoint to the oppression that lets ''Brute'' down."

Ben Beaumont-Thomas of ''The Guardian'' praised the political theme as "bracing" but opined that the album wasn't "enjoyable to listen to" due to its "limp compositions" and use of sounds like Fairlight CMI-esque voices and "ultra-synthetic" drums that became a cliche in underground electronic music due to the popularity of works by acts such as Oneohtrix Point Never and Visionist. Daniel Bromfield of ''Spectrum Culture'' described the album, despite its concept, as "actually pretty, almost pastoral" and joked that it "could just as easily be a concept album about spending a weekend on grandma’s farm."Bromfield, Daniel (14 March 2016)
"Fatima Al Qadiri: Brute"
''Spectrum Culture''. Retrieved 15 August 2017. In fact, he went as so far as to say the album was much more enjoyable to listen to without knowing its context: "Taken purely on musical terms, ''Brute'' is an excellent album. As a concept album, it’s a flop."

Track listing

Derived from the liner notes of ''Brute''.''Brute'' (2016). Fatima Al Qadiri. Hyperdub. HBDLP031.

Personnel

Derived from the liner notes of ''Brute''.
;Production
*Written and produced by Fatima Al Qadiri
*Mixed by Chris Tabron at MSR Studios in New York City
*"Endzone," "Blood Moon," "Curfew," "Oubliette," "Blows," "Aftermath," "Fragmentation," and "Power" mastered by Matt Colton at Alchemy Mastering in London
*"Breach," "Battery," and "10-34" mastered by Tom Waltz at Waltz Mastering in Watertown, Massachusetts
;Cover art
*Sculpture by Josh Kline
*Photographed by Joerg Lohse
*Art direction by Babak Radboy

Release history

References

Further reading

*Saxelby, Rush (17 March 2016)
"How Music Delivered Me From Hell, According To Fatima Al Qadiri"
''The Fader''. Retrieved 14 August 2017.

External links

Fatima Al Qadiri official website

{{Authority control

Hyperdub albums
2016 albums
Fatima Al Qadiri albums
Dark ambient albums