Alien Panda Jury releases new solo album via Berlin-based label, Noland

Daniel Arthur Panjwaneey’s presence in the music scene goes back to more than 16 years; he has been associated with part-psychedelic-part-shoegaze music group like //orangenoise as well as metal act Messiah before that and plays bass with The D/A Method when the opportunity presents itself.A Karachi-based music producer who conjures beautiful lucid dreaming music under the alias of Alien Panda Jury (APJ) he is back with a new EP. A talented musician who has represented Pakistan in Germany, Bangkok, APJ is also a part of Pakistan’s subculture movement and is back in the spotlight with his third EP called Enneagram, released via a label called Noland. The sixth release from Noland, with Karachi Files being the first one that featured a slew of Pakistani artists, their newest release - a solo APJ record - was unveiled in Karachi this past Saturday. Released in a digital format and available via bandcamp, the EP-release event featured a listening session and pulled musicians such as Rachel Viccaji, Tollcrane (Talha Asim Wynne), TMPST (Asfandyar Khan) as well as artists/illustrators Samya Arif and Sana Nasir, among others, who attended the launch. Speaking to Instep post-event, APJ noted: “The album listening was mainly so people could hear produced versions of some of the songs I’ve been performing live in my sets in the past year or two.”In a press statement, noted Noland, “We are happy to share Enneagram, the new EP of Pakistan based electronic musician Alien Panda Jury,” prior to its release. The statement further noted: “He’s also been part of [Noland’s] Karachi Files collective and co-founded the Sine Valley Festival, which caters to experimental electronic music in the South Asian region, the first two editions of which were held in Kathmandu.” As for Noland, “It is a label/platform run by the Berlin electronic artists Andi and Hannes Teichmann, also known as Gebruder Teichmann. It grows from their deep roots in the underground and DIY-culture of the ‘90s and has been nurtured by recent fertile intercultural projects and collaborations such as BLNRB, Ten Cities and Karachi Files, giving the transcultural underground a better visibility and features artists from outside the western geographic spectrum.”Since beginning his career as an electronic producer, APJ has released two solo EPs called Sound, Science, Love (2013) and New Earth (2011) with Enneagram being his third solo release. Daniel also co-produced with (Rajan Shrestha) Mandal EP at the Photo Kathmandu Residency 2016, which featured collaborations with Chandresha Pandey, Kiran Nepali and Rubin K Shrestha. If that doesn’t make you curious about this EP by now, check out the video of the single ‘Type4’ by Pakarazzi (Omer Bashir & Amar Ayaz) from Enneagram. Noland describes the EP as one that is “influenced by glitch and contemporary avantgarde pop and gets its unique energy from Daniel’s [APJ personal musical journey and background as a Pakistani based electronic musician and artist: Dealing with fears, finding calm in chaos, hope in hopelessness and with the need to dance are its topics.”The incredible album artwork was handmade by Sana Nasir and photographed by Humayun Memon. Find it on bandcamp now.  

from The News International - Instep Today https://ift.tt/2u9bO8R