Jordanian band Tayar rocks Saudi audiences/node/2582668/entertainment
Jordanian band Tayar rocks Saudi audiences
Update
Duo Bader Helalat (L) and Ahmed Farah (R) make up the Jordanian band “Tayar”, which is currently touring Saudi Arabia for the first time. (AN photo/Jafar Al-Saleh)
Tayar’s lyrics capture the heartbreak and humanity found amid strife, telling a captivating story while turning turmoil into art
Updated 14 December 2024
Sulafa Alkhunaizi
RIYADH: Amman-based duo Tayar is currently touring Saudi Arabia for the first time, bringing audiences their unique blend of electro, rock, jazz and funk music.
Tayar’s lyrics capture the heartbreak and humanity found amid strife, telling a captivating story while turning turmoil into art.
Singer-songwriter Ahmad Farah says his words are inspired by the stories of others.
“Writing about other people is more satisfying for me and more challenging for me,” he told Arab News. “How to do a story from another perspective.”
He added: “Music makes you feel more alive, more in touch with yourself and more in touch with what has happened around the world.”
As the Kingdom’s music industry has grown throughout the years, regional and international artists like Farah have taken note.
He says he has seen the “musical spirit” prospering: “It’s really nice. Everyone is having fun with it.”
Bader Helalat, Tayar’s founder and producer, said the band was excited about their upcoming acoustic concert, which offers a refreshing departure from their electronic sound and returns to their origins.
“We originally started working on music that is written in the folk format, and then we try to change that because, folk music (and) acoustic music does not (get) much attention from the crowds,” said Helalat.
“We have to add a lot of grooves and rhythm, so people can dance … but we really enjoy both. Since we've been given this chance to perform acoustic, we thought let’s dig in that and bring this natural thing that we do in the studio to people who have never listened to it before.”
It is the first time the duo has visited the Kingdom, and Helalat said they had heard great things about the music scene.
“Now we’re here finally to explore all of that and it seems exciting that people are interested in the music industry,” he added.
Tayar’s tour is supported by Saudi indie record label Wall of Sounds Records. It began on Dec. 7 with a performance at XP Music Features at the Jax District in Diriyah, followed by a performance at Syrup Stage two days later.
Dec. 11 sees a show at Bohemia Café and Records in Damman and the tour concludes at Host Saudi in Jeddah on Dec. 13.
The electronic-indie duo formed in 2019 and finished recording their debut album, “Kol Shi Sar,” in 2023. It combines eclectic sounds with global influences, blending cinematic instrumentation and contemporary production techniques.
‘Souk Wonders’ to give final performances as show nears end
Ghada Sheri: ‘We have been doing it for a month now and we have done 33 shows and it’s been amazing’
Sheri: ‘I get to sing to people every day and see their reactions and I share the stage with amazing performers’
Updated 27 February 2025
Lama Alhamawi
RIYADH: Diriyah Season’s “Souk Wonders,” featuring trampolines, circus acrobatics, musical entertainment, balancing acts, and a variety of culinary experiences will come to a close on Friday.
“We have been doing it for a month now and we have done 33 shows and it’s been amazing — honestly, I love it here and I am really sad for it to be over,” Ghada Sheri, a singer and songwriter, told Arab News.
“I get to sing to people every day and see their reactions and I share the stage with amazing performers as well so that has been amazing,” she said.
“Souk Wonders” features traditional Najdi architecture, tents, a majlis, and an oversized marketplace scale that spins as guests are seated on it.
The performances kick off with a daring show featuring performers jumping off the edges of the traditional Najdi structures towards the crowd and onto a trampoline.
The routines come back-to-back, leaving audience members anticipating which way to turn next.
Carina Pires, a nurse from Portugal, has lived in the Kingdom for 12 years, and attended “Souk Wonders” with her friends.
“It’s been amazing. We have just been mesmerized. We don’t know where to look, it’s been so many things with so many emotions, it’s really good,” Pires told Arab News.
“It was amazing, I have been experiencing things here that I didn’t in my country,” she added.
When asked what her favorite part of the show was, Pires said: “Everything was amazing, I cannot point to one, it was everything.”
A unique feature of “Souk Wonders” is the currency. Although real money can be used, visitors are taken back in time as they are presented with gold Diriyah Season coins to make their purchases.
For example, a water bottle would cost guests 1 coin, with each coin valued at SR5 ($1.33). A regular ticket gives visitors 18 coins, and the platinum ticket allows for 24.
Along with live performances, “Souk Wonders” has restaurant and cafe booths that feature unique dishes that pay tribute to traditional flavors with modern-day twists all crafted by Saudi chefs especially brought in to design the menu for the event.
Saudi chef Samira Jan was the mind behind the Sand of Zaatar booth, featuring flavors from the Levant region, including a Palestinian musakhan tart as well as a sweet Syrian basbousa tart.
Other Saudi-crafted creations included soft drinks and mixed mocktails at Al Bar booth.
One unique feature of “Souk Wonders” is the interactive performances from the actors of the who remained in character throughout whilst interacting with guests.
“Souk Wonders” will put on its final shows on Feb. 28 at 7:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. and then at 10:45 p.m. to 12:45 a.m. in Venue before coming to a close for Ramadan.
Meet Saudi-Irish DJ-producer Moving Still ahead of the release of his new EP
Jeddah-born Jamal Sul talks to Arab News ahead of the release of his new EP
Updated 27 February 2025
Jasmine Bager
JEDDAH: DJ-producer Jamal Sul, aka Moving Still, was raised in Jeddah by a Saudi father and Irish mother, and his music combines both sides of his heritage.
At 14, he moved to Dublin, a shift that shaped both his identity and musical journey. Now, after a decade in the industry, he’s making waves internationally.
“For every song that I’ve ever recorded, I always try to embody an emotion—whether it’s unconditional love, fear or excitement,” he tells Arab News. “Most of the time, I never really get a chance to explain the emotion in a song — it just happens through people dancing.”
The birth of his daughter last year profoundly influenced Sul’s latest EP, “Close to the Shams,” which will be released March 7. On it, he captures the intense emotions of parenthood and the quiet heartbeat of his child, which he used as inspiration. “The first time I got to hold my daughter in my own house, she was just sleeping on me and I had my earphones on. I could sense her heartbeat,” he says. “Weirdly, there’s a lot of studies about how your heart rate can influence your child’s and vice versa. So I feel like I captured that moment in song, and it was really nice.”
It was Sul’s mother who first got him into dance music, sparking his deep connection to house and disco beats. “I was very lucky that my mom was very, very into music,” he says. “I remember (her) cassettes, is like ‘Now 41’ or ‘Now 42’ — basically all the (chart toppers) for dance music. A lot of the stuff I make now is nearly resembling this era.”
He also has a love for rock, inherited from his Irish uncles. “I listened to (Led) Zeppelin, Jimi (Hendrix), Korn, Slipknot, all those type of bands,” he says. “But even though I liked rock music, I still had this feeling towards dance music; it was kind of like a guilty pleasure, the same with pop music — like Backstreet Boys.”
His father also shaped Sul’s diverse taste, being a fan of Bob Marley and Michael Jackson, as well as Arab artists. But Sul says his father’s relationship with music was complicated.
“My father was in and out of music; either he loved it or hated it. And I don’t blame him; he had a very tough upbringing. His father was quite religious — he was an imam. So obviously (my father) was very torn between the life of what people would like in the West versus his actual life.”
That’s not a struggle Sul has faced. Music is a constant in both his personal and professional life. He works in the field of immunology, and while his day job is rooted in science, music remains his own way of healing and expression.
His sound spans genres, blending house, disco and Arabic influences. “When people ask what kind of music I make, it’s so hard to pinpoint,” he says. “It’s a mix of genres.”
His tracks have gained support from respected industry figures like Palms Trax, Hunee and Laurent Garnier, and he has performed at the likes of Boiler Room and Electric Picnic. Mixmag named him among its Ones to Watch for 2025.
His first EP was “With Oud,” inspired not by the instrument at the heart of classical Arab music, but by the scent of the dark resin of the agar tree. “In order to write the music, I would put oud on my hands, just to experience that full memory of my granny’s house. I couldn’t believe that a smell could ignite that type of memory so quickly,” he says. The EP was a success, and spawned a follow-up, “Ouddy Bangers.”
In 2024, Sul hosted ‘Sukar,’ an event of contemporary Arabic music. “I wanted to showcase our beautiful culture,” he says. He plans to take the idea further with Klub Sukar this April, inviting international acts to Ireland while providing opportunities for emerging artists — especially young Arabs.
Sul’s moniker, Moving Still, was inspired by his hometown. “I used to love swimming and snorkeling and I used to see a lot of jellyfish there,” he says. “I remember my wife asking what I wanted to be called and I was, like, ‘Something about jellyfish really resonates with me, because it reminds me of Jeddah.’ I just really love that they’re moving all the time, but they almost look like they’re still. That’s what generated the name. I wanted to have something that was like a love letter to Jeddah.”
REVIEW: Oscar-nominated ‘No Other Land’ is a bitter tale of occupation
Updated 26 February 2025
Gautaman Bhaskaran
CHENNAI: In the running for the Best Documentary Feature at next week’s Academy Awards, “No Other Land” is a gripping work directed by a collective of four Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers.
Helmed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the film marks their directorial debut and follows the story of Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta in the West Bank, as he fights against the mass expulsion of his community by Israeli forces. Since childhood, Adra has documented the demolition of homes and displacement of residents in his region under military occupation.
It is not sensationalist, it is not overdramatic, but it is as powerful as they come. The documentary traces everyday life in an area where generations of farming men and women have been resisting not only Israeli control but also the violence unleashed upon them by its military forces and settlers.
The documentary begins in 2022, with an Israeli court ruling in favour of eviction and a lot of the 95-minute work captures details of the misery brought about by the occupation in Arabic and Hebrew. There is graphic footage of homes being razed to the ground and operators going about their ruthlessness with faces that show not even a trace of remorse. Families with babies have to take refuge in caves, members huddled against each other trying to create a bit of warmth in the biting cold. “We have no other land, that's why we suffer for it,” says an old woman whose home has been destroyed. Later, her son is shot and paralyzed.
“No Other Land” is a harsh, bitter documentary that, perhaps unsurprisingly, has not yet secured a US distributor.
Maharat offers MasterClass-style lessons by Arabs for Arabs
Updated 23 February 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: Maharat, a new online Arabic edutainment platform, has announced a new business masterclass led by Toufic Kreidieh, Executive Chairman of Brands for Less Group. The course aims to provide aspiring entrepreneurs with practical insights into building and scaling businesses in a competitive market.
Designed to blend education and entertainment, Maharat has positioned itself as a player in the region’s digital learning space, similar to the well-known US subscription platform MasterClass. Maharat features classes from well-known figures in various fields, including music, acting, makeup artistry, home cooking, and professional development. High-profile instructors such as Ragheb Alama, Kosai Khauli, Rahma Riad, Bassam Fattouh, and Salam Dakkak have already contributed courses to the platform.
“Having lived in the US for a while, I experienced firsthand the extremely ambitious mentality people have there and the genuine belief that they can achieve anything they put their minds to. This mentality is primarily fueled by access to elite education and roadmaps for achieving success provided through online education. At Maharat, we want to bridge this gap in our region and inspire everyone in the Arab World to pursue their dreams and become the best version of themselves by democratizing access to the highest caliber of education and success secrets,” said Maharat CEO Arman Khederlarian to Arab News.
Kreidieh’s “Building and Growing Your Business” masterclass is aimed at equipping entrepreneurs with essential skills such as understanding market trends, setting strategic goals, and identifying customer needs.
“Business success is about strategy, adaptability, and informed decision-making,” Kreidieh said. “Through this masterclass, I hope to share the lessons I've learned so others can build businesses that are both sustainable and successful.”
Maharat CEO Khederlarian added, “As Maharat continues to expand, we are focused on providing users with insights from some of the region’s most accomplished figures. This masterclass offers practical knowledge for those looking to thrive in the business world.”
Oscar-nominated Palestinian film ‘No Other Land’ wins at Independent Spirit Awards
The Spirit Awards, held in a beachside tent in Santa Monica, California, is the more irreverent sister to the Academy Awards, celebrating the best in independent film and television
The awards limit eligibility to productions with budgets of $30 million or less, meaning more expensive Oscar nominees like “Wicked” and “Dune: Part Two” were not in the running
Updated 23 February 2025
AP
Los Angeles: “No Other Land,” the Oscar-nominated film by a Palestinian-Israeli collective about the destruction of a village in the West Bank, has won the documentary prize at the Independent Spirit Awards.
The Spirit Awards, held in a beachside tent in Santa Monica, California, is the shaggier, more irreverent sister to the Academy Awards, celebrating the best in independent film and television.
“No Other Land” was directed by a collective of four Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers — activists Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor — and marks their directorial debut.
The film follows the story of Adra, a young Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta in the West Bank, as he fights against the mass expulsion of his community by Israeli forces. Since childhood, Adra has documented the demolition of homes and displacement of residents in his region under military occupation.
Meanwhile, Sean Baker’s “Anora” won best film, best director and best actor for Mikey Madison at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday in what could be a preview of next Sunday’s Oscars: The film about a Brooklyn sex worker and her whirlwind affair with a Russian oligarch’s son has emerged in recent weeks as an awards season front-runner.
In accepting the directing prize, Baker spoke passionately about the difficulty of making independent films in an industry that is no longer able to fund riskier films. He said indies are in danger of becoming calling card films — movies made only as a means to get hired for bigger projects.
“The system has to change because this is simply unsustainable,” Baker said to enthusiastic applause. “We shouldn’t be barely getting by.”
“Anora’s” best film competition included Jane Schoenbrun’s psychological horror “I Saw the TV Glow,” RaMell Ross’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s “Nickel Boys,” Greg Kwedar’s incarceration drama “Sing Sing” and Coralie Fargeat’s body horror “The Substance.”
This year had several other possible Oscar winners celebrating. Kieran Culkin, considered an Oscar favorite, won the supporting performance award for “A Real Pain.” His director, co-star and writer Jesse Eisenberg won best screenplay for the film about two cousins embarking on a Holocaust tour in Poland.
Culkin was not there to accept — he also missed his BAFTA win last weekend to tend to a family member — but other Oscar nominees like Madison and Demi Moore were.
Madison won the top acting prize over Moore at the BAFTAs last weekend, as well, and stopped Saturday to pet Moore’s dog Pilaf on the way to the stage. Acting categories for the Spirit Awards are gender neutral and include 10 spots each, meaning Madison and Moore were up against Oscar nominees like Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”) and Sebastian Stan (“The Apprentice”).
“Flow,” the wordless animated Latvian cat film, won best international film. At the Oscars, it’s competing in the international film category and animation.
While the Spirit Award winners don’t always sync up with the academy, they can often reflect a growing consensus as in the “Everything Everywhere All At Once” year. The awards limit eligibility to productions with budgets of $30 million or less, meaning more expensive Oscar nominees like “Wicked” and “Dune: Part Two” were not in the running.
Sean Wang, left, accepts the award for best first screenplay for "Didi" from presenter Ruth Negga during the Film Independent Spirit Awards on Feb. 22, 2025, in Santa Monica, California. (AP)
Sean Wang accepted best first feature and best first screenplay prizes for “Dìdi.” He said it was special to be sharing the stage with one of his stars, Joan Chen, who was also nominated for the same award 25 years ago for “Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl.”
The Netflix phenomenon “Baby Reindeer” also picked up several prizes, for actors Richard Gadd, Jessica Gunning and Nava Mau.
Mau, who is trans, spoke about the importance of actors sticking together “as we move into this next chapter.”
“We don’t know what is going to happen, but we do know our power,” Mau said. “We are the people and our labor is everything.”
Other television winners included “Shōgun,” for best new scripted series, and “How to Die Alone,” for best ensemble.
“How to Die Alone” creator and star Natasha Rothwell was emotional while accepting the ensemble prize. The show was recently canceled after its first season.
Rothwell said it was “a show about the need to feel seen, to be valued just as you are.”
“For Black stories, visibility isn’t a privilege: It is a necessity,” Rothwell said. “We deserve to take up space, to be complex, to be hilarious and to be fully human.”
KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Chris Powell, Michelle McLeod, Natasha Rothwell, Jaylee Hamidi, Elle Lorraine and Arkie Kandola, after receiving the Best Ensemble Cast award for "How to Die Alone" in the 40th Film Independent Spirit Awards. (REUTERS)
The generally lighthearted show took a moment to acknowledge the impact of the wildfires on Los Angeles. Bryant made a plea to anyone watching the show, in the audience or on the YouTube livestream, to help rebuild L.A. She pointed to a QR code that appeared on the livestream to make donations to the Film Independent Emergency Filmmaker Relief Fund, providing grants to alumni impacted by the wildfires.
The show also paid tribute to longtime Film Independent president Josh Welsh, who died earlier this year at age 62. Welsh had colon cancer.
Bryant said in her opening that it had been a “great year for film and a bad year for human life.” The “Saturday Night Live” alum kicked off the event ribbing some of the nominees, like Emma Stone.
“Emma was a producer on four nominated projects tonight,” Bryant said. “But even more importantly, her hair is short now.”
Stone also featured prominently in Eisenberg’s speech, when he picked up the best screenplay prize for “A Real Pain.” Since they met on the set of “Zombieland” in 2009, he said, she’s been supportive of his writing despite being “the most famous person I know” and produced both of his films.
“I think of her not as my producer, but as a fairy godmother, like I’m riding the coattails for her goodwill,” Eisenberg said.
The camera cut to Stone, teary and moved, in the audience. She and her husband Dave McCary’s production company Fruit Tree also produced Julio Torres’ “Problemista” and “Fantasmas” and Schoenbrun’s “I Saw the TV Glow.”
“I Saw the TV Glow” went into the show tied with “Anora” with six nominations. It left with only one, for producer Sarah Winshall.
