Various artists – Visions of a New World: Cairo 2015 playlist (Egypt)
To celebrate the recent Egyptian publication of book Seismographic Sounds – Visions of a New World, Norient label contributors Rami Abadir, Bosaina, Maha El Nabawi, Yara Mekawei, Angie Balata and Thomas Burkhalter have collected some of the most forward looking Cairene music from 2015. This gripping compilation includes the intense, bass-heavy 21st-century folk music of PanSTARRS, the amazing Hussein Sherbini (who I was lucky enough to catch playing a rare UK live set at Whitechapel Gallery recently) as well as our old friends Alif and Maurice Louca. There’s enough quality music for a full afternoon here (and keen-eared listeners may also hear the dulcet tones of Young Thug in there, meaning perhaps one of these tunes was actually recorded outside Cairo’s city limits).
Al Namrood – Diaji Al Joor (Saudi Arabia)
After reporting on Arabic folk-black metal band Al Namrood in this column back in September 2014, it’s good to see that the three-piece – who have to keep their identities secret due to fear of arrest – are still able to ply their trade. Fans of extreme metal can buy their new album, Diaji Al Joor, via Bandcamp, despite it being impossible for the group to play live or even publicly acknowledge that they are rock musicians in their own country. Their record label has even made them a video for the track Hayat Al Khezea, and it’s heartening to see that heavy metal promos are just as daft for bands in hardline authoritarian theocracies as they are in the liberal west.
Karkhana – Untitled (Middle East)
I wish I could track down more of this tantalising outfit’s music to share, but all I can locate is this lone, untitled tune on Soundcloud, courtesy of drummer Sharif Sehnaoui. This Middle Eastern supergroup, also featuring Sam Shalabi, Maurice Louca, Mazen Kerbaj, Özün Usta, Tony Elieh and Umut Çağlar, first got together to celebrate the music of Egyptian surf guitarist Omar Khorshid – who was also a key figure in Oum Kalthoum’s orchestra – but their remit has expanded somewhat and now they’re fully committed to outer-perimeter explorations in Krautrock-leaning, cosmic free jazz. They have one album out already (Live at Metro Al-Madina), but hopefully this will be followed by a studio debut next year.
Rizan Sa’id – Electric Mawwal (Syria/Lebanon)
Rizan Sa’id is a powerhouse keyboard player who was also an instrumental figure in Omar Souleyman’s rise to fame in the West (the pair are both from Jazeera in north-west Syria and collaborated fruitfully for two decades). And apart from the moustachioed wedding singer, he is probably the country’s most famous musical son and export. Sadly, he is also a symbol of a much freer artistic climate that has now been completely destroyed. The opening track on his new album, recorded and released in his new home of the Lebanon via Annihaya records, is called Electric Mawwal. The “mawwal” is usually a vocal piece that acts as an introduction to the music the listener is about to hear, and is often delivered by a singer of great skill in range and improvisatory technique. Although fully instrumental here, it still resonates with meaning.
Cartoon Therapy x Blufrank – Misty Nights (On a Distant Planet) (Egypt)
Last time we caught up with Blufrank a year ago, he was hawking excellent demos of his ultra-smooth Egypt-futurist house music. Now he’s back with a collaboration. Cartoon Therapy is a Cairene composer and this is their first joint effort, with an EP due early in 2016.