Mixtape Monday: Sam Shalabi (Land Of Kush)

Banner voor de exclusieve mixtape die Sam Shalabi voor Gonzo (circus) maakte.

‘Sand Enigma’ is het nieuwe album van Land of Kush. Bandleider Sam Shalabi (Shalabi Effect, Karkhana, The Dwarfs of East Agouza) heeft speciaal voor Gonzo (circus) een exclusieve mixtape gemaakt.

Als thema hield hij zijn nieuwe album in het achterhoofd. De mixtape bundelt solowerk van Land of Kush-bandleden, onuitgebracht werk van Shalabi, en samenwerkingen tot een eclectisch geheel. Van de improvscene in Montreal (Shalabi’s uitvalsbasis) tot aan Arabische maqam op oed en akoestische bas.

Lees de recensie van ‘Sand Enigma‘ van Land of Kush in Gonzo (circus) #155 (januari 2020).

Het verhaal

Sam Shalabi vertelde ook over de muziek die je kunt terugvinden op deze mixtape:

“Track 1 is by one of my favourite Montreal bands – Tamayuge – a unique duo featuring Maya Kuroki, one of the vocalists in Land Of Kush.
Track 2 is by my duo with Tamara Filyavich, who is the other half of Tamayuge – and a great solo artist as well. It’s a completely electronic duo.
Track 3 is by one of my good friends – Brahja Waldman – an amazing person and one of the best muscians I know of and am lucky to play with (he is also in Land Of Kush)

Track 4 is the last section of an electronic compostion of mine called ‘Min’, which is featured on Bandcamp. I wanted to feature it, as electronic music is becoming something I’m doing more and more often these days.
Track 5 is by Kee Avil aka Vicky Mettler, who is the guitarist in Land Of Kush – and one of my favourite guitarists – a unique sound and voice and composer.

Track 6 is an outtake from my forthcoming album on Nashazphone Records – based in Cairo who have released a previous solo album of mine and are (I’m biased, I know) putting out some of the most interesting music anywhere at this time. This piece I wanted to release somehow but didn’t fit into the overall theme/sound of the album.

Track 7 is a live improv that happened a few years back at one of the most beloved venues in Montreal La Passe (sadly closed). It was run by a great collective of which Raphael Foisy-Couture was an integral member of. He runs a fantastic Montreal-based label called ‘Small Scale Music’ (check them out!). Nicolas Caloia is one of my longest playing partners (we also both appear on Matana Roberts’ last ‘Coin Coin’-album) and I’ve wanted this duo performance to be out/heard for some time now as it’s an interesting improv with ud and acoustic bass on arabic maqam.

Thanks for listening.”

Playlist

Tamayuge – Ame Nochi Hare (Baba Yaga / Akuphone). Composers: Maya Kuroki /Tamara Filyavich
Moose Terrific – The Drinks (The Drinks / Fort Evil Fruit). Composers: Sam Shalabi / Tamara Filyavich
Brahja Waldman – In The Mess (Brahja / RR GEMS Records). Composer: Brahja Waldman.
Sam Shalabi – Min 5 (Min / self released). Composer: Sam Shalabi
Kee Avil – Sponge (Think Still / Blackbough Records). Composer: Vicky Mettler
Sam Shalabi – See/Saw (Outtake of forthcoming album / Nashazphone). Composer: Sam Shalabi
Nicola Caloia & Sam Shalabi (self released). Composers: Sam Shalabi / Nicolas Caloia

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