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From the opening salvo, the ubiquitous Sam Shalabi ’s ELO draws you in to a cloistered, textured world of Egyptian modality and freeform experimentation. There is balance given between tongue in cheek salaciousness and seriously dank musical moodscapes. “The 1st and the Last” sets the tone immediately, Shalabi’s oud expertise sprinkling over a soundscape-y background, sounds of sucking shisha, a computerized voice reminiscent of Nobekazu Takemura ’s 10th , and the unfortunately less convincing element of a shyly ululating female voice.
Monogamy brings the listener on a mostly sublime aural journey, from the epically plastic sounding Egyptian pop track “Scars”, which is unfortunately marred again by unconvincing vocals in the latter portion. (I have no problem normally with Schoenbergian “sprechstimme” in any context, I just prefer it to be more.. convincing than what occurs throughout this album) One of my faves on the recording “Boo” then takes us through an awesomely dark Albert Ayler -esque nightmare.
Sam Shalabi’s virtuosity and compositional ability here match previous efforts and heights as his earlier work with Shalabi Effect . My only contention with this otherwise scintillating collection of soundscapes, music actuelle and robust musicality is the recurring computer voice, uttering sex-themed inanities. Really could have downplayed that element (which have been employed to great effect by the aforementioned Nobekazu Takemura and MF Doom ), as it feels like a pointless “in-joke” rather than an effective compositional device. However it is a flaw that only serves to offset an otherwise fascinating, shining and warped musical sculpture.
http://cstrecords.com/land-of-kush/
