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LP
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UNROCK 007LP
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Unrock's Saraswati Series is mostly string orientated, zigzagging between the lines where underground and high-art performance overlap. Out jumps the first part of their actively anti-Western sub-series: Mother Of All Sinners, a part of the "Puppet on a String" twin albums. Osama Shalabi, a born Egyptian (best known for his work with Shalabi Effect & Land Of Kush), is an expert playing the oud. He's a traveler between the Eastern and Western worlds and long-time contributor to the Montreal scene. Sam - who spent the last few years home in Cairo - breathes his own sense of space and time through the epic "Tamara", an 18 minute long melodic, delightful improvisation. The other story, "Faith Of Our Fathers", starts in Agouza, Cairo, where Sam Shalabi and Alan Bishop spent some time jamming. They'd run free, lose form, find intensity, and wound up creating a contemporary version of oriental psychedelic free form. A mind-blowing, wild, never mellow Cairo night, now documented here. It's getting intense: A north-African sand storm. Mother Of All Sinners will be released as a one-time limited run pressing on 140 gram vinyl. It has an extra heavy deluxe cover and a solid printed inlay.
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LP
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UNROCK 006LP
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140-gram LP in gatefold sleeve with a special drawing by Mazen Kerbaj. Mastered for vinyl by Harris Newman. Edition of 500. Entirely recorded at Tunefork Studios on the outskirts of Beirut, Burj al Imam's five tracks include three largely improvised numbers, a loose reworking of Sun City Girls track "The Imam," and a cover of traditional Americana song "Gently Johnny" (a highlight of Alan Bishop's live Alvarius B. shows). True to their habits, the Lebanese trio of trumpeter Mazen Kerbaj, guitarist Sharif Sehnaoui, and bassist Raed Yassin create acoustic improvised drones that range from insistent, chiming resonances with emergency alarm bells to low, thrumming hums. Avoiding conventional technique, "A" Trio generates rattling, metallic vibrations and a mechanistic backdrop out of which the instruments' true voices arise. With Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, The Invisible Hands, The Dwarfs of East Agouza) and his guitar and enigmatic voice in the mix, alternating between gentle crooning and the sounds of a howling dervish, this recording reaches an exceptional depth with strange sounds boiling down to a dark, heavy spiritual syrup. Psychedelic, industrial free jazz. Previously released on CD by the Beirut-based Annihaya label in 2015 (END 010CD).
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CD
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END 010CD
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Entirely recorded at Tunefork Studios on the outskirts of Beirut, Burj al Imam's five tracks include three largely improvised numbers, a loose reworking of early Sun City Girls track "The Imam," and a cover of traditional Americana song "Gently Johnny." The album displays remarkable coherence, for four musicians coming from such different backgrounds. True to their habits, the Lebanese trio of trumpeter Mazen Kerbaj, guitarist Sharif Sehnaoui, and bassist Raed Yassin create acoustic improvised drones that range from insistent, chiming resonances with emergency alarm bells to low, thrumming hums. The three musicians largely avoid conventional technique, instead using what sounds like motorized devices to generate rattling, metallic vibrations, building a mechanistic backdrop out of which the instruments' true voices occasionally arise. Perched above the ambient din, Alan Bishop is in fine form, and alternates between gentle crooning and malevolent whispering. Alan Bishop: guitar and voice; Mazen Kerbaj: trumpet; Sharif Sehnaoui: acoustic guitar; Raed Yassin: double bass. Packaged in a poster sleeve; hand-numbered edition of 500.
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