This record steals with ridiculous and riotous abandon, and does so brilliantly.
This record steals with ridiculous and riotous abandon, and does so brilliantly.
(Secretly Canadian) http://www.konkurrent.nl
My word what a record this is. An album, moreover that’s over two years in the making; and the result of what sounds like (on the evidence of the record at least) an enervating and intense collaboration between Suuns and Radwan Ghazi Moumneh from Jerusalem In My Heart. At times it’s as free as the air, or hotter than baked sand in a desert. Elsewhere it literally steams and hisses; the backdrop to some intrigue in an incredibly hot sticky Turkish steam baths.
And oh, my what a sound. It may feel a restrained record, but its headspace is massive and wide-ranging. You just feel it’s going to explode at any moment, such is the sense of pressure it imparts. As to the content; well, the musical and cultural exchange is pretty much what you’d expect given the project’s history (the brilliant Seif is one example of that) but what is really noticeable is how ROCK this record sounds. This record steals with ridiculous and riotous abandon, and does so brilliantly. To the point where nothing feels forced.
Rather, it’s a total saturation of the senses. There are bits of Suuns’ minimal beat and moody angularity for sure, but there are passages which sound like some glorious rainbow coalition of Suicide, Edgar Froese and Klaus Schultze’s Berlin school stylings, Julian Cope’s Rite explorations (listen to In Touch and tell me it’s not something off Rite Squared), Peter Gabriel soundtracks and Gong, even. But it’s a superb trip throughout. The droney opener 2amoutu 17tirakan is a retro-futuristic, spaceward wipeout; its Glitterbeat having an element of early White Hills to it. Metal acts like a bucket of cold water, a punky buzzsaw driving it, whereas Gazelles In Flight could be You-era Gong jamming with Klaus Schultze. Get the picture? The pressure does drop with Leyla, but it’s still as zen-punk as hell. And last track 3attam Babey is akin to banging your head against a padded cell. Ace.
Mindblowing stuff.