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"Sublime Frequencies is a collective of explorers dedicated to acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers via film and video, field recordings, radio and short wave transmissions, international folk and pop music, sound anomalies, and other forms of human and natural expression not documented sufficiently through all channels of academic research, the modern recording industry, media, or corporate foundations."
When the good folks at Sublime Frequencies decided to start releasing vinyl-only documents from around the world back in 2008, they kicked off the series in impressive style with Group Doueh's Guitar Music from the Western Sahara. Spotlighting the virtuosic guitar playing of Doueh (and augmented by the vocals of his wife Halima and friend Bashiri), that LP focused on the trio's singular take on the traditional music of their native region as filtered through an impressive barrage of electric guitar that had as much in common with Sonny Sharrock as it did with any of their countrymen. Raw and noisy, and yet still imbued with an undeniably buoyant near-pop sensibility, Group Doueh ripped through joyous lo-fi burners like "Eid El Arsh" and queasy, near-psychedelic pieces like "Fagu." Elsewhere, the added percussion on tracks like "Wazan Samat" granted Doueh's strange, sun-baked melodies a simple, yet powerful sense of rhythm. Out of print almost as soon as it was released, Sublime Frequencies has thankfully seen fit to reissue the album on CD and now as a download, granting those too slow on the uptake a chance to hear this set in all its glory. Recommended not only to those who had their ears bent by 2007's great Tinariwen record, but also those curious as to what a Takoma-styled guitarist would sound like if he had grown up in the desert worshipping Jimi Hendrix. Guitar Music from the Western Sahara needs to be heard to be believed. -Michael Crumsho
Omar Souleyman has had a spotlight of the brightest intensity shining on his career for the past few years in a fashion almost unheard of for most international performers of his nature; he began as a Syrian wedding singer and has ended up one of the most highly respected figures of the international underground. After a hugely successful series of recent concerts in Europe and the Americas, not to mention an excellent studio collaboration with superstar Bjork, he's offering up this document of recordings from those Western performances, and it's not only a total doozy, but also a great place to jump on to the bandwagon if you haven't yet become a convert. Those familiar with Souleyman's high-octane Dabke beats will know what they're in for here; the rhythms are dizzying, and the interplay between multi-instrumentalist Rizan Sa'id's fluttering synth splatter and electric saz player Ali Shaker's hypnotic riffs gives these tunes a fluid yet rock-solid backbone that needs to be heard to be believed. This is probably the most hi-fi release yet offered by Souleyman aside from the Bjork collab, and as I stated in my review of that record, it's fantastic to be able to hear his soulful voice bear full fruit over such clear music. While the lo-fi techno vibes of those previous releases is great unto itself, there's a different power at work here, and it is given an excellent, respectful package thanks to Sublime Frequencies. These tunes kick with the force of a house night in Detroit or Berlin, but at the same time display the instrumental dexterity of jazz virtuosos at a Village Vanguard residency; crowd noise is filtered out and every song slays, for an all-killer, no-filler experience. Tempos generally hover in the usual upper BPMs, but the overall feeling seems just a smidge slower, allowing for some breathing room not only in the arrangements, but also in the audience, and that extra oxygen gives these recordings a sensuality one may not have felt in the lo-fi jams of old. Souleyman's earlier releases were also compiled mostly from live recordings, but here they pack a punch that had been previously missing from the equation. Longtime fans are definitely going to need this, and if you're a newbie who just grabbed the Bjork EP and need some more, this is the fix that will get you through. The man is unstoppable; don't stand in his way unless you're ready for one hell of a night! -Mikey IQ Jones
Erkin Koray is one of the icons of Turkish psychedelic music. His records have been slowly reissued and compiled in the West over the past few years, giving new listeners a chance to hear the man who essentially brought rock music to the Anatolian country. Sublime Frequencies adds another jewel to his crown with this excellent compilation collecting single tracks and rarities heretofore mostly unavailable on previous reissues of Koray's work, many of which were unauthorized bootlegs. Koray himself assisted in the track selection, offering material from his own archives, and it's nice to know the man is getting some royalties for this, as it's one of the best compilations of his work I've heard. He ably combines rock instrumentation with Turkish folk forms, amplifying traditional Anatolian instruments and processing them through psychedelic effects, often with heavy, funky beds of rhythm underpinning his fuzzed-out riffs and soulful vocals. If you've enjoyed reissues by the likes of Selda, Ersen, or either volume of the Turkish Freakout series, you'll find much to love here; the grooves are hypnotic, the vibes are thick with incense, and there are few characters in international psychedelia who deserve more attention from the wider turned-on, tuned-in, dropped-out masses. Fans of everything from Hendrix to the 13th Floor Elevators to Amon Duul II should check this out post-haste. -Mikey IQ Jones This Sublime Freq's excursion into desert guitar was borne out of a tragedy that most musicians of the Western world could never face. Dispatched from March 2010, SF honcho Hisham Mayet traveled to Niger in the midst of a military coup. Unable to travel safely to Agadez to meet Inerane leader Bibi Ahmed, Mayet was met by Ahmed in the capital of Niamey with tragic news: second guitarist Adi Mohamed had been murdered in the insurrection. With no time to spare, Ahmed assembled a new band, featuring "second wave" Tuareg guitarist Koudede in his late friend's stead. The difficulties of life in their world notwithstanding, Group Inerane has turned in a work as hypnotic and arresting as their first album: rock music in a '50s Bo Diddley tradition, completely turned inside out in terms of scale, style, and motivation. African rhythms roll and shuffle underneath a twisting path of guitar mastery, chords and solos weaving together in a single key as the words of struggle and relief are belted out over top. Inerane remains the crown jewel in the series, even topping Doueh's madman Hendrix appropriation in terms of sheer focus and drive. Another outstanding release from this beloved label. Doug Mosurock Group Doueh's third album finds the Mauritanian ensemble delving even deeper into a stern, minimal, trance-like groove, continuing in a vector far removed from the blown out, borderline exploitational vibes present on Doueh's coveted debut, Guitar Music from the Western Sahara. For many reasons, this outing (as with the second album, Treeg Salaam) rings with a more intense vibe than a bunch of distortion could provide. Doueh plays guitar and a three-stringed lute called a tinidit, backed by vocalist Halima, her cries cutting right across the top of this dazzling, intricate display, and her finger-twisting abilities on the ardin, a harp traditionally played by women. The Sublime Frequencies titles of the vinyl series -- at least those that focus on guitar ensembles of Africa -- have benefited from a greater attention to detail, courtesy of SF honcho Hisham Mayet, who has taken to recording these groups himself rather than rely on existing tapes. What we're getting is the truth of how these groups sound in light of Western technology, and the result is positively mesmerizing, traditional music of the region played with blinding speed and care, music that overpowers you not by force but by its will. While not the most immediate of Doueh's three records, Beatte Harab has the most staying power, and blossoms after a few listens into an unforgettable experience. Understand the music of a wholly different world than your own, and be dazzled by its beauty to the contrary. -Doug Mosurock Often playing at breakneck speeds, Omar Souleyman and his band have created an ecstatic party music that fuses elements of regional folk forms with lo-fi drum machines, phase-shifted Arabic keyboard lines, and unidentifiable spurts of electronic noise, over which Souleyman sings and chants with palpable energy, often in feverish call and response with the aforementioned bevy of electronic sounds, but equally as often with virtuosic displays on traditional Middle Eastern instruments like the oud, spike fiddle, saz, or nay. Pictured in what has become his signature look -- thick mustache, dark aviator shades, and red and white checkered khaffya -- Souleyman is an intriguing, imposing character capable of impassioned, frenetic vocalizations that are as much about rhythmic invention as they are about delivering the lyrical goods. Interestingly enough, Souleyman doesn't write his own lyrics, but sees himself more as a conduit, leaving the word-smithing to long time collaborator and full-time band member, Mahmoud Harbi. Harbi is Souleyman's silent, chain smoking alter-ego who allegedly stands shoulder to shoulder with the singer during live shows and -- get this -- whispers the verses in Souleyman's ear. Equally at home singing dance floor ass-shakers and mournful calls to prayer, Souleyman is a musical icon in his native Syria and has reputedly released more than 500 studio and live cassette albums since 1994. For Highway to Hassake, Sublime Frequencies regular Mark Gergis has culled some of the highlights from Souleyman's vast cassette catalog with blessings from the man himself. -Che Chen An Interview with Alan Bishop OTHER MUSIC: Why bring the SF catalog to digital downloads now? Is it to reach more people with this music? |
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