At times it’s as though one is tuning in to a radio where the dial is intermittently shifting, and whilst not all of it is entirely successful, there are some incredible moments of beauty and rapture to be found here, as well as some passages that might well startle your neighbours or frighten your cat.īleeding into one another and gathering momentum as they go, Sand Enigma’s first three tracks represent the strongest beginning to an album I’ve personally heard this year. A fertile collision between the Montreal Mile End art-rock improv scene and the large ensemble works of Egyptian big band composers, with some rock, noise and free jazz flavours thrown into the mix, Sand Enigma has an ‘everything including the kitchen sink approach’.
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#The sound s of enigma album plus#
Having previously released an album influenced by Thomas Pynchon’s vast novel, Against The Day, in 2009 and another inspired by Cario itself, The Big Mango in 2013, Land Of Kush return with their best record to date.Ī 20-piece plus ensemble featuring an incredible diversity of instrumentation, Land Of Kush exist at the opposite end of the musical spectrum to The Dwarfs Of East Agouza’s infectiously funky, mechanical loops. In between releasing albums under the Shalabi Effect moniker, comprising one third of The Dwarfs Of East Agouza (alongside Alan Bishop and Maurice Louca), appearing on the new Matana Roberts album, and working on his sixth solo record, he still finds time for a fourth entry in his most ambitious project, Land Of Kush.
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The Egyptian/Canadian composer, Sam Shalabi, must be a busy man.