I am not usually fond of music that tries to mix ethnic elements with dub/reggae influences. It usually doesn´t give me anything, turning out to be just some crazy pot-pourri of tones and rhythms without being really rooted in something creative and soulful. This album is for me something entirely different and Celt Islam has been successful with his blending of dub/electro with "Islamic/world grooves".
Celt Islam is Muhammad Abdullah Hamzah an English Muslim, Sufi from Manchester, England,
and a member of the northern British alternative dub/breaks outfit "Nine
Invisibles " and " Analogue Fakir ". He has released two albums called Dervish and AL Mizan, which mixes dub step, dancehall with dubby world music. He has also worked along side respected names such as Inder Goldfinger (tabla player for Stone Roses), Ian Brown´s band and Natacha Atlas and Dawoud Kringle who has performed with for example Lauryn Hill. Celt Islam tries to define a "Sufi-Dub genre", a sub-genre he is one of the few trying to create. So what is this new album all about? Well the listener can expect twelve really good songs, all trying to embody Celt Islam´s "dub-driven crossover". The best ones are:
2. Tribernetikz - Intense dubby rhythms, electronic sequencers and beautiful string-parts combined with some sort of acoustic string instrument playing a nice melody building up to a climax
5. Sarayada Dub - Nice wobbly sequencer base, tablas, a good sub, sampled vocals, mixed with reggae elements, and different parts of acoustic melodies with the smell of the middle-east
6. Borderless World (feat. the Renegade Sufi) - another good blend between reggae and world music with some deeper dub and electronic parts mixed with delayed voices and a very nice melody on top
8. Habbiyya - a bit slower and deeper, with a nice electronic sequencer part and flowing strings. This song has a bit of a more tentative, melancholic feel, with a nice minimal groove and beautiful melodies
9. Baghdad - the title track is a bit more uptempo, with powerful and deeply intense string-parts and in the middle presenting more rhythms, some floating vocals with a breeze of lost memories
http://soundcloud.com/celt-islam
https://www.facebook.com/
matt-in-orbit 2012
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