Excited for this:"Björk and Syrian singer Omar Souleyman have teamed up for a joint album to be released later this year. This will mark Souleyman's pop debut ? and, presumably,
his first time singing with a former member of the Sugarcubes.
It's "the first-ever major western pop release to feature Syrian dabke and Iraqi choubi music", according to a press release received by
Pitchfork.
Beyond our excitement for the braiding of Souleyman's raucous Arabic techno and Björk's meticulous art-pop, we are equally thrilled by the mention of a
"major ... release": it's one thing for Björk to issue a one-off remix download, and another if she and Souleyman have spent time recording together. All
we know for the moment is that the project promises a limited 12in vinyl record, CD and digital download, before the end of 2011.
Björk is
Iceland
's biggest musical export, but Souleyman is much less well known in the west despite
a serious cult following.
The Icelandic singer discovered the dabke MC on YouTube,
she told NPR
in 2009: "What's refreshing about [Souleyman] is the party," she said. "It's really alive and very urgent. And he's not above using synths, electronics,
drum machines and YouTube. He's really eager to make something that's vibrant."
Souleyman has two UK dates booked for later this year, at London's Field Day in August, and the Isle of Wight's Bestival in early September."
I feel as though a lot of Ween fans would
dig this (and much of SCG's material, for that matter): "By my count, Baroque Primitiva is the sixth album cut by Alvarius B. and is, like its predecessors, a deep swim through mysterious waters. The 11 tracks
here were recorded at various sessions over the course of several years and range from "Humor Police" (a track that imagines what Syd Barrett might have
sounded like had he been a devotee of rembetika) to a trippily Beatles-damaged version of "You Only Live Twice" (the sole surviving shard of the aborted
Alvarius B. Plays The Bond Songbook project). Baroque Primitiva is the first long-format telegram from Alvarius B. since he lost his mothership (the Sun
City Girls, with whom he employed his slave name, Alan Bishop) and it also feels like his most consistently non-acerbic -- perhaps even most beauty-oriented
-- work. The songs often have a meditative pace and are filled with gorgeous lo-fi blends of vocals, guitar, bass and keys. Eyvind Kang guests on several
tracks, but the bulk of the material was broadcast direct from the naked soul of Alvarius B., which turns out to be a warmer, sweeter place than you might
imagine. The record also marks the return of the equally-legendary Poon Village label, whose 1993 Sun City Girls LP, Live At C.O.N. Artists, is a rare
and lovely piece of that bands sonic puzzle. Poon Villages productions are always extraordinary in visual terms, and Baroque Primitiva is no exception.
The covers meditative human mandala is a brilliant ocular ode to shifting visions of feminine pulchritude, and is worthy of the best framing job you can
afford." -Byron Coley "Screenprinted jackets feature a double gate, hand-cut spines, and metallic photo print featuring 16 naked girls. Heavy 180 gram
black vinyl pressed in the Rust Belt. Limited edition - 300 copies available for sale for the whole world." -Poon Village
Liking the Insane Warrior (RJD2) record. Good to hear that he has stopped trying to be Steve Mason.
