so this omar souleyman guy (RFI, RFD)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgRUHIeaKOk

Track 1 from the Sublime Frequencies CD, "Omar Souleyman- Highway to Hassake: Folk and Pop Sounds of Syria"

An excerpt from the track "Leh Jani" taken from cassette.

Featuring:
Omar Souleyman - vocals
Rizan Sa'id - Keyboard/Rhythms
Mahmoud Harbi - Poetry
And an unknown saz player

"Mahmoud Harbi is a long-time collaborator and the man responsible for much of the poetry sung by Souleyman. Together, they commonly perform the Ataba, a traditional form of folk poetry used in Dabke. On stage, Harbi chain smokes cigarettes while standing shoulder to shoulder with Souleyman, periodically leaning over to whisper the material into his ear. Acting as a conduit, Souleyman struts into the audience with urgency, vocalizing the prose in song before returning for the next verse."

~p~I~m~P~

raaad

yes

love this shit, jealous that the UK gets to see him and we don't.

I know! Fuckers!

(seriously, though)

that sublime frequencies tour has moved on to other parts of europe now:

Wed 10 OSLO, THE VILLA
www.thevilla.no

Thu 11 AARHUS, PAKHUSET
www.ljud.dk

Fri 12 GOTHENBURG, CLANDESTINO FESTIVAL
www.bwanaclub.org

Sat 13 BERLIN, FESTSAAL KREUZBERG
www.clubtransmediale.de / www.festsaal-kreuzberg.de

Sun 14 BERLIN, FESTSAAL KREUZBERG
www.clubtransmediale.de / www.festsaal-kreuzberg.de

Tue 16 COLOGNE, STADTTGARTEN
www.stadtgarten.de / www.myspace.com/reconstructingsong

Wed 17 GENEVA, L'USINE
www.cave12.org

Thu 18 GENEVA, L'USINE
www.cave12.org

Fri 19 BARCELONA, SONAR (OMAR SOULEYMAN ONLY)
www.sonar.es

Sat 20 MADRID, CENTRO DE ARTE DOS DE MAYO
www.madrid.org/centrodeartedosdemayo

Sat 20 TOULOUSE, RIO LOCO FESTIVAL (ALAN BISHOP DJ ONLY)
www.rio-loco.org

Sun 21 LISBON, CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION
www.filhounico.com

the album is rilly rilly good.

but you all probably know that by now.

I love the two CDs. The new one is even weirder than the first.

They're both carefully curated by Porest / Mark Gergis from dozens of cassettes. Evidently many of the original cassettes are less songs than two neverending workouts, 30 minutes a side, Fela style. The CDs are edited like pop concentrates but I hope there's a chance for some of the cassettes to start turning up somewhere soon.

^^^ would love to hear those. and yes the sf releases are both amazing

The wronger you spell his name, the more clips you find

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijLqrHDXEN4

(that square dance thing they do is called Dabke , hence his second album's name, btw)

been listening to this constantly

Jens Govaert (Belgium) wrote
at 13:11 on 04 June 2009
Looking forward to his performance in Belgium this saturday.. DABKE!!!
Report

Mathias Kostlin (France) wrote
at 14:05 on 31 May 2009
I've just seen him at Villette Sonique. This guy is fat. It was brilliant.

would rock keyboard dude's jacket in first vid

BTWS were playing him the other night; he must be good.

::tongue in cheek::

no, it sounded great.

tbh it doesn't stand out from other dabke stuff i hear. And I hear this music a lot coz my gf's parents are Lebanese and every party you go to, all they play is this kind of stuff. I was telling some of my girlfriend's cousins about souleyman and they were totally not interested because he's Syrian O_o

the cultural elite in Syrian were apparently perplexed by the Sublime Frequencies guys were so enraptured by Omar Souleyman, calling him "taxi driver's music"

Lansob Sherek is an anthem. Dancefloor mayhem.

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damns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruAklSJQ08M

dear ilx poster wilter, please tell me the names of some other dabke stuff i can hear via the internet

saw him live a couple of weeks ago. Party vibes.

give me more taxi driver's music plz
i am so so looking forward to seeing this guy jam the fuck out

This is kind of related:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBZ4mUAUCc8

New Omar album right about now: Jazeera Nights

UK tour starting tomorrow: http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/tour/omar2010.html

I guess he cannot get a visa to tour the US. His prior UK tour never came here either. The US is now allowing some Cuban musicians again to tour here but not Syrian ones I guess.

no, he's playing the US.
We got him for SummerStage in Central Park, NYC on June 26 with Tinariwen and Toubab Krewe.

Can you bring him to W. DC too, or is he coming here already?

ha, i'm just the pr guy. i know they're working hard on his visa.

I heard Omar Souleyman for the first time 2 nights ago. Jazeera Nights.

"Mandal/Metel Il Sukkar Ala Il Shai (I Don't Know/Like The Sugar In The Tea)", or as it's known in my household, "that 8th track", is pretty much the jam of all time. It's slower than most of the other songs of his that I've heard (admittedly I've only heard less than 1/500th of his total output, which is apparently over 500 releases), but when he goes "heh-heeey!" and the booty bass drops in, holy shit.

bummed that extra time in the usa game yesterday kept me from seeing omar at central park. anyone see him?

Here's a writeup of his Chicago gig and some tour issues

http://www3.timeoutny.com/chicago/blog/out-and-about/2010/06/chicago-summerdance-omar-souleyman/

i was at the summerstage gig with whiney g; it was good? maybe not as good as I wanted it to be? The crowd was not sure how to handle it. world cup kept the crowd light (maybe 2500?) and they were mostly there to see what the deal was so dancing was minimal. In a club, he would've destroyed. Great voice but it was just him walking around on a giant stage with two guys on synthesizers. needed a light show... though near the end a bellydancer from queens came on and started shakin'.

He ruled in Detroit at the Arab American festival. Yet another reason why it's so awesome that Detroit has such a huge arab american population, beyond all the great restaurants and grocery shopping.

just heard this guy for the first time a few weeks ago. Had planned to go to issue project room tonight but had family situation. friend said it was great though.

A buddy of mine was at that festival in Detroit. Sounds like fun.

he fucking ruled Chicago. but then again, he played in a little slice of Grant Park just off Michigan Avenue. Great crowd, everyone was into it and dancing, young and old. just a perfect scene all around. sucks that the New York gig apparently didn't go off so hot, oh well, that's New York right? you guys take everything for granted. Chicago fucking loved him. rapped a bit with Alvarius B, who was manning the merch. good times

While revered as a legitimate pop star in his native Syria, his bread and butter remains large wedding commissions, where, in accordance with local tradition, he extemporaneously extols the bride, the groom, and their families, usually with humor and awareness of regional current events. His recorded oeuvre is largely made up of cassette releases of these performances, financed by the family of the married couple to bring further glory to their name through cassette sales.

I actually never knew this. "Taxi driver's music" is such a great insult / compliment (delete as appropriate)!

When he play the West?

http://arabicpress.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/omar-souleymans-rise-to-indie-hipster-semifame/

Thought this was interesting, as was Alan Bishop's response in the comments.

Wish he had done more US dates than just Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and 2 NY City shows.

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/tour/omar2010.html

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BzbVmjyhvHI/S_qhkb5sskI/AAAAAAAABVk/B4EGv5Rgp5U/s400/souleyman_T_1.JPG

In response to this article: http://arabicpress.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/omar-souleymans-rise-to-indie-hipster-semifame/

I enjoyed the article and agreed with what it had to say, but this paragraph:

These types of statements compounded with a tendency for the “Western listener” to understand music on his/her terms and a refusal to accept that music can serve a variety of purposes in different cultures, makes me even more doubtful that music has the capacity to function as a “cultural bridge” of any sort. Listening to music for pure enjoyment is fine, but no one should claim that it brings them closer to understanding a culture.

...seems a little off, especially considering when he played the Arab American fest here, there were huge circles of all sorts of middle eastern people mixed with all sorts of hipsters all dancing together. I don't know if everyone was coming closer to understanding each other's culture, but it still seemed to have more power than this author gives creedence.

both the article & the responses make for really good & interesting reading

Was at both Central Park and Issue shows. Issue (BK) show was best for me because he played in a small courtyard where the reverb made everything sound like it was coming out of minaret loudspeakers. Kind of fuzzy and slightly distorted but amazing sounding. Plus there was a nice crowd dancing thruout the show right in front of the stage so the energy level was kept up. Central Park crowd by the stage seemed to dig the awful opening jam band much more and were mostly confused it seemed.

both the article & the responses make for really good & interesting reading

agreed. Before the European tour last year, Omar & his band had never left the region.

I do get the sense he's a guy you need to see live to see him at his best, though.

yep. live with a hyped enough crowd, his shows have been some of the most energetic/fun/dancey/manic shows i've ever seen.

that Christgau/Spin review is good, but lol @ this line:

the programmed drums generate rhythms that few American tub-thumpers could map, much less replicate

i like the music but it's not exactly rhythmically complicated.

I didn't see the other article until after the edit -- what was removed?

Hebden seemed a bit upset yesterday: "Some of these pitchfork writers are such fucking amateurs. Facts all over the place."

drama aside this is a great album

Yeah there's not much of this sort of handwringing around, say, afrobeats (which is largely made up of African pop, dancehall, US hip-hop and London dance music in varying proportions).

There's actually a significant difference. I don't know much about Afrobeats, but as I understand it, it's something that grew up within a British immigrant community. Souleyman in the west functions as an individual transplanted into a foreign environment. It's not particularly a Syrian American or Arab American community supporting him (correct me if I'm wrong), and his sound isn't an immigrant hybrid. This seems like the kind of stuff you'd hear at dinner concerts, with tabouleh and shawarma and plentiful bottles of arak, but that's not the circuit he's performing in in the U.S. Or do they make some concessions to those things at these shows?

Not that I feel really strongly about these issues. I like Souleyman. I've heard somewhat similar (and also entirely different) Arab music I like more.

I don't think much of him as a vocalist.

the few other bits of dabke I've heard haven't had as good vocals as his stuff, is there someone w/ similar stoic anguish you wld recommend?

I don't really listen to a lot of debka per se, or when I do it's usually by someone who performs a wide range of genres. So not really.

Would much rather listen to Mohammed Assaf's debka, but that's an entirely different thing. Doesn't have the trippiness of what Souleyman is doing. I have a live recording by Saleh Abdel Gafor which has some of that quality. It's not debka, but feels related. Not sure about the stoic anguish thing though. I wouldn't have thought of that as a description of Souleyman. Honestly I don't go looking for or expect stoic anguish in Arab vocalists. Maybe I'd describe Marcel Khalife that way at times, but if you know him, you know he sounds nothing like Souleyman.

I don't know how to just put a file up somewhere any more. Those sites all ask for too much involvement at this point.

I like some of Syrian debka star Ali Al Deek's music too (especially the album Aloush), but he may be too light for Souleyman fans.

(Wouldn't exactly call him a vocal virtuoso either.)

wenu wenu might be my favorite song of the year

I really like the four tet dude's production on this, subtle and relatively faithful to the style. Certainly "glossed up" but not in an obnoxious way like one of those putumayo records.

and the keyboard sound totally kills

^^otm on both posts. The keyboard solo on "Ya Yumma" is a scorcher. My heart starts racing when Souleyman kicks the song off with his jalla-jalla... Don't care about vocal virtuosos, I just love the grit in his vocals. Makes me want to smoke a cig with him :)

One thing that is great about Omar Souleymann is how full on his music is... for all that the indie hipsters are supposedly embracing him, he is more like a Syrian Scooter than a Syrian [insert name of currently kewl hipster band].

Syrian Scooter you say??? *downloads furiously*

I was actually saying to some friends a while back that if Omar Souleyman and Scooter teamed up we would have some next level fun amazingness. Throw in Fatman Scoop and the world would implode.

I don't know if Fatman Scoop would be willing to rock the jam once again

and the keyboard sound totally kills

― signed, J.P. Morgan CEO (Hurting 2), Monday, December 23, 2013 12:07 AM (5 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

totally. really digging this whole album

i have no qualms about the cleaner production, i think the record sounds great. i like this album a lot and i still like highway to hassake a lot, they are different and the production differences don't bother me much. the music is great on both albums.

i do feel like his vocals were stronger on the earlier stuff, though, i imagine just as a result of age (now 15-20 years after those early recordings e.g. "leh jani" were first made). i felt like like sang with a greater urgency & fierceness on the earlier records that seems toned down here, not intentionally. his voice just seems older and somewhat less energetic. it's still very strong though.

free show at millennium park in chicago this monday-- stoked!!!!!

oh shit

you are gonna wenu like crazy i bet

damn i've never listened to jazeera nights before, it's outstanding

"nahy" from wenu wenu is such a jam

also new track, new album coming, and a tour

http://pitchfork.com/news/58990-omar-souleyman-teams-with-four-tet-modeselektor-black-lips-for-new-album-bahdeni-nami

03-26 Boise, ID - Treefort Music Festival
03-27 Athens, GA - Slingshot Festival
03-28 Knoxville, TN - Big Ears Festival
05-21 Halifax, Nova Scotia - Obey Convention 8
05-22 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
05-23 Los Angeles, CA - Jewels Catch One
05-30 Bristol, England - Colston Hall
06-06 Copenhagen, Denmark - Distortion Festival
06-12 Toronto, Ontario - Bestival Toronto
06-26 Beuningen, Netherlands - Down The Rabbit Hole
07-11 Trencin, Slovakia - Pohoda Festival
07-16 Dour, Belgium - Dour Festival /

https://soundcloud.com/monkeytownrecords/omar-souleyman-enssa-el-aatab-prod-by-modeselektor/s-ghd5W guess it is not super new, came out a few weeks ago, it is very good imo

worth traveling up to NY to see him? srsly debating it now.

I would!

I am really digging this new tune

ehhhhh tbh seeing him live was pretty underwhelming

although i did see him at a huge free late afternoon outdoor show, i would be willing to see him a 2nd time in a club setting

i've seen him three times and all of them at large outdoor spaces; i think his energy would be GREATLY improved at a small club like Poisson Rouge. I bet that'll be rocking

When I went to see him last year I hoped/expected to be able to see Rizan Sa'id do his magic on the synthesizer (as my friend did when he saw him a couple of years earlier) but it turned out there was 'just' someone who controlled a laptop from which the music was generated/streamed. Bit of a bummer, really. He's a great performer though.

Rizan was at the gig i attended, but both were both dwarfed by the enormous stage they came nowhere near occupying

i missed him in Chicago last year but finally saw him at Big Ears last week and the crowd was so into it. it was a smallish space (not an outdoor festival) and everyone was dancing. like every single person except for the man next to me so i gently elbowed him away

my question: will someone please recommend me more music that sounds like "atabat"? iirc he didn't play any slow songs live because it probably would have killed the mood or caused someone to spontaneously combust.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESh_qPZFLiI

Wow, this new album. Can't put my finger on it but it's both super familiar yet a lot better than Wenu Wenu

oh I didn't realise he had a new one, cool!

what do you all think of bahdeni nemi?

seems less urgent than wenu wenu and especially the SF releases but i am enjoying it

who's heard the new one?

"Atabat" from the first one came on in the car today, I'd forgotten what a jam that one is.

hmm

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/17/syrian-musician-omar-souleyman-held-on-terrorism-charges-in-turkey

Terrible. Free Omar!

yes

update! he's free - after being sent to "a detention center for people due to be deported"

https://ra.co/news/76422

now thats the news we wanted to hear!

also this:

He has lived in Turkey since the onset of the Syrian civil war, running, among other things, a free bakery in Urfa.

Still, just like in China, you can't become too popular without getting your chains rattled by the government every now and then, apparently. :-/