raaad
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Wednesday, 10 June 2009 16:51 (fifteen years ago) link
yes
― admrl, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 16:56 (fifteen years ago) link
love this shit, jealous that the UK gets to see him and we don't.
― ian, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 17:09 (fifteen years ago) link
I know! Fuckers!
― admrl, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 17:10 (fifteen years ago) link
(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'USINEwww.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
― Ward Fowler, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 17:30 (fifteen years ago) link
the album is rilly rilly good.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 17:34 (fifteen years ago) link
but you all probably know that by now.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 17:35 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Milton Parker, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 17:37 (fifteen years ago) link
^^^ would love to hear those. and yes the sf releases are both amazing
― psychgawsple, Wednesday, 10 June 2009 17:50 (fifteen years ago) link
The wronger you spell his name, the more clips you find
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijLqrHDXEN4
― StanM, Friday, 12 June 2009 21:14 (fifteen years ago) link
(that square dance thing they do is called Dabke , hence his second album's name, btw)
― StanM, Friday, 12 June 2009 21:15 (fifteen years ago) link
been listening to this constantly
― admrl, Friday, 12 June 2009 21:25 (fifteen years ago) link
Jens Govaert (Belgium) wroteat 13:11 on 04 June 2009Looking forward to his performance in Belgium this saturday.. DABKE!!!Report Mathias Kostlin (France) wroteat 14:05 on 31 May 2009I've just seen him at Villette Sonique. This guy is fat. It was brilliant.
― admrl, Tuesday, 16 June 2009 04:26 (fifteen years ago) link
would rock keyboard dude's jacket in first vid
― what u arrestin me for, innit (╓abies), Tuesday, 16 June 2009 07:39 (fifteen years ago) link
BTWS were playing him the other night; he must be good.
::tongue in cheek::
no, it sounded great.
― Violent In Design (Masonic Boom), Tuesday, 16 June 2009 08:59 (fifteen years ago) link
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
― wilter, Tuesday, 16 June 2009 09:08 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Tannenbaum Schmidt, Thursday, 2 July 2009 13:00 (fifteen years ago) link
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ruAklSJQ08M&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ruAklSJQ08M&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
― Tannenbaum Schmidt, Thursday, 2 July 2009 13:01 (fifteen years ago) link
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
― thomp, Thursday, 2 July 2009 14:04 (fifteen years ago) link
saw him live a couple of weeks ago. Party vibes.
― the shock will be coupled with the need to dance (jim), Thursday, 2 July 2009 15:20 (fifteen years ago) link
give me more taxi driver's music plzi am so so looking forward to seeing this guy jam the fuck out
― forksclovetofu, Tuesday, 9 March 2010 05:58 (fourteen years ago) link
This is kind of related:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBZ4mUAUCc8
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 20 March 2010 05:25 (fourteen years ago) link
New Omar album right about now: Jazeera Nights
― StanM, Monday, 10 May 2010 19:09 (fourteen years ago) link
UK tour starting tomorrow: http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/tour/omar2010.html
― StanM, Monday, 10 May 2010 19:13 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 10 May 2010 19:47 (fourteen years ago) link
no, he's playing the US.We got him for SummerStage in Central Park, NYC on June 26 with Tinariwen and Toubab Krewe.
― ₣õ®₭§©₤¤∵釰ƒü (forksclovetofu), Monday, 10 May 2010 20:28 (fourteen years ago) link
Can you bring him to W. DC too, or is he coming here already?
― curmudgeon, Monday, 10 May 2010 20:49 (fourteen years ago) link
ha, i'm just the pr guy. i know they're working hard on his visa.
― ₣õ®₭§©₤¤∵釰ƒü (forksclovetofu), Monday, 10 May 2010 21:22 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― Come along, we shall dine at an expensive French restaurant. (Z S), Sunday, 27 June 2010 22:04 (fourteen years ago) link
bummed that extra time in the usa game yesterday kept me from seeing omar at central park. anyone see him?
― mizzell, Sunday, 27 June 2010 23:36 (fourteen years ago) link
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/
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 27 June 2010 23:51 (fourteen years ago) link
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'.
― obvious and old and bannable (forksclovetofu), Monday, 28 June 2010 01:32 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― filthy dylan, Monday, 28 June 2010 01:39 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― hills like white people (Hurting 2), Monday, 28 June 2010 04:29 (fourteen years ago) link
A buddy of mine was at that festival in Detroit. Sounds like fun.
― Trip Maker, Monday, 28 June 2010 04:31 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― Stormy Davis, Monday, 28 June 2010 05:09 (fourteen years ago) link
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)!
― A prog venn diagram for you to think about (Matt #2), Monday, 28 June 2010 16:08 (fourteen years ago) link
When he play the West?
― Cool Fetus (admrl), Monday, 28 June 2010 16:10 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― hills like white people (Hurting 2), Monday, 28 June 2010 16:13 (fourteen years ago) link
Wish he had done more US dates than just Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and 2 NY City shows.
http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/tour/omar2010.html
― curmudgeon, Monday, 28 June 2010 16:30 (fourteen years ago) link
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BzbVmjyhvHI/S_qhkb5sskI/AAAAAAAABVk/B4EGv5Rgp5U/s400/souleyman_T_1.JPG
― mizzell, Monday, 28 June 2010 16:39 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― filthy dylan, Monday, 28 June 2010 16:45 (fourteen years ago) link
both the article & the responses make for really good & interesting reading
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Monday, 28 June 2010 17:16 (fourteen years ago) link
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.
― ¿Can Your Gato Do the Perro? (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 28 June 2010 17:28 (fourteen years ago) link
agreed. Before the European tour last year, Omar & his band had never left the region.
― sarahel, Monday, 28 June 2010 19:23 (fourteen years ago) link
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].
― The New Dirty Vicar, Wednesday, 4 August 2010 09:50 (fourteen years ago) link
Also, YELLA!
Thinking about hitting the London gig on the 28th. Apparently he will be "Performing both a rare Mawal set and a Dabke/Choubi set". I have the first Sublime Frequencies records but apart from that am pretty ignorant; Dabke/Choubi is what SF have put out, right? The best idea I've found of what Mawal would be is this Youtube; people in the know, is this representative?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzDWceu3n9w
― seandalai, Friday, 20 August 2010 15:10 (fourteen years ago) link
I didn't see the other article until after the edit -- what was removed?
― Less-offensive uses of puto/puta (sarahell), Thursday, 24 October 2013 18:52 (ten years ago) link
Hebden seemed a bit upset yesterday: "Some of these pitchfork writers are such fucking amateurs. Facts all over the place."
― djh, Saturday, 26 October 2013 11:11 (ten years ago) link
drama aside this is a great album
― ogmor, Saturday, 26 October 2013 12:28 (ten years ago) link
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.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 22 December 2013 19:26 (ten years ago) link
I don't think much of him as a vocalist.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 22 December 2013 19:40 (ten years ago) link
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?
― ogmor, Sunday, 22 December 2013 22:55 (ten years ago) link
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.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 22 December 2013 23:10 (ten years ago) link
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.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 22 December 2013 23:16 (ten years ago) link
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.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 22 December 2013 23:32 (ten years ago) link
(Wouldn't exactly call him a vocal virtuoso either.)
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 22 December 2013 23:35 (ten years ago) link
wenu wenu might be my favorite song of the year
― |$̲̅(̲̅ιοο̲̅)̲̅$̲̅| (gr8080), Monday, 23 December 2013 01:24 (ten years ago) link
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.
― signed, J.P. Morgan CEO (Hurting 2), Monday, 23 December 2013 05:07 (ten years ago) link
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 :)
― willem, Monday, 23 December 2013 09:58 (ten years ago) link
Syrian Scooter you say??? *downloads furiously*
― frogbs, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:52 (ten years ago) link
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.
― jamiesummerz, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 13:45 (ten years ago) link
I don't know if Fatman Scoop would be willing to rock the jam once again
― frogbs, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 14:05 (ten years ago) link
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
― 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
― marcos, Friday, 6 June 2014 15:12 (ten years ago) link
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.
― marcos, Friday, 6 June 2014 15:14 (ten years ago) link
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.
― marcos, Friday, 6 June 2014 15:16 (ten years ago) link
free show at millennium park in chicago this monday-- stoked!!!!!
― °ㅇ๐ْ ° (gr8080), Friday, 6 June 2014 15:40 (ten years ago) link
oh shit
― goole, Friday, 6 June 2014 16:15 (ten years ago) link
you are gonna wenu like crazy i bet
damn i've never listened to jazeera nights before, it's outstanding
― marcos, Wednesday, 11 June 2014 20:39 (ten years ago) link
"nahy" from wenu wenu is such a jam
― marcos, Thursday, 26 March 2015 14:12 (nine years ago) link
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 Festival03-27 Athens, GA - Slingshot Festival03-28 Knoxville, TN - Big Ears Festival05-21 Halifax, Nova Scotia - Obey Convention 805-22 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge05-23 Los Angeles, CA - Jewels Catch One05-30 Bristol, England - Colston Hall06-06 Copenhagen, Denmark - Distortion Festival06-12 Toronto, Ontario - Bestival Toronto06-26 Beuningen, Netherlands - Down The Rabbit Hole07-11 Trencin, Slovakia - Pohoda Festival07-16 Dour, Belgium - Dour Festival /
― marcos, Thursday, 26 March 2015 14:25 (nine years ago) link
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.
― Mordy, Thursday, 26 March 2015 14:35 (nine years ago) link
I would!
― sleeve, Thursday, 26 March 2015 14:45 (nine years ago) link
I am really digging this new tune
― marcos, Thursday, 26 March 2015 14:56 (nine years ago) link
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
― gr8080, Thursday, 26 March 2015 15:06 (nine years ago) link
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
― Maybe in 100 years someone will say damn Dawn was dope. (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 26 March 2015 15:43 (nine years ago) link
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.
― willem, Thursday, 26 March 2015 16:31 (nine years ago) link
Rizan was at the gig i attended, but both were both dwarfed by the enormous stage they came nowhere near occupying
― gr8080, Thursday, 26 March 2015 17:09 (nine years ago) link
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
― groundless round (La Lechera), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 14:05 (nine years ago) link
Wow, this new album. Can't put my finger on it but it's both super familiar yet a lot better than Wenu Wenu
― StanM, Sunday, 24 May 2015 20:28 (nine years ago) link
oh I didn't realise he had a new one, cool!
― xelab, Sunday, 24 May 2015 23:22 (nine years ago) link
what do you all think of bahdeni nemi?
― marcos, Tuesday, 11 August 2015 17:06 (nine years ago) link
seems less urgent than wenu wenu and especially the SF releases but i am enjoying it
who's heard the new one?
― frogbs, Monday, 12 June 2017 21:48 (seven years ago) link
"Atabat" from the first one came on in the car today, I'd forgotten what a jam that one is.
― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Friday, 3 January 2020 20:42 (four years ago) link
hmmhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/17/syrian-musician-omar-souleyman-held-on-terrorism-charges-in-turkey
― StanM, Friday, 19 November 2021 08:35 (two years ago) link
Terrible. Free Omar!
― curmudgeon, Friday, 19 November 2021 12:22 (two years ago) link
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Friday, 19 November 2021 12:34 (two years ago) link
update! he's free - after being sent to "a detention center for people due to be deported"
https://ra.co/news/76422
― StanM, Friday, 19 November 2021 17:03 (two years ago) link
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.
― o shit the sheriff (NickB), Friday, 19 November 2021 17:12 (two years ago) link
Still, just like in China, you can't become too popular without getting your chains rattled by the government every now and then, apparently. :-/
― StanM, Friday, 19 November 2021 17:19 (two years ago) link