Sublime Frequencies
with Group Doueh & Omar Souleyman + DJ sets
Tour dates: Wed 20th May 2009 to Sat 30th May 2009
Sublime Frequencies travel the globe, digging deep for overlooked and forgotten music, looking for artists and groups that move their souls, and making strong connections with musicians and music lovers wherever they go. Folk and pop musicians are sought out, documented and released on the Sublime Frequencies record label, capturing ultra-vivid sights and sounds from rural life and urban street. Radio broadcasts, field recordings and lost archives are also assembled into CD and vinyl releases, all presented in a genuinely thrilling and unabashed style. This tour follows in that tradition. Street-level folk-pop, over-driven psychedelic meditations, desert blues and Syrian party bangers are all combined with films and DJs on this once in a lifetime Sublime Frequencies tour experience.
This is the first ever Sublime Frequencies tour. It brings to the UK two live acts who have released albums on the Sublime Frequencies label; Group Doueh (from the Western Sahara) and Omar Souleyman (from Syria) plus Sublime Frequencies DJ sets. The label are presenting some of the greatest expressive music in the world with only one agenda in mind: that it needs to be heard or seen, respected and recognised. This is a rare opportunity to see the two maverick and genuinely great groups from vastly different traditions and influences playing on the same bill.
May
Group Doueh are led by the enigmatic guitar hero Bamaar Salmou, who is known simply as 'Doueh' (pronounced: 'Doo-way'). They are from Dakhla, in the Western Sahara. The group's sound is unlike anything that you've ever heard before. It is a sound that is rooted in the traditional foundations of Sahrawi/Hassania music, but one that is also entirely its own. It shares its roots with the neighbouring styles of Mauritanian music, however Group Doueh have managed to transcend the classical limitations of that music with a fiery, independent, and avant approach that incorporates a distinctly pop and rock element that is anomalous in the region. This is a sound that can only come from the land that inspired it. This is the sound of the Sahara desert. It is a searing, meditative, and hypnotic modal sandstorm of note clusters that has been cathartic to anyone who has heard it.
Group Doueh have been playing together for over 20 years. The band consists of their leader, Doueh on guitar and tinidit, his wife Halima on vocals and tbal, their son Jamal on organ, and longtime friend Bashiri also on vocals. They had declined several offers from Moroccan, French and Spanish recording labels to release their music. It was not until Sublime Frequencies, after a long search for the music landed them at the man's house in Dakhla, that Doueh agreed to have his music released for the very first time.
Omar Souleyman is a musical legend from Syria. For the past 15 years, he and his group have emerged as a staple of folk-pop throughout the country, having issued more than five-hundred studio and live-recorded cassette albums which are easily spotted in the shops of any Syrian city. Hailing from the rural Northeastern city of Ras Al Ain, Souleyman began his musical career in 1994 with a small group of local collaborators that have been with him from the start. The group tirelessly performs concerts throughout Syria and has accepted invitations to perform abroad in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Lebanon.
The myriad musical traditions of the region are evident in their music, which reflect the sounds of Syria, Iraq, Turkey and the sizable Kurdish population. The moods swing from coarse and urgent to dirgy and contemplative in the rugged anthems that comprise Souleyman's repertoire. Expect the ultimate party music. Omar's superb and varied vocal stylings feature over high-octane Syrian "Dabke" (the regional folkloric dance music) and a host of other styles. Frantic Arabic keyboard solos provided by the incredible Rizan Sa'id intertwine with reeds, stringed instruments and percussion. Mahmoud Harbi, a long-time collaborator and he man responsible for much of the poetry sung by Souleyman accompanies Omar for an unforgettable onstage collaboration as they perform the Ataba, a traditional form of folk poetry, where Omar's unaccompanied freestyle "mawal" singing stands in a league of its own.
This is a rare opportunity to glimpse into Syrian street-level folk-pop – a phenomenon seldom heard in the West in this form, and rarely, if ever, included on the import agenda of worldwide academic musical committees. Experience the genuine sounds of Syria and the Middle East without the condescending polish and shine of much exported "world beat".
Plus one of a kind Sublime Frequencies DJ set presentations featuring primarily retro 1960's and 1970's Hybrid-Pop Rock Folk Beat Yeh-Yeh Go-Go Freak Beat Psychedelic Surf and many indigenous styles from North Africa, The Middle East, South and Southeast Asia. All of the material played at these DJ sets will be unreleased archival music collected by the DJs themselves. So sit back, listen, dance, do as you will and let them saw your head off with the best music you've almost assuredly NEVER heard before!
This is the first ever Sublime Frequencies tour. It brings to the UK two live acts who have released albums on the Sublime Frequencies label; Group Doueh (from the Western Sahara) and Omar Souleyman (from Syria) plus Sublime Frequencies DJ sets. The label are presenting some of the greatest expressive music in the world with only one agenda in mind: that it needs to be heard or seen, respected and recognised. This is a rare opportunity to see the two maverick and genuinely great groups from vastly different traditions and influences playing on the same bill.
May
| Wed 20th |
Brighton |
Brighton Festival @ St George's Church |
| Thu 21st |
Birmingham |
Hare & Hounds |
| Fri 22nd |
Glasgow |
Stereo |
| Sat 23rd |
Newcastle |
Star & Shadow |
| Sun 24th |
Bristol |
Fiddlers |
| Mon 25th |
Falmouth |
Miss Peapods |
| Wed 27th |
Manchester |
Mint Lounge |
| Thu 28th |
Norwich |
Norwich Arts Centre |
| Fri 29th |
London |
Tufnell Park Dome |
| Sat 30th |
Cambridge |
A Palimpsest Cut Up @ Unitarian Church |
Group Doueh are led by the enigmatic guitar hero Bamaar Salmou, who is known simply as 'Doueh' (pronounced: 'Doo-way'). They are from Dakhla, in the Western Sahara. The group's sound is unlike anything that you've ever heard before. It is a sound that is rooted in the traditional foundations of Sahrawi/Hassania music, but one that is also entirely its own. It shares its roots with the neighbouring styles of Mauritanian music, however Group Doueh have managed to transcend the classical limitations of that music with a fiery, independent, and avant approach that incorporates a distinctly pop and rock element that is anomalous in the region. This is a sound that can only come from the land that inspired it. This is the sound of the Sahara desert. It is a searing, meditative, and hypnotic modal sandstorm of note clusters that has been cathartic to anyone who has heard it.
Group Doueh have been playing together for over 20 years. The band consists of their leader, Doueh on guitar and tinidit, his wife Halima on vocals and tbal, their son Jamal on organ, and longtime friend Bashiri also on vocals. They had declined several offers from Moroccan, French and Spanish recording labels to release their music. It was not until Sublime Frequencies, after a long search for the music landed them at the man's house in Dakhla, that Doueh agreed to have his music released for the very first time.
Omar Souleyman is a musical legend from Syria. For the past 15 years, he and his group have emerged as a staple of folk-pop throughout the country, having issued more than five-hundred studio and live-recorded cassette albums which are easily spotted in the shops of any Syrian city. Hailing from the rural Northeastern city of Ras Al Ain, Souleyman began his musical career in 1994 with a small group of local collaborators that have been with him from the start. The group tirelessly performs concerts throughout Syria and has accepted invitations to perform abroad in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Lebanon.
The myriad musical traditions of the region are evident in their music, which reflect the sounds of Syria, Iraq, Turkey and the sizable Kurdish population. The moods swing from coarse and urgent to dirgy and contemplative in the rugged anthems that comprise Souleyman's repertoire. Expect the ultimate party music. Omar's superb and varied vocal stylings feature over high-octane Syrian "Dabke" (the regional folkloric dance music) and a host of other styles. Frantic Arabic keyboard solos provided by the incredible Rizan Sa'id intertwine with reeds, stringed instruments and percussion. Mahmoud Harbi, a long-time collaborator and he man responsible for much of the poetry sung by Souleyman accompanies Omar for an unforgettable onstage collaboration as they perform the Ataba, a traditional form of folk poetry, where Omar's unaccompanied freestyle "mawal" singing stands in a league of its own.
This is a rare opportunity to glimpse into Syrian street-level folk-pop – a phenomenon seldom heard in the West in this form, and rarely, if ever, included on the import agenda of worldwide academic musical committees. Experience the genuine sounds of Syria and the Middle East without the condescending polish and shine of much exported "world beat".
Plus one of a kind Sublime Frequencies DJ set presentations featuring primarily retro 1960's and 1970's Hybrid-Pop Rock Folk Beat Yeh-Yeh Go-Go Freak Beat Psychedelic Surf and many indigenous styles from North Africa, The Middle East, South and Southeast Asia. All of the material played at these DJ sets will be unreleased archival music collected by the DJs themselves. So sit back, listen, dance, do as you will and let them saw your head off with the best music you've almost assuredly NEVER heard before!