Nashazphone, the excellent Egyptian/Algerian record label, have a number of limited edition, 500-copy releases in the works, set to come out early next year. Earmarked for January is a recording of Electro Chaabi keyboard virtuoso Islam Chipsy playing the Cairo High Cinema Institute with his group EEK, featuring drummers Khaled Mando and Islam Tata. By means of introduction, the label have some words from Alan Bishop, former Sun City Girls man and current resident of the Egyptian capital, describing a set from EEK at a street party he attended, which chime with the euphoria and elation tQ editor John Doran wrote about in his visit to Egypt earlier this year (read the full Electro Chaabi series, including an interview with Chipsy, here): "The sound was raw and distorted, the volume was deafening, and the energy was high. Thirty minutes into the set, the trio pulled out blindfolds and put them on, only to continue their virtuosic performance without missing a beat, synced to the max, playing forwards, backwards, sideways psychedelic noise and showmanship projected through the distortion of a jet engine taking flight for some unknown location in the distant future of Shaabi sound" – have a listen above.
One of the other January releases is a five-track compilation of material recorded by one of the core Electro Chaabi producers DJ Sardena, in collaboration with the MCs Salsa El-Ageeb, Esha El-Shawaly, Halabessa and Ghandi. The third is a reissue of a rare CD-R from Sunroof!, the solo guise of Skullflower founding member Matthew Bower, originally released in 2003 on his Rural Electrification Program, a "tribute to Neil Young and AC/DC (hence the title)", say the label. Have a listen to the Sardena and Sunroof! clips below and stay tuned to the Nashazphone Facebook page for updates:
