Melting. That’s how we feel in Istanbul right now. The weather’s supposed to go 5 degrees hotter in the coming days thanks to desert winds from Africa, combine it with Istanbul’s world renowned humidity and you get the inspiration for today’s middle eastern sounds with suitable instruments like kanun and oud.

It was surprising to see middle eastern music on Berlin’s Staubgold which release electronic acts like Leafcutter John, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, To Rococo Rot. It turns out that Thilges ‘ second album on Staubgold is a commision by “Jeunesse“, which features 2 main guest artists, the Iraqi oud player Asim-Al Chalabi and Persian vocalist Zohreh Jooya and 4 other guests like the viola player Eyvind Kang who’s released an album on Tzadik before.

Believe me I have seen countless mediocre west meets east fusion type bands from both camps, as it was once the “hot topic”; and still there’s a slew of “famous” artists & bands who are still living off that shit. Seeing that this album is on Staubgold, I jumped on it and I can easily say that this Austrian ensemble has put forward the blueprint for mixing oriental music with experimental electronics.

First off, the rhythm section is almost entirely composed of layered minimal blips & blops, this suits the melancholy of traditional Middle Eastern music almost organically, just contrast it with careless usage of western synths and excessive percussion and 4/4 beats on Eastern pop or fusion. These subtle rhythms are willingly kept down so that the beauty of Eastern melodies and narration are up front. Iraqi oud player Asim-Al Chalabi is on top form here, his expression with the oud is perfect, creating the essence which I guess is the exotic & meditative beauty in eastern music that spins most of the western tourists on top of their head and fall in love when they’re exposed to it. What Thilges has done here is create a whole that’s more than the sum of its parts, an almost natural marriage (Izdiucz, also the name of a track in the album) of not only east and west but also of electronic and acoustic. There’s an unbelievable warmth and display of mastership in this record in composition and in instrumentation, and not only from the usual suspects but also from the guests, and it makes “La Double Absence” a timeless record that you’ll make return visits and maybe give it to your amateur (or professional) musician friends who went to Egypt or Morocco with a tour and came back saying he’s got an idea to make a fusion of east & west.

Our second pick is by two Egyptian artists Ahmed Nasr & Wael el-Mahallawy. Now this is authentic instrumental Arabic music composed of darbouka, kanoun, oud and violin on some songs and it’s not watered down with cheesy western pop mentality that I’ve been raving about. I am not really an expert on Arabic maqams and all, but I can assure you that this is authentic eastern art music and the artists are able to really express the enormous density and wisdom of the eastern music with relative ease. If you’re a fan of classical Middle Eastern artists like Oum Kalthoum or Munir Bashir you’ve GOT TO listen to these.

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