Carbon Records
CR299
Limited Edition 10" vinyl, 33rpm. ""Two sidelong face-melters from three masters of contemporary acoustic spraw!" - lowercase marc (WRFI)
Recorded live at the intimate Montreal listening room Casa del Popolo, this small slab packs a wallop, with two sides of cosmic acoustics from a multigenerational trio of tonal explorers.
On the front half, we’re treated to a masterclass in oud improv by Sam Shalabi (Shalabi Effect, Dwarfs of East Agouza, Land of Kush), one of the deans of the Canadian experimental-music scene. Beginning in a gently meditative space, Sam gradually — almost imperceptibly — ratchets up the energy, with fretboard runs and rapid-fire percussive tremolo passages shooting off in all directions like ever-expanding spirals of sound. An absolutely magical blast to the brain.
The second side finds young buck Liam Grant joined by out-music lifer Mike Gangloff (Pelt, Black Twig Pickers) for a particularly extrapolative take on a cut from the former’s recent joint Prodigal Son on VHF. Over Liam’s modal 12-string stylings, Mike layers a thick bed of fiddle drone-and-shuffle-and-scrape — the whole thing slowly gaining in propulsion and density, captured in gloriously blown-out portable-recorder “fidelity” that only adds to the charming squalor.
Essential release!!!0
Recorded in freedom and self-determination on 4 March 2024 at Casa del
Popolo, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Warmest thanks to brother-in-arms Jean Neant, Casa, to all who came out, and to Joe for releasing this. Endless gratitude for everyone who helped keep the car together during the tour, Matt and Jeanette in Hamilton, the ladies from the Toronto bookclub, everyone at Cameron House, and of course Cara, Grace, Glenn and Nora.
Sam Shalabi: oud;
Liam Grant: 12-string guitar;
Mike Gangloff: hardanger-style fiddle
Mixing and mastering: Joe DeJarnette, Studio 808A;
Cover/layout: Joe Tunis;
Insert collage: Grace Clements;
Photos: Nora Casale and Mike Gangloff;
Lettering: Mike Gangloff.
Victorian Heat by Shalabi, Salmon Tails Up the River by Grant;
copyright 2024.
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