11 July 2022

Be Good to Your Badawi Self

 

Raz Mesinai is a veteran of the New York illbient scene. He was a vital member of recently posted Sub Dub. Under the Badawi moniker he mixes illbient's Dub & ambient electronics with Middle Eastern percussion. This is his full-length first release as Badawi. 

 

Badawi - Bedouin Sound Clash, ROIR USA RUSCD8229, 1996.
all decryption codes in comments


Suspicions    
Suspicious Dub    
Pressurizor    
Big Foot    
Attack of the Giant Fruit Flies    
FX-57 Missile    
Lack of Oxygen to the Brain    
Lack of Dub to the Brain    
Cyborg Stepper    
Hi Fashion Version    
Audio Bomb Squad    
Turbo Auto Drive    
Badawi Dub    
Chamber of Dub    
Snake Charmer 

 

 



Badawi's first of two releases on the illbient label Asphodel is The Heretic of Ether (the other being 2006s Safe). This music could be from the Middle East of today or from two thousand years in the past or the future. It is haunting & ethereal. 

 

Badawi - The Heretic of Ether, Asphodel ASPH 0992, 1999.

CHAPTER 1: The Heretic -    
Intro    
Tired Soldiers    
A Voice from Six Corners    
Santur    
Enter the Heretic    
Fatal Confrontation (The Death of Gashka Gavör)

CHAPTER 2: The Etheric    
Entrance    
Arrival    
Fatal Confrontation (Gashka Meets the Gate Keeper)    
Welcoming    

CHAPTER 3: The Return Of Gashka Gavör -
Falling    
Fatal Confrontation (revisited)    
Return of the Heretic    
Awakening 
 
 
 

 
Fela Kuti once said "Music is the weapon". Jerusalem born / New York based Raz Mesinai clearly agrees. During the 2004 Republican Convention in New York rather than just joining the protesters, he booked a studio a few blocks away (One Soul Studios, NYC, August 24). His Badawi Quintet set up & improvised for 10 hours, focusing on their feelings of rage & hopelessness melded with hope, defiance, & anarchy. Over the next couple of years Raz engineered the recordings, then sent the material off to a bunch of international DJs, producers, & sound artists to remix the material.

The Badawi Quintet is great mix of clarinet, cello, bass, percussion, & electronics. It's fascinating to hear how the different mixers have interpreted it. There's a definite Dub vibe with a Middle Eastern flavor to much of the work.

This is an interesting & appealing release, quite dark & brooding. The thematic unity of the source material provides a solid link to some really disparate but always interesting approaches.
 
 
Gates of Chaos - Raz Mesinai vs Badawi
Market Place - Badawi Quintet
Poison Dripping Cinco - hhyScumclash vs Badawi
Jihad Remix - DJ Spooky vs Badawi
Bahr El Dumu Part I - Seth Ayyaz vs Badawi
Den of Drumz - Kode 9 vs Badawi
Out of Breath - Kreng vs Badawi
Knife the Ehterics - Filastine vs Badawi
Badawileaf - Marina Rosenfeld vs Badawi
Ipanema Under Fire - DJ Rupture vs Badawi
Bahr El Dumu Part II - Seth Ayyaz vs Badawi
Crows - Badawi vs Juakali

Enjoy,

9 comments:

  1. Bedouin
    sPsAAS3dsC3katDa3ZOABeqPZ7rm3UdTc6fpaXLS7p8
    Heretic
    aNmp2DoZ_yInZ3j7A7ObIT8eVYl7RVxNJiWQEJMvypE
    Resistance
    eRzQvBck2lT4LcWMfWNkea1COBq_qZ9Q2sd8cNMSyw4

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  2. Thanx was familiar with first one but not the others...

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  3. I kinda got stuck in an illbient groove. I think this is the end of that road for now. Glad I could offer something unheard. Enjoy.

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  4. Love Badawi...not familiar with the Unit of Resistance - thanks

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    1. Great to hear from you, old friend. The backstory of how Unit of Resistance came about is very cool. The mixes are fantastic. Hope you like it.

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  5. WOW thanks! I do love the illbient sound

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    Replies
    1. I've been chillin' with the illin' the past few weeks. I had kinda forgotten about everyone involved. DJ Spooky stays in mind but the others just got bumped by time & new sounds. Been really sweet revisiting some old friends,. Thanks for the comment.

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  6. Another new one - and ROIR? Wow, there is a label from the past. Love NO, and always grateful.

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  7. Thank you so much! You make me so happy!

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