SAM SHALABI - Eid

By Simon Howell - A Listening Ear - 01/22/2008

About four years ago, when I was still ecstatic to have moved to a city in which great music was in abundance at a seemingly endless variety of used record stores, I picked up the Shalabi Effect's self-titled debut. Why? Principally because it had a shiny cover with a nebula on it, and it was a two-disc record for eight bucks, which seemed like an unbeatable bargain. Needless to say that seventeen-year-old me was inadequately prepared to process the two hours of drone-based recordings contained inside that inviting slipcase.

To my surprise, Shalabi's newest release (his third, minus the "Effect") is an eclectic set of Middle East-inspired experimental rock music -- its impetus apparently stemming from a trip to Egypt -- which often features surprisingly straightforward compositional structures. "Jessica Simpson" stomps along to a consistent, bass-driven rhythm for its eight minutes, culminating in a surprisingly intense 70's prog guitar solo (a device that pops up again on "Honey Limbo"). The grandiose structure and instrumentation, combined with the relatively lo-fi recording style, makes for a hazy, narcotic listen. The title track is more exotic, with woozy strings revolving around a simple, hypnotic figure, overlaid by distant, distorted vocals. Other tracks, like "Eddie," incorporate found sound and film dialogue along with the rest of the heady brew. Constellation singer Elizabeth Anka Vajajick takes the reigns on the dark dirge "Billy the Kid." "End Game" is most surprising -- a four-minute, driving rock song propelled by strings and Lhasa de Sela's gritty vocal. Alien8's press release mentions her past collaborations with Tindersticks and Nick Cave, and there's definitely a shared aesthetic evident on her work here. "Billy the Kid Pt. 2" continues in the song-based vein, a ghostly ballad led by singer Katie Moore and featuring a verse-chorus structure. It's expansive in a manner reminiscent -- of all things -- of American alt-country acts like Pinetop Seven. Closer "Pitchfork" resumes the more exploratory leanings of the album's first half with meandering horn and piano lines, creepy onomatopoeic vocal snippets, and martial drumming with a distorted, jarring climax and an acoustic comedown.

Alternately alien and comforting, Shalabi and his all-star cast manage to wring out newly imagined juxtapositions and energies from the confines of their improvisations and collaborations. You may at times be confounded by the results but you certainly won't be bored. At 65 minutes, that's an accomplishment in and of itself.

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