Sundaze 1311

Hello, well winter is slowly retreating but not without dropping a shitload of snow over NW and middle Europe as final goodbye for this year, those global warming 'profits' are in danger now. Even the windfarm and solarindustries are under pressure from the energy giants pushing their fucking fracking solution and now the Japanese look to have found a way to harvest the "immense carbon reservoir", sizewize twice all other known fossil fuels on earth, looks like the bad old boys are hell bent to keep the earth burning, fuck those clean renewables, new age hippie shite, meanwhile those dummy politicians will do anything to please their nasty multinational paymasters. My advice, do as much as you can do to become energy independent there's options for every wallet.

Last week I introduced Adham Shaikh, that was his early work, this week his more mature work.  ..N'joy..

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From mossy mountain forests on the west coast of Canada, Global Electronics Producer, Film Composer, Sound Designer Adham Shaikh weaves global music tapestries that take listeners on sonic journeys transcending time and place. Adham's sets can be described as ever evolving blends of deep original global grooves, tribal rhythms, west coast bass, complex dub and lush downtempo atmospheres.

Adham Shaikh is a composer, producer and sound designer currently living near Nelson, BC. He has released 10 albums and many individual compositions, among them the 2004 release, Fusion, which was nominated for a Juno Award (Canadian Grammy) in the World Music category. Music labels from around the globe have released his music, recently, Shaikh co-produced and mixed the award-winning debut CD for global fusion group Delhi 2 Dublin, and has finished re-mixing tracks for internationally renowned world fusion artists Nickodemus, Deya Dova, Kaya Project, Tripswitch and David Starfire.  Operating from his Sonicturtle Music Studio, he is currently at work on a number of multimedia projects while actively recording and composing his next albums. In 2010 he released Universal Frequencies followed by Resonance - Selected Ambient Works later that year. In 2012 Refractions - Universal Frequencies Remixes Vol. 1  ‎saw the light.

Working from his mobile Sonicturtle Studio as a sound designer / composer Adham has worked on Disney's IMAX film, 'Sacred Planet' as well as on the CBC's Passionate Eye documentary, 'Secrets'. In addition, Adham has done multimedia work on a number of projects including ones for a Texas Water Rehabilitation Project, BC Fisheries, Hedley Mine (Cone House) and the Vancouver Opera. His music has also been featured in the CBC documentary with Canadian environmental scientist David Suzuki called 'Suzuki Speaks'; in the feature film, 'Let It Ride', about world-renowned snowboarder Craig Kelly; in Greg Stump's 'Aspen Snowmass' film; as well as in several episodes of Fuel TV (USA).

He has shared the stage with such diverse artists as Shpongle, Ott Bluetech, Micheal Franti ,Ganga Giri, Mad Professor, Nickodemus. And 2012 saw him share his creations at the great electronic music festivals Symbiosis, Beloved, LIB, Shambhala, and BassCoast, Adham has also performed internationally at festivals in Ecuador (WaterWomen), France (Hadra), Uk (Waveform), Portugal (Boom) Japan (Dakini) and New Zealand (Luminate)  2013 will see Adham perform in New Zealand, Costa Rica, and return to the U.S.

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Ekko is lead by Adham Shaikh, Centripetal is an incredible disc of audio bliss where organic blends with synthetic--from soothing atmospheric passages to delicious tabla workouts. Most striking about this release is the amount of care that has obviously gone into it. Notable first is the packaging, complete with detailed liner notes, but it's the music itself that matters most. Ekko initially came together in the spring of 1997 and impressed Interchill founder Andrew-Ross Collins so much that he knew they had to record an album. The musicians-A. Larouche (with his unique 37 string Stikharp), E. Shankar (who studied tabla for 3 years in India), Kenyon Fields (guitar, bass, and a plethora of percussion), and Shaikh (the "Gizmo Guru"; keyboards, sampling, and programming)-started by jamming and improvising for a week, then Shaikh spent many months thereafter honing the 18 hours of recorded material down to the length of a CD. The result is an essential release for anyone into ambient, dub, downtempo, world, or even experimental music.

Ekko - Centripetal (flac  374mb)

01 Centripetal 2:04
02 Mossman 3:48
03 Mossman II11:16
04 Ekcentricity 7:49
05 Vacant Vista 0:40
06 Corkscrew 0:43
07 Slack Factor 5 1:54
08 Walkabout 1:53
09 Funky Somosa 4:59
10 Funky Somosa II 1:33
11 Call Of The Delta 10:35
12 Liquid Varnasi 1:51
13 Stream Seas Through 2:26
14 Aishiteru 1:25
15 Bog Walk 0:35
16 Nagin 12:35
17 Ebb / Esho Funi 7:24

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Adham Shaikh's a true producer, brilliant at pulling peoples' talents together and insightfully committed to his vision of electronics meeting organic (often ancient) instrumentation. Essence is gorgeous, daring and respectful, blending the globally renowned bansuri (North Indian flute) playing of Catherine Potter with the beats of Montreal producer Freeworm, dub-wise bass skills of Sean Hill, flute stylings of artist Jean-Marc Guillemette, percussion of Yasmine Amal, and much more. "Somptin Hapnin (water in me)" dubs, flows and shakes as vocalist Kinnie Starr pays tribute to water, trees and life. "Sabadhi" cements Shaikh's reputation for producing finely tuned, ambient loveliness while its sister masterpiece, "Sabadub," offers a more beat-heavy, dub-wise treatment of bansuri, berimbau, and viola. Adham also beautifully balances traditional and experimental, natural and organic during "Sufi Spin." Here, recordings of Balinese dancing, chanting and flute meet complex beats, the tabla playing of Ekko's E Shankar, and thick grooves, resulting in a deep, heartfelt, engaging whole. Essence also showcases Adham's remix skills, with solid treatments of both Ekko's "Shiraz" (the album's most up-tempo number) and Lisa Walker's humpback whale-inspired "Orcadrift." But it's with his dubbed-out reworking of Legion of Green Men's "Constellation" that Shaikh really cuts loose, adding tension, builds, and thick slabs of bass. It's a massive treatment that's as true to the original as it is fresh to the ear.

"This album is dedicated to the sacredness of water. Without water... there is no life."
"This album is dedicated to water. The ESSENCE of life."

Adham Shaikh - Essence (flac 443mb)

01 Somptin Hapnin (Water in Me) 10:35
02 Sabadub 10:10
03 Legion of Green Men - Constellation (Warp Time Shaikh Remix) 6:45
04 Lisa Walker - Orcadrift (Shaikh Remix) 8:09
05 Sabadhi 10:19
06 Sufi Spin 11:52
07 Shiraz (Evolution Mix) 9:13

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Adham Shaikh’s compositions are born of ritualistic intent. Long, electronic-driven beats mesh with Bansuri flutes, tablas and melodic guitar drifts; underscoring the score is an endless yearning for, as the title implies, fusion. He does not seek random collaborations of sound, but a very specific, focused montage. Fusion’s opening cut, “Opal” – inspired while relaxing in Greece’s Samothraki Island – kicks off with an occurrence continuing nearly 75 minutes: hypnotic loops underlying virtuoso instrumentation of Eastern descent.

Actually, “ascent” makes a better adjective – Shaikh’s dancefloor is sacred space. Creating credible loops is a difficult chore for software-derived rhythms. He does an amazing job at making them worthwhile, even at such drawn-out lengths. Repetition, as he knows, is the key to trance; to engage fully in the ritual of music, a base foundation must be declared by drums. This element is derivative of most international folk forms: qawwali, gnawa, santeria, dub, rituals of varying shades dependent on extensive, extended forays into architectural cadence.

From there, Shaikh’s gumbo is subdued, slowing the BPM to further quell the industrious mind. As rhythms slink, melodies abound: Catherine Potter’s gorgeous Bansuri floats in “Flying Beyond” and “Rabbit Hole Raga;” “Dubfire,” a song he dreamt while “imagining music for babies,” throbs luminously textured; a tabla rhythm forges ahead on “Ohm (transfix mix).” Provided by UK percussionist Aref Durvesh (Susheela Raman, Robert Miles, Nitin Sawhney), tablas also accentuate Fusion’s brilliant “Infusion (Bombay mix).” A nine-minute sojourn contrasted by guitarist Tim Floyd, the programming proves Shaikh’s best, a nearly hip-hop rhythm with heavy kick drum surfacing beneath the storm.

This album will please psychill, chillout, ambient and maybe even trance fans with a great mix of all these genres. The great thing is that unlike the majority of producers Shaikh uses real instruments on most of these tracks and mixes them in with the rest.

Adham Shaikh - Fusion (flac 487mb)

01 Opal 8:17
02 Flying Beyond 6:11
03 Dubfire 4:39
04 Infusion (Bombay Mix) 9:02
05 Ohm (Transfix Mix) 6:48
06 Gayatri Mantra Shuffle 5:58
07 Somptin Hapnin (Ganesh Mix) 2:29
08 Krishna Raga 11:16
09 Shake It (Shaikh It) 8:52
10 Newborn Shuffle 5:11
11 Rabbit Hole Raga (Spore Mix) 6:35

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