Badawi
"Safe" CD
Asphodel Records
Asphodel
763 Brannan St
San Francisco CA
94103
May 2006 |
Safe is Badawi aka Raz
Mesinai's second full-length
release for Asphodel, and this time he enlists the help of a number of
individuals, among them viola player Eyvind Kang, avant-guitarist
Marc Ribot, and violinist Mark Feldman. The resulting
album is a fifty minute instrumental excursion rooted firmly in dub,
tabla, and jazz traditions. The whole album has a
definitively cinematic feel to it, remarkably like a film score
(epic "The Avenging Myth" has a lot in common with The Truman Show's
soundtrack, notably). The desert-like mood is certainly an important
element here, with the strings performers
playing Middle Eastern melodies and Mesinai following tabla
rhythms and adding mystical flute tunes. Post-performance processing
is also key to Safe's success, with programmed atmospheres and
electronic textures adding a lot to the record. The sweeping, longing
title-track, for example, whisks by in a hazy trance, atmospheric
ambiences carrying the track away in a veil of sky-like etherealness -
it comes back down to Earth for the final minute or so, with improv
strings and winds creating an Earthlike cacophony (safe?). "Sound On
Its Eccoing" is more structured - its combination of strings and
rhythm makes it the perfect soundtrack to a twilight desert trek.
Overall, Safe is a triumphant assertion of talent and ingenuity from
Badawi's Raz Mesinai. Four or more listens down the line
and I'm still in awe of this wonderful piece of music. Terrific.
89%
Fun Fact: Badawi is
the last name of a number of famous people, including an Egyptian
existentialist philosopher, the current Malaysian prime minister (as
of May 2006), a Muslim scholar from the UK, a British newsreader, and
a past minister of finance of Egypt.
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 13 tracks, distributed by
the label, released 2004] |
