Browse by Label: SHAM PALACE

Artist:	SOULEYMAN, OMAR
Title:	Leh Jani
Label:	SHAM PALACE
Format:	2LP
Price:	$24.00
Catalog #:	SHAM 001LP

First release on Sham Palace, a new label from key Sublime Frequencies conspirator Mark Gergis. "Leh Jani" -- the legendary Omar Souleyman track -- was originally released in Syria as a sprawling 30-minute epic groove, alongside two additional tracks. The entire 60-minute cassette album was recorded live to tape in 1998 at the home studio of producer Zuhir Maksi in the village of Ras Al Ain in northeastern Syria. Many of Omar's early tapes were recorded in this fashion to replicate the feeling of his live wedding party performances while minimizing the inherent recording chaos and distractions of those parties. The full track -- featured here, reveals plenty more twists and turns from synth and saz during its hypnotic course. "Leh Jani" appeared in slightly edited form on the original Syrian-issued tape, which was distributed throughout the country for a short period of time. The song was further truncated for Omar's debut Western compilation, Highway To Hassake (SF 031CD) and a concurrently assembled internet video clip of the track helped earn Omar his first attention in the West. The album begins with a lively introduction followed by a majestic mawal, before showcasing the incredible uptempo and previously-unreleased "Salamat Galbi Bidek." All tracks are embellished with the virtuosic folk stylings of longtime collaborators Rizan Sa'id on keyboards and Hamid Souleyman on electric bozouk. This complete version of the original Leh Jani cassette album features an hour of music, and ensures an all-night Syrian dabke party no matter where on Earth you rest the needle. First release on Sham Palace, a new label from key Sublime Frequencies conspirator Mark Gergis.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Dabke - Sounds of the Syrian Houran
Label:	SHAM PALACE
Format:	CD
Price:	$15.00
Catalog #:	SHAM 002CD

Dabke is the celebratory music and dance found throughout the Levantine Middle East. By the mid-1990s, a new wave of high-energy electronic dabke music had emerged -- to be heard at weddings, parties and cassette-stalls region-wide. New wave dabke was first introduced to Western ears by way of Omar Souleyman and his northeastern Syrian sounds. This collection presents a hypnotic and diverse selection of electrified dabke dance cuts from a region in the south of Syria known as the Houran. The Houran refers to a swathe of south Syria and northwestern Jordan, beginning just below Damascus, and encompassing the Syrian cities of Daraa, Suweida, Bosra and the Golan Heights. Its populations include Syrians, Bedouin, Druze, Palestinians and Jordanians -- and this unique confluence of cultures is evident throughout these tracks. Hourani dabke is relentless and commanding, driven by heavy rhythms and weaving synthesizers. Long passages of intense musical fervor are punctuated by fierce male vocals, belting out calls for the audience to dance, alongside the lyrical laments and tributes to love and lust. But the sound of the Houran is best defined by the mijwiz -- a double-reed bamboo flute famed for its droney overtones as well as shrill, buzzing melodic lines achieved by circular breathing techniques. Historically, Hourani dabke was played with mejwiz, hand percussion and narrative vocal chants. Electronic beats have inevitably embellished the contemporary sound, magnifying the intensity -- and the mijwiz players have taken their craft to the microphone, in order to maintain the instrument's prominence over the resulting volume. The sampled mijwiz sound has its own specific qualities and in recent years, can even be heard in combination with its organic counterpart. The recordings featured in this collection were captured live to the mixing desk during weddings and parties throughout the Houran during the 1990s and 2000s, and represent a mere sliver of the sounds found in tape and disc vendors throughout the region. Proceeds from this release will be donated to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (IFRC) to help support urgent humanitarian aid work during the ongoing crisis in Syria.

Artist:	VA
Title:	Indonesia Pop Nostalgia
Label:	SHAM PALACE
Format:	LP
Price:	$17.50
Catalog #:	SHAM 003LP

Subtitled: Pan-Indonesian Pop, Folk, Instrumentals & Children's Songs, 1970s-1980s. Indonesia Pop Nostalgia is an eclectic collection of inspired Indonesian folk and pop music culled from cassettes and vinyl recorded and released during the 1970s and 1980s. The music on this collection spans several contemporary popular genres - each inherently unique and born from very different cultural and geographical origins within the archipelago. All, however, are also vitally informed by Islamic, Arabic and South Asian popular and traditional music, alongside various Western musical fads -- a distinctly Indonesian blend that encompasses its histories of physical colonization, spiritual assimilation and economic and cultural exchanges. These tracks were never meant to stand next to each other. Nevertheless, here they are -- an unwitting union of nostalgic musical ephemera from the islands of Java and Sumatra, connected here to serve as one of many possible entry points into the gloriously diverse sounds of Indonesian folk-pop music. Featured: Three incredible synth-heavy funked-out rock grooves by child singers Ira Maya Sopha and Dina Mariana. Orkes Melayu Bulan Purnama with the instrumental track "Malam Joget" in fantastic space-age organ and synth parlance. Folk-rock mood-piece "Jangan Menghina" by Aria Junior. "Dikijoknyo" by Sumatran singer KIM, retelling the classic Bollywood song "Man Dole Mere Tan Dole" (from the 1954 film Nagin) in classic 1980s pop Minang style. The ethereal "Borondong Garingan," performed by legendary group Bimbo, a beautiful example of Sundanese pop music from western Java, at a time when it was first becoming electrified in the 1970s. Orkes Melayu Purnama's "Bangla Desh," a stunning high-drama gem, driven by haunted wind and thunder sound effects woven through a chilling buzz-guitar. Two essential Sumatran Minang instrumental tracks by the composer Kamar Ruddin Z., embodying a striking hybrid traditional/pop quality -- and more, totaling 12 tracks in 43 minutes on this LP. Limited pressing of 1,000. Compiled by Mark Gergis.

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