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LP
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SR 533LP
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Hailing from the Agouza district of Cairo, Egypt, this brilliant trio consists of Alan Bishop (acoustic bass, vocals, alto sax), Maurice Louca (keyboards, drum machine), and Sam Shalabi (electric guitar). Born in 2012 when the three were living in the same apartment building in Cairo's Agouza district, the trio's instrumental improvisation-based explorations are propelled by Louca's North African percussion loops and shimmering keys, Shalabi's West African tinged free jazz guitar and grounded by Bishop's driving Krautrock-style acoustic bass. High Tide in the Lowlands was recorded in Brussels at Les Ateliers Claus on September 5, 2017 and is quite an intense experience. Most performances and recording sessions are improvised and this set is no different and even though the group opened the show with "Baka of the Future" from their first album Bes, it is almost unrecognizable and everything the trio plays is continually morphing into the next unknown idea. As the sound, energy, and instantaneous composition flows, the trance is growing and growing, ranging from raw shapeshifting "no (un)wave", free jazz, traditional Arabic, and modern experimental explorations to a concrete mystic trip from a universe expanding and contracting constantly. This is earth interrogating the sky, the sky rejoining the earth, an unknown and unwritten cosmogony.
Maurice Louca is an Egyptian musician and composer born in Cairo where he lives and works. As well as being the co-founder of the bands Bikya, Alif, and Lekhfa, Louca lends his sound to numerous other projects, composing for theatre, film, dance and contemporary art. Previous releases on Sub Rosa: Elephantine (SR 474LP), Saet El-Hazz (SR 519LP). Alan Bishop is a founding member of Phoenix/Seattle avant-garde trio Sun City Girls, who, for 27 years, explored the outer reaches of improvisation and composition (from free jazz/post rock psychedelic, and sound collage to outernational Arabic and Asian inspired folk music). As founder of the Sublime Frequencies record label, Bishop has released over 100 records, introducing previously ignored musical genres from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Sam Shalabi is a prolific Egyptian-Canadian composer and improviser living between Montreal, Quebec and Cairo, Egypt. As the founder of Land of Kush, Shalabi Effect, and many other projects, he began with punk rock in the late '70s and his work has evolved into a fusion of experimental music that incorporates modern/traditional Arabic, shaabi, noise, and classical music with spoken word, free improvisation and jazz.
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7"
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UNROCK 030-3EP
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Dwarfs Of East Agouza are a leading force of improvised musical excitement and stand apart from wider parts of an lame ass underground of the '20s. Founded in Cairo circa 2015 by Alan Bishop (ex-Sun City Girls) with Sam Shalabi (Land Of Kush, Karkhana) and Maurice Louca (Karkhana) the trio developed an unique always recognizable sound, but with many faces to show. Two very different ones are shown on their contribution to Unrock's "Il Burro Sabe Mas Que Tu" singles series. "Speaking In Tongues" sounds like a nightmare coming straight out of hell, conducted by Bishop's unique voice, while "Organism 46-B" shows them in a classical softer mode, touching nearly classical free jazz issues. Mixed by Adham Zidhan. Mastered by Peter Koerfer at Ivory Tower. Photography by Hans van der Linden, realization by Philip Lethen. Limited, one-time run on black vinyl.
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LP
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AKU 1021LP
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The Dwarfs of East Agouza are back with The Green Dogs of Dashur. Once again, the prolific American-Egyptian trio composed of Alan Bishop (acoustic guitar-bass/alto sax), Sam Shalabi (electric guitar), and Maurice Louca (organ/synthesizers/beats) breaks off all constraints and reveals a resolutely free album offering the listener variations of seductive melodies and unhinged improvised trance. The hot embossed metallic double-headed dog designed by the Lebanese artist Lynne Zakhour perfectly illustrates this album that blurs the boundaries of rock and jazz. A new album that will certainly delight fans of the Sun City Girls or the Land Of Kush. Comes with printed inner sleeve and download card.
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LP
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AKU 1008LP
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Akuphone in collaboration with Annihaya present Rats Don't Eat Synthesizers, the long-awaited second album by The Dwarfs Of East Agouza. Hailing from the Agouza district of Cairo, Egypt, this brilliant trio consists of Alan Bishop (acoustic bass, alto sax), Maurice Louca (keyboards, drum machine), and Sam Shalabi (electric guitar). Following their acclaimed first album Bes (NAWA 005CD, 2016), this new full-length is composed of two hypnotic journeys: "Rats Don't Eat Synthesizers" and "Ringa Mask Koshary" which were recorded in Cairo in September of 2015. Mesmerizing electric guitar parts, frenetic beats, both supported by the deep sound of Alan's acoustic bass create a new magical Egyptian soundscape. LP comes in a beautiful hot-foil stamped sleeve that magnifies the red metallic rats and a wonderful printed inner sleeve; Includes download code. 33 RPM. Edition of 1000.
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LP
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UNROCK 010LP
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Dadawahn Bishopesque taken to just another level. Beirut, Lebanon.... three major players: Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, Invisible Hands, Alvarius B) Osama Shalabi (Karkhana, Shalabi Effect, etc.), and Maurice Louca (Karkhana, Lekhfa). Delicate improvised freeform recorded live in Beirut in spring of 2017. Improvisation on the highest level. Organic, never arty. Hot. Released in association with Mophradat. Cover art made exclusively for this release by Mariana Castillo Debal. Deluxe gatefold sleeve. Limited edition, one-time pressing.
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2CD
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NAWA 005CD
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The Dwarfs of East Agouza are a trio from Cairo featuring Maurice Louca (Alif, Bikya), Sam Shalabi (Land of Kush, Shalabi Effect) and Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, The Invisible Hands, Alvarius B.). Born during 2012, the trio's instrumental improvisation-based explorations are propelled by Louca's North African percussion loops and shimmering keys, Shalabi's West African tinged free jazz guitar and grounded by Bishop's driving Krautrock-style acoustic bass. Following many a late night jam session, the band recorded hours of material during a three-day studio run in April 2014. After compiling and mixing the album in Montreal's Break Glass studio in July 2015, the refined result is Bes. From the lilt of the four-minute Ethiopian tinged "Resinance" to the 30-minute free-form epic "Museum of Stranglers", the album skirts the outer limits of a psychedelic soundtrack to a North African road trip.
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