Thursday, August 25, 2016

Hello, Hello Psychaleppo!

A few months ago I had the chance to DJ an International Music show at a local radio station. While looking for interesting acts to showcase I came across what has become one of my favorite new electronic acts called Hello Psychaleppo.  They can be found on Soundcloud, YouTube, and the Mideast Tune Music Site but info on the "band" is scarce. Fortunately the music isn't and it's brilliant.




(UPDATE 8/30/16: ) The description on the YouTube page reads:

"Hailing from one of the most mystical and musically rich cities in the Levant, Hello Psychaleppo is deeply rooted in oriental music tradition. Hello Psychaleppo is the electronic music project of the young Syrian producer Samer Saem Eldahr (AKA Zimo). He made his mark, with his unique and experimental sound. 

He uses melodies of the Arab bedouin “Mawwals” and the ecstatic strains of tarab, and threads it through convoluted, industrial structures made from dubstep, drum & bass, electro and trip-hop. He creates a journey away from boundaries of style, engaging souls into letting go while experiencing a new dimension of sonic blends."

The full album Gool L'Ah is linked below from the band's soundcloud page below but just as a taste try this track:


Combining the best of Drums and Bass, Acid, and just good old fashioned Techno along with an expert use of vocal samples and synth leads Harem pulses and flows and just commands both listening and dancing. 

The Dj/Producer behind Psychaleppo also works with other artists and has posted some more recent remixes of acts such as MASA! which are a bit more mainstream. 



Indeed some of the material on the Ha! album is a bit less adventurous than Gool L'Ah but you can see the seeds of the more experimental tracks such as Every Time I Thought About it I'd Burst into Tears which, over it's almost five minutes goes from vocals to retro beats to all out rave to ambient and then tops it all with a little Jungle outro:




For those looking for more there is the You Tube page https://www.youtube.com/c/hellopsychaleppo 
which includes some additional remixes, edited clips, and even a few live performances and music videos.  Here's one from London in 2015: 



I'm thrilled to see this talent is still experimenting and growing as well as performing. For the full effect of an intro I highly recommend  listening to Gool  L'Ah from start to finish (you know, like in the OLD days kids!) and branch out from there. 

 
!on رقص