20/01/2009

Beirut Disco



A little edit I did with a break off a tape I picked up many years ago in Cairo whilst visiting a friend. Due to the cover and sleeve notes being in Arabic, it was not until several years later that I discovered that it was the work of Said Mrad, a Lebanese club music producer and DJ, who has apparently enjoyed quite a bit of success across the Middle East. He fuses Western club sounds with traditional bellydance rhythms and instruments. Unfortunately, more often than not, the results are cliched, dated and predictable.

Not really my cup of tea - apart from this one-minute percussive progression. A simple drum-machine groove at 110bpm keeps time while tarbouka drummers let rip with hypnotic metallic rhythms. Not wanting to use the tape, I found a clean copy and simply extended the progression for DJ use.


Said Mrad - Bidayet Ezaaj (Kid Who edit)


Said Mrad on Discogs


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