Palimpsest Festival Cut Up with.....

Sublime Frequencies Extravaganza with
Group Doueh & Omar Souleyman
plus SF DJs and Film
plus Pete UM + The Doozer

30th May 2009
Unitarian Church Hall, 5 Emmanuel Road, Cambridge, CB1 1JW
Doors: 7PM (with early start)
Tickets £10 advance from http://www.fadedwords.co.uk.

Tickets limited to 150, advance booking advised.
No bar, BRING YOUR OWN. No glass bottles please.

We are very pleased after the cancellation of Palimpsest Festival to still be able to present the very special Sublime Frequencies tour. Both bands have travelled a long way with Group Doueh all the way from the Western Sahara and Omar Souleyman from Syria. This is their first tour outside their home countries and so this is a very unique and special chance to catch these legends on British soil.

GROUP DOUEH

Group Doueh are led by the enigmatic guitar hero Bamaar Salmou, who is known simply as 'Doueh' (pronounced: 'Doo-way'). They are from Dakhla, in the Western Sahara. The group's sound is unlike anything that you've ever heard before. It is a sound that is rooted in the traditional foundations of Sahrawi/Hassania music, but one that is also entirely its own. It shares its roots with the neighboring styles of Mauritanian music, however Group Doueh have managed to transcend the classical limitations of that music with a fiery, independent, and avant approach that incorporates a distinctly pop and rock element that is anomalous in the region. This is a sound that can only come from the land that inspired it. This is the sound of the Sahara desert. It is a searing, meditative, and hypnotic modal sandstorm of note clusters that has been cathartic to anyone who has heard it. Group Doueh have been playing together for over 20 years. The band consists of their leader, Doueh on guitar and tinidit, his wife Halima on vocals and tbal, their son Jamal on organ, and longtime friend Bashiri also on vocals. They had declined several offers from Moroccan, French and Spanish recording labels to release their music. It was not until Sublime Frequencies, after a long search for the music landed them at the man's house in Dakhla, that Doueh agreed to have his music released for the very first time. Sublime Frequencies & QuJunktions are proud to present Group Doueh's first ever UK appearance and extended shows in Europe.

OMAR SOULEYMAN

Omar Souleyman is a musical legend from Syria. For the past 15 years, he and his group have emerged as a staple of folk-pop throughout the country, having issued more than five-hundred studio and live-recorded cassette albums which are easily spotted in the shops of any Syrian city.

Hailing from the rural Northeastern city of Ras Al Ain, Souleyman began his musical career in 1994 with a small group of local collaborators that have been with him from the start. The group tirelessly performs concerts throughout Syria and has accepted invitations to perform abroad in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Lebanon.

The myriad musical traditions of the region are evident in their music, which reflect the sounds of Syia, Iraq, Turkey and the sizable Kurdish population. The moods swing from coarse and urgent to dirgy and contemplative in the rugged anthems that comprise Souleyman's repertoire. Expect the ultimate party music. Omar's superb and varied vocal stylings feature over high-octane Syrian "Dabke" (the regional folkloric dance music) and a host of other styles. Frantic Arabic keyboard solos provided by the incredible Rizan Sa'id intertwine with reeds, stringed instruments and percussion. Mahmoud Harbi, a long-time collaborator and the man responsible for much of the poetry sung by Souleyman accompanies Omar for an unforgettable onstage collaboration as they perform the Ataba, a traditional form of folk poetry, where Omar's unaccompanied freestyle "mawal" singing stands in a league of its own.

Sublime Frequencies & QuJunktions are honored to present the Western debut of Omar Souleyman and his group with this UK/European concert tour. This is a rare opportunity to glimpse into Syrian street-level folk-pop - a phenomenon seldom heard in the West in this form, and rarely, if ever, included on the import agenda of worldwide academic musical committees. Experience the genuine sounds of Syria and the Middle East without the condescending polish and shine of much exported "world beat".

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES & DJ SETS

Sublime Frequencies was founded in 2003 by Alan Bishop, Hisham Mayet, and Richard Bishop. In just over 5 years, the label has produced 35 CDs, 8 DVDs, and 5 LPs.

Sublime Frequencies specializes in releasing audio & video from North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The presentation, aesthetic, and approach sidesteps traditional ethnomusicology, academic protocol and corporate funding, documenting the sound and images of ignored cultural phenomenon rich in expressive ideas.

The projects are divided into four areas of presentation: regional radio collages, field recordings, folk and pop music compilations, and video/film documentaries. Sublime Frequencies is self-motivated, self-financed, and fearless in approach. The world is changing so quickly that it has become apparent that cultures and ideas from less-developed countries will be buried and replaced entirely by the export of western-styled culture unless there are alternative perceptions of the great traditions and hybrids of these traditions that still remotely exist today across the globe.

The productions are not limited to their own archive and expand to the many associates the group correspond and work with who have similar interests. The list of contributors to the label includes Mark Gergis, Robert Millis, Tucker Martine, fm3, Laurent Jeanneau, Carlos Casas, Stuart Ellis, Hicham Chadly, Geoff Hawrylk, and Anla Courtis.

Today's 'controlled' presentation of foreign culture, traditions, and spiritualism in the west is steeped in judgment and spin agenda. SF are presenting some of the greatest expressive music in the world with only one agenda in mind: that it needs to be heard or seen, respected and recognized.

Mind-Blowing DJ set featuring retro 1960's and 1970's Hybrid-Pop Rock Folk Beat Yeh-Yeh Go-Go Freak Beat Psychedelic Surf and many indigenous styles from North Africa, The Middle East, South and Southeast Asia. (DJs: Mark Gergis & Alan Bishop)

PLUS PETE UM & THE DOOZER

Pete Um is a tape-poet from Cambridge, UK, with sardonic humour, unreliable MD player and a bunch of weird electronic miniatures. When not depressed, he can be a great entertainer. Meanwhile, his music had been boosted by eccentrics such as Ariel Pink. Attempts to define his personality provoke his peers to phrases like...

...Um is an electro-dadaist pop star peddling audio anxiety and monomania from the digital kitchen sink
...Um is the glint in Delia Derbyshire's eye as she puts Kurt Schwitters and Julian Cope to the razor blade
...Absolute belter of oddball proportions

The Doozer takes adventures into observational sounds and distorted voices with releases on Pickled Egg, Doozer Industries and upcoming on Slowtapes.

UNITARIAN CHURCH HALL

The Unitarian Church Hall is located behind the Unitarian Church on Emmanuel Road, Cambridge. It is 2 minutes from Cambridge Central Drummer Street Bus Station and a 20 min walk from the train station.

There are a number of central car parks near the venue (5-10 min walk). The closest are the Grand Arcade and Adam & Eve Street. Full information on Cambridge car parks here.

Unitarian Church Hall, 5 Emmanuel Road,Cambridge,CB1 1JW

We greatly acknowledge the financial support of the PRS Foundation.