Recording: Sam Shalabi

Artist: Sam Shalabi

Song: Ghosts [composer: Albert Ayler]^*

Recorded at The Music Gallery (Departures Series), July 15, 2022.

Sam Shalabi - Ghosts

Before the groovestorm of the dozen-strong orchestre tout puissant marcel duchamp, Montréal-based oud maestro Sam Shalabi took to the crowded stage on his own, and unleashed something like a flowing river of music, filled with flourishes that never seemed so much like showy displays of technique as suggestive elaborations of a story he was delighted to be sharing.

^* Thanks to Sam for passing along the title to this one.

Recording: The Dwarfs of East Agouza

Artist: The Dwarfs of East Agouza

Songs: two unknown pieces^*

Recorded at The Tranzac's Main Hall (The Music Gallery's Departures Series: TONE Festival), June 6, 2019.

The Dwarfs of East Agouza - unknown #1

The Dwarfs of East Agouza - unknown #2

Continuing a recent tradition, Tad Michalak brought together two of his curatorial undertakings — the TONE Festival and the Music Gallery's Departures Series — to put on a scaled-up show to launch the former's third iteration. This trio of transcultural deep-groovers saw Sam Shalabi (guitarist, known for his work in Shalabi Effect and Land of Kush) and Alan Bishop (of the Sun City Girls and co-founder of the Sublime Frequencies label) joined by Maurice Louca (on synth and beats) to mutate Egyptian pop and other styles into a seamless pastiche of shortwave transmissions, postpunk shred, no wave skronk and further unclassifiable ingredients, similar to the mix heard on their Bes album.

^* Does anyone know the title to these? Please leave a comment!

Recording: Collateral

Artist: Collateral

Song: [excerpt]

Recorded at Array Space, April 12, 2018.

Collateral - [excerpt]

Given the geographical realities of our country and the economics of making creative music, it can be a too-rare occasion to see far-flung peers playing locally. This group, bringing together Halifax mainstays Tim Crofts and Norman Adams with Montréal's Sam Shalabi (Shalabi Effect, Land of Kush, etc.) has geographical separation hardwired into its makeup, so it was a noteworthy to see them making their way across Canada, celebrating the release of a recording (which was, itself, a document of the trio's first on-stage encounter).

Melding elements from each of their practices (including prepared piano plucks, contemporary classical cello chewing and post-punk guitar/Egyptian oud shredding) there was a tasty arc here, torquing parallel conversations into perpendicular pushing apart before falling back into a shared space.

Recording: Shalabi Effect

Artist: Shalabi Effect

Songs: Third Section [in two parts]

Recorded at Jam Factory (Intersection 2015 – Day 2 / The Music Gallery's Departures Series), September 6, 2015.

Shalabi Effect - Third Section, part 1

Shalabi Effect - Third Section, part 2

These longstanding stalwarts of Montréal's experimental music scene exist amongst an intertwining network of other projects, so it was a rare treat to see them playing this T.O. date. Co-founder Sam Shalabi (also busy with his solo work and Land of Kush) brings the influence of his time in Cairo, and his work on oud is one of the band's distinctive elements. At this show, however, it was his moog that provided the most unexpected moments when a loose cable started sending static shards through the PA, much to the band's confusion. That required a slight mid-set pause in what was otherwise a constantly-shifting soundscape that ranged from tabla grooves to electronic drones — a mix that made sense under the quartet's carefully-considered sound-shaping.

[After this offsite excursion, the Music Gallery's season gets going at St. George the Martyr Church with Friday's presentation of In the Sea (featuring Tristan Honsinger) and The Visit — and leading up to next month's X Avant Festival.]