Ethnofusion Picks #August2016

September 1, 2016 - Blog

This month marks the 12th month of discoveries through this blog, meaning that now I have spent a whole year, listening to what seems like +10000 candidates to create these playlists. There are a couple of directions this can take, and I urge you to get in touch with me if you like what this blog does and want to help it grow bigger. Thanks to everyone who enjoys listening to my playlists and reads my brain spew out psychedelic descriptive scriptures.

The usual suspect ethnofusion genres with dub, templestep, dark trap, banger trap and mid-tempo world stuf are there but also from this month, I will be expanding my focus, featuring a lot more 100-130 BPM house / techno style ethnofusion tracks since I feel like this blog would be incomplete if it misses this whole spectrum. Check out for yourself with the findings this month, especially the Sahale remix by Orient Art and Steffen Kirchhoff’s organic ethno-tribal downtempo techno stuff.

– Baxtak

Ethnic Dub & Psydub

Alsarah & The Nubatones – Ya Watan [WONDERWHEEL Recordings]

My recent discovery of WONDERWHEEL recordings through the Brooklyn Gypsies is nothing but great news for this blog as they are sure to come out with quality material as this new Alsarah & The Nubatones tune presents. Basically, it isn’t even fair to classify this as electronic anymore; it’s pure tribal East African beauty as portrayed through modern dubby rhythms and the beautiful vocals of Alsarah.

K’Baba Dub x ZioNoiz – Afrikanism

Released as a part of the Afrikanismus collaborative album between the two artists, an array of Afro-Brazilian music are mixed with a variety of digital roots styles (ragga, steppa, nyabinghi). The overall presentation sounds old school in its rootical approach but crispy none-the-less. Every melodic element in the song like the guitars and digital skanks get a serious dub effect treatment, and the sound of tribal percussions aid the revolving bassline in delivering the irie vibes.
Ideal for fans of a traditional approach.

Kial x Mac Mischief – Bedouin Ritual

Only a preview at this point but this is beautiful deep dark dungeon dubstep to soothe your troubled enlit soul. It’s so much fire that it actually pours out of the stereo as a cocktail of red wine and candle wax, so you might wanna put some newspapers on that table cause the damage will be intoxicating.

Of The Trees – Duat [MalLabel Music]

Gravitas and MalLabel native Of The Trees hits out with his second release of 2016 with the latter label for some spiritual squelches and tablaramic grooves. Specifically, the collab with DELTAnine, Auru, hits straight home in terms of dank whirling gangsta meditations, and ‘Feather of Truth’ strokes your soul with fingerdancing precision, digital laser charms aimed straight at your chakras’ chakras, and an e-woked bassface to match the disfigured face of a Slipknot mask. It’s pretty tight stuff and hits home as a great MalLabel release as well.


Fusion Culture Records – The Glitch Beach Compilation

The concept behind this compilation is as simple as it is endearing; to fund the 3 day gathering of the same name in an Israeli beach and enjoy a combination of Middle Eastern ethnicity, squelchy waterside nature and downtempo psychedelic music. There are a score of Ethnofusion favourite artists involved in the album including Master Minded and Yastegan chaY who come out with outstanding polyrhythmic mind-bending music, while Kur D, Earth Connect, Silas Neptune and others also bring their well-composed material to the table.
Overall, this is quite a respectable unity of Israeli downtempo psy artists and definitely a good cause to support if you enjoy this kind of vibrations on a Middle Eastern beach.

Alon Mor – Demons

I’m not quite sure where to place this one on this list of tempos but this is definitely the heaviest feature of this month. Israeli mainly conceptual producer Alon Mor is back with another 10 minute song, that boasts a large variety of instruments and feelings. Melodically, there are heaps of elements in this to suite your harmonic tendencies, and there are those classic Alon Mor oversaturated harsh af moments of heaviness that have become the signature of his sound through his successful Upscale releases. While there is no distinct conceptual story to this than the title ‘Demons’, there’s definitely a willingness to try a story-selling classical-inspired narrative. At points, the merging of sections seem forced, especially the break from super saturated electronic drops into pure acoustic music. It is a daring experiment none-the-less and something that fans of Igorrr-esque music might appreciate.

Ethnic Trap

KHENSU – DYNASTY

Rocking a monumentally epic tribal intro, KHENSU drops this DYNASYT joint into a section, even creepier than what his artist name sounds like. Super smooth overall sound on this track featuring that big phat wide sound, and creating this mega-haunted soundscape that’ll make the Blair Witch project feel like Teletubbies. It’s actually quite a fantastic piece of production, atmospheric as a sound-lapse of Guantanamo Bay torture screams and Shao Khan’s nightmares. Serious big ups on this one.

Umru – Brood

Rocking a minimal banger tribal trap swagger, Umru’s Brood is in a similar aesthetic vein to less complex Far Eastern 808 bangers from Do Hits artists. It is released as a part of the Midi보이즈 v3.0 compilation and it’s suitable for anyone who likes their trap with a samurai TroyBoi kinda flavour.

BOYGOLD – ⓓⓤⓔⓛ

At first it gives you the impression that your sound system is broken with some unexpected stuttering jives but when it hits in, you realize that it’s just cvlt as fuck and that’s what that’s about. Riding that 808, a Ney-like wind instrument cries as heaps of glass break in the background and distant caravan thieves throw M(iddle) E(ast) gang signs and burn vats of oil in a display of ignorance. It is truly a rude scene.

SOOHAN – B.Y.O.B x Azam Ali

SOOHAN is BACK with that ethnic dancefloor anthem, this time using a medley of songs to redo System of a Down’s classic conscious party metal track as you can find a few glimpses of Limp Bizkit, Vedan and Blondie in there to keep you entertained as well as add a Russian touch. Paraphrasing the words of the artist himself, this is a bit of a heavy song for the dancefloor, considering SOAD’s anti-war sentiments in the original, however it is the very least that can be done within the party music scene, and even more intimately, the psychedelic world bass music scene. What’s the point of making the crowd lit if they aren’t awake, right?

Zwirek – Arab Money

The official princess of Ethnic Trap and Soundcloud ethnic trap tag king, Zwirek is back with a beat for sale and rappers wanting to get that Arab Money, they better hurry up n gobble up this badboy. Zwirek’s selling the shit outta this like some crack era bangs, and it is actually straight fucking oil-rig on fire heat. I’d love to see this go to good use with some dope rhyming and arena size bumps

Bruno Alison – Dogma

Ignorance… gluttony… just sins on every corner of its chapel. Bloodstained, bruised and battered lies, maggots falling from the sky, thunder lightning hit fire on the holy cross, world deity supergroup cypher at Master Splinter’s Boiler Room sessions, kinda shit. Vampire B-Bop & Rocksteady feasting on the blood of the Turtles and April kinda sickness portrayed through these sounds. It’s graphic but that’s what you get.

LM3ALLEM – YALLA BINA

Coming as another first label release this month from Trap Nation Egypt, LM3ALLEM gets you that dose of dancefloor banger Arabic trap, holding it down for the traplords of this ancient land. For anyone looking to trap out to some seriously snaked out largely electronic, minimal yet big productions put sharpen your third eye like a pyramid, you need to put some of this bad boy on.

Ethnic Electronica, Chill House, Slow Techno

Steffen Kirchhoff – Native [Serafin Audio Imprint]

Coming as the first release on the German label Serafin Audio Imporint, Steffen Kirchhoff’s release is one of the most unique ones we’ve heard this month. Reading the information about this release, I see a very important line that highlights the artistic value of splendid release: “We want to show that House and Techno with all its energy and physically moving vibes is not bound to any tempo, especially not the 120 BPM”. Two of the tracks on this EP are absolutely great. Gaia and Soulsong alongside Seelensängerin shine a similar brightness to that Bwoy De Bhajan aesthetic that we hold so dear at Outtallectuals through its pen-ultimate organic tribal / ethnic composition and really use this foley world to paint a sacred natural picture visible through sound. I’m definitely keeping an eye out for this new label and Steffen Kirchhoff in particular.

Sahalé – Erzeroum (Orient Art Remix)

Crispy fresh deep desert house of the most gripping Anatolian nature, passionately flowing through the audible landscape like red wine through the faucet of a hessian-covered clay waterpot, as time seemingly stands still yet weaves akin to a shadowed caravanserai flag in the darkness of a barren night sky.

Tropical Twista Records – Entre Tiempo Y Espacio VA

It’s a big month for tropical tribal midtempo music with various big VAs blessing the sound system realm. Tropical Twista Records compiles 21 songs, with some showing an amazing display of experimentality in a style that is often plagued with oversimplicity. Not to say that that’s a problem but the side of me that itches for technical composition as well as world fusion vibes is often left unsatisfied with artists in this style. However, some tracks on this album, for example the standout tracl, Ashé De Orula by Nillo are an exception in that sense as it utilizes a wealth of natural foley sounds, acoustic guitar sounds, haunting atmospherics, tribal chanting & kick snare structures beyond a constant 4 to the floor house/techno groove. At times the drumline fully disappears and comes back in a completely different variation of a polyrhythm, challenging the ear as much as it soothes it. Solid natural tribal music with a highly unique approach. Other dope jams from the album include Rafael Aragon’s Caribe Ano 68 cumbia jam, Kurup’s Vibra, RumboTumba’s El 34 & Sonidos Profudos’s Jugo Cosmico with their quality production and highly organic and vibrant sounds.

Urban Cosmonaut Radio – Urban Cosmonaut Tales VA

Here is a mega compilation for fans of this genre, with 17 tracks to dig into. World music on the chill midtempo slow house side of the spectrum with a dash of psychedelic, and a whole lot of tribal flavour. The different songs here differ in the extent of their organic / synthetic balance and quality but there is a very distinct sense of overall continuity through the album. The blend of ethnotronica, ‘slothdisco’, snail-trail techno, cumbia and sedated house with tribal, oriental, African and Latin music makes for very easy listening. No crazy sound design or claims of technical ingenuity, just unadulterated ancient-feeling and uplifting entertainment vibes. Standout songs include Pigmaliao’s Sahel, Geju, Betelgeize & J.O’s Uwi as well as Nato with his 2nd feature this month.

Wassim Younes & Stanisha – Hauhet

We had Stanisha in the blog for the first time last week and he’s sure to come out with dreamy tribal deep house in a very enjoyable manner. The atmospheric ambiance is absolutely stellar and the autonomy of the deep house beat is also conquered at the end with a strangely different and changing polyrhythm; a sedative, soothing and spectral journey.

Ballake – Bembeya (Nato Edit)

The 1977 tune from the Guinean Afropop Jazz group Bembeya Jazz gets a modern retouch here with Nato adding his tribal house vibe to it, maintaining the tribal joyous sound of the original, yet emphasizing the danceability with the popular contemporary house groove. Definitely something for the fans of chill uptemo sounds.

Yaşar Akpençe – Indian Free Style (George Topuridze Live Reshape)

What they say about slow and steady wins the race might be true but in the context of a 7:29 min long ethnic house song, George Topuridze proves that the finish line is irrelevant. This slow and steady journey evolves without exhausting itself as it creates a multicultural bridge between Turkey and India and to witness this camel-style progression is highly endearing on the sonic receptors.

Atimos – Orgaismo

Another tribal downtempo Hindi techno tune from Tropical Twista Records’ Atimos for you to get mystical to. It’s a remarkably fluent and easy-listening jam and that triple octave layering of the vocals are a very subtle but powerful touch to send you straight to your own personal nirvana.

Longa Beats – Eski Libas Gibi (Anatolian Sessions)

Following his stream of Anatolian Sessions, Longa Beats carries on the trend of modernizing classic Turkish jams with Eski Libas Gibi in this thoroughly enjoyable slow house style. Perhaps the fact that Burak Doğan – the man behind Longa Beats music – is from Istanbul himself help to create a very authentic overall sound to this music, with all added electronic beatwork complimenting the pre-existing traditional groove.

Erothyme – Pines and Leaves (Moon Frog Remix)

A dope redo of Erothyme’s track from his recent remix album featuring a handful of other versions of this track. Moon Frog’s one stood out to me for its fluid unique blend of psydub aesthetics in a future garage / house style. It’s misty, cold and faded but solid and clear as a single frost diamond on the dawn of a rather beautiful day.

MORiLLO – Rhythm Alchemist / Tarrentino

MORiLLO is back this month with this twhirly whirlsdom of ancient scriptures written on decayed t(r)apestries, carbon-dated and revitalized through digital shamanistic abilities and grooves harnessed from within the distant oasis of a barren desert. The downtempo desert bass of Rhythm Alchemist and Tarrentino released on time for his Burning Man appearance is equally as dope for me sitting in an Autumn-approaching England terrain and so should it be for you wherever you are situated.

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