Who Are We?

Born in the largely Algerian neighbourhood of Barbès in Paris, the quintet Al-Qasar mixes hypnotic North African trance grooves and brooding noise-rock production to create a glowering 21st-century psychedelia they call ‘Arabian fuzz.’ A heavy rhythmic imperative sits at its heart, melding booming bass and rock drums with the capricious clop of sundry Arabic hand drums including bendir and darbuka. Over this, leader and composer Thomas Attar Bellier unfurls barbed electric saz and choppy electric guitar while Jaouad El Garouge intones spiky Arabic vocals. It’s an angry-sounding brew, global in its reach and compelling in its urgency.

This debut album also features various international guests who raise the bar even higher. Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo adds roaring electric guitar drone to the first couple of tracks while punk survivor Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys fame pops up on ‘Ya Malak’, his incendiary yelp providing the first ever English language recording of the words of Egyptian revolutionary poet Ahmed Fouad Negm. Oud virtuoso Mehdi Haddab uncoils a mind-melting solo on ‘Barbès Barbès’, Sudanese vocalist Alsarah declaims strident exhortations over ‘Hobek Thawrat’, and Egyptian singer Hend Elrawy’s yearning ululations make the intense vamp of ‘Mal Wa Jamal’ sound like implacable doom descending.