Cross-border and timeless sounds: Jarak Qaribak.
Each musical pulse responds to a great and original stimulus, fusing the beating of the hearts of distant and different sound geographies and musical cultures, only in appearance because they share the love for the word, for the vibration made into music, is a mission. complex and enriching with lush, experimental and very, very satisfactory results for a sample of a button and in this case a very beautiful one, which is this album that the multi-instrumentalist Johnny Greenwood next to Dudu Tassa They give us the whole world for our joy.
Amalgamated with mastery and ease, Jarak Qaribak, what does it mean “Your Neighbor is your Friend”, is an album that sends us on a trip to the Middle Eastern lands with the maestro Dudu Tassaone of the greatest musical exponents of Israel today, in which the crew is made up of endless cross-border collaborations from all over the Middle East, each musician was commissioned to sing a song that was not from their country and the The result is this eclectic sound mix without equal.
Each song is presented to us by a female voice, as if a part of a story were announcing a chapter in this musical ode. This introduction also serves to decipher a little of the pronunciation of a language in which we do not usually consume music: Arab. It’s not just about the language, but also the sound tessituras of the instruments and the complex rhythms they handle. It reaches parts of the ear that the West is not used to stimulating and that reaching those nooks and crannies is infinitely appreciated.
“Ahibak” (I love you) It has a rough and powerful bass marking Johnny Greenwood that coexists with ease and precision with very high strings and recorders. Synthesizers with colors vintage and spatial sounds give an ethereal and volatile atmosphere. The Arabic percussions merge with the rhythmic base of the sequencers. The final touch is given by the beautiful voice of Safae Essafi who, as if it were a fable, declares his love to us.
“Ya ‘Anid Ya Yaba” (My stubborn friend) It begins with a base that could come from the same King of Limbs but that is quickly accompanied by elements that make this track an exquisite mix of styles Tassa/Greenwood.
“Jan al-Galb Salik” (I Hated You In My Heart) closing theme has a hallucinatory and old trumpet that tells us a sad story of betrayal and hatred. The drum machines and the bass hypnotize us and elevate us on their patterns to dreamlike earthquakes.
Experience with Johnny Greenwood It is an experience full of eclecticism, sonic journeys, mystical landscapes and dazzling experiences that always make us question our sonic horizon: what is this that sounds? It’s old and new at the same time, drum machines with percussion and synthesizers but sung in Arabic… it’s like it’s in the 70s. Kraftwerk I would have traveled to the Middle East.
Produced by greenwood and Tassa, mixed by Nigel Goodrich, Jarak Qaribak challenges our musical spectrum by expanding its borders, taking us to unexplored, vast and rich lands in which an unimaginable musical treasure awaits us.
