Description
Entirely recorded at Tunefork Studios on the outskirts of Beirut, the album’s five tracks include three largely powerful and driven improvised numbers, a loose reworking of Sun City Girls track “The Imam,” and a cover of traditional Americana song “Gently Johnny”, which was often a highlight at Alvarius B (Alan Bishop) solo shows. True to their habits, the Lebanese trio of trumpeter Mazen Kerbaj (Karkhana), guitarist Sharif Sehnaoui (Karkhana), and bassist Raed Yassin (Praed, Johnny Kafta) create acoustic improvised drones that range from insistent, chiming resonances with emergency alarm bells to low, thrumming hums. Avoiding conventional technique, A Trio manages to create sounds like motorized devices to generate rattling, metallic vibrations, building a mechanistic backdrop out of which the instruments’ true voices occasionally arise.
With Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, Invisible Hands, Dwarfs Of East Agouza) and his guitar and enigmatic voice in the mix, alternating between howling dervish and gentle crooning , this recording reaches an exceptional depth with strange sounds boiling down to a dark, heavy spiritual syrup. Psychedelic, industrial Free-Jazz.
“Burj Al Imam” is pressed on 140g vinyl coming in a gatefold sleeve and contains a special drawing by Mazen Kerbaj. Released on the Beirut based Annihaya label as CD-only in 2015, the recording has now been mastered for vinyl by Harris Newman (Constellation) and is ready for release on Unrock. 500 hand numbered copies.
