“Once upon a time, along the coasts of this sea, passed the silk road, the route of salt and spices, oils and perfumes, amber and ornaments, tools and weapons, of wisdom and knowledge, art and science. Here different people and races have continued to interweave, unite and dispute for centuries as perhaps in no other religion on this planet”.
These are the words that introduce – in Italian, on the back cover of the vinyl- the new album by Flankup Recordings ‘Sidi Bou Said’ (the second to date in the young catalogue of the Italian label), out in December 2023 on vinyl and in January 2024 in its streaming/download versions. It is the very first issue of the new homonym sonic pair, composed of Paolo Russi (one half of the two masterminds behind the imprint/aka Discojuice) and Marco Lanfranchi (aka Indy).
The Milanese duo, who originally joined forces over the creation of the score for a short documentary film, which aimed to tell the story of two brotherly cultures (the Sicilians and Tunisians from the northern coast) later, through the energy that their music generated, got the idea of making it a proper record.
‘Sidi Bou Said’ is, indeed, a stunning five-track composition, to be released on vinyl and digital versions where Paolo and Marco lay out such an inspiring array of Arabic influenced Disco, Afro-House and Balearic rhythms to give life to an acoustic, perceptible musical exploration through those Mediterranean lands and gathering, in the most sensitive and conscious way, the sounds that portray them.
The EP takes the listener on an auditive pilgrimage to the loudest and most vibrant Sicilian road markets with ‘Babbaluci’, then on to the unmistakable essences of the spices and the sounds belonging to the streets of the white and turquoise neighbourhood ‘Sidi Bou Said’, located north of Tunis. Then to the coastal town of ‘Hel Haouaria’ with its wind and shiny waters. This specific track sees the birth of an alliance with Byron The Aquarius, who gives his very personal interpretation with a ‘Late Night Dub’, before drumming back into the reprise of the ‘Sidi Bou Said Theme’.
‘Sidi Bou Said’ EP represents its creators’ sonic experience, with its estival sounds recalling a distant-near dimension, full of warm, intense and vivid feelings, to be relived anytime soon.
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