Paris DJs Guido Minisky and Hervé Carvalho have collected sounds from the Middle East and North Africa and, together with a host of producers, exposed it to the beats of early acid house to create the quintessential Saharan sandstorm with Collections, their debut compilation LP.
After opening in symphonic style, the trademark Berber-esque beats become apparent in danceable drum riffs. In many, the vocals of popular singers, such as Hanaa Ouassim and Omar Souleyman are combined with manipulated melodies originally played on the traditional Arabian instruments and fleeting synthesiser interludes. Other tracks, such as ‘Couronne’ (produced by Professor Genius) reach the heights of plain off-the-wall psyche- delia, culminating in the track produced by Acid Arab themselves: ‘Berberian Wedding’. Finally, some tracks such as ‘Sahra Min Tahab’ purely focus on the integration of Arabic instrumentation and acid house beats.
While it could be said that the more experimental tracks do not sit so easily side by side with those with characteristic loops and drops produced with the dance floor in mind, the album as a whole is unmistakably an oasis of well-executed experimentation of two genres not seen since Chemical Brothers’ Galvanize.
