So far, it turned out that electronic music has taken a strong root with artists originating from the Middle East, where it is most often a combination of traditional music from the region combined with a strong experimental and innovative streak.
One such artist is Tunisian producer Deena Abdelwahed, who after Khonnar, her debut from 2018, now comes with another slice of innovative electronic experiments in Jbal Rrsas.
Through the seven tracks here, it is quite obvious that Abdelwahed has a very wide and encompassing concept of what electronic music is or should be with her Middle Eastern musical background serving as a base for her excursions into techno, drum and bass, dub, and elsewhere.
Very often, Abdelwahed crosses genre borders within a single track, going back and forth but always having a seamless connection present without losing the musical focus.
Throughout the album, Abdelwahed has engaged the help of other Middle Eastern artists taking a similar path, including Tunisian composer and multi-instrumentalist Khalil Hentati, aka Khalil Epi, and Iraqi-British multi-instrumentalist, composer, and researcher Khyam Allami, as well as Egyptian mastering engineer Heba Kadry,
It is quite an intoxicating combination that works both with a single listener in his enclosed environment or on a club dance floor with the not-so-standard beats leading the way.
