Ifriqiyya Electrique - Laylet El Booree - Music & Performance - Vinyl

LP version. 180 gram vinyl; Includes download code. Fusing the rhythms and invocations of the ancient Saharan Banga ritual with an electrical storm of contemporary sonics, Ifriqiyya Electrique's second album both grips and awakens. In Tunisian, Banga means "huge volume" and one cannot think of a more apt description of Laylet El Booree than that: Maximalist and relentless; Blood, sweat, and trance. Several years ago, two of the musicians who make up the five-piece Ifriqiyya Electrique - Gianna Greco and François R. Cambuzat - ventured to the Djerid desert of Tunisia to investigate and confront the religious ritual of the Banga, a ritual of legendary intensity indigenous to the region. The musical duo's background is in the underground post-punk scene of continental Europe, as members of Putan Club and as collaborators with the venerable Lydia Lunch. But they are also voracious travelers and seekers of global sonics that are at least partially hidden from the western gaze. In 2017, Ifriqiyya Electrique released their debut album Rûwâhîne (GB 046CD/LP), an album which deftly brought together the hypnotic chants and metallic hand percussion of traditional Banga music with brutalist electronics and sheer rock volume. Three members of the Banga community - Tarek Sultan, Yahia Chouchen, and Youssef Ghazala - joined forces with Gianna and Francois not only on this acclaimed album, but also onstage throughout the eighteen months of touring that followed the record's release. It quickly became clear that the Banga had not been pointlessly retooled for western consumption, but rather through the deep commitment of the five Ifriqiyya Electrique musicians - it had been transformed into something contemporary and unexpected. Ifriqiyya Electrique cryptically call this transformation a "post-industrial ritual" and the actual experience of hearing this music certainly echoes this moniker. The title of the second album Laylet El Booree translates as the "Night Of The Madness". It refers to the last part of the annual gathering of the adorcist ritual from the Banga of Tozeur - it is the night when the spirits actually take possession of the bodies. With the band now joined by new member Fatma Chebbi (on vocals and tchektchekas hand percussion) one senses that the musical and cultural conversation is even deeper this time around. In fact, it doesn't feel like a speculative conversation at all, but rather something fully formed and undeniable. An emergent ritual in itself.

• LAYLET EL BOOREE
• Music & Performance
• Glitterbeat