Sir Richard Bishop & His Freak of Araby Ensemble
 

Sir Richard Bishop has just completed a groundbreaking album entitled The Freak of Araby, which sees him revisiting his Middle Eastern roots. Electric guitar, Moroccan chanters, bass, and heavy percussion are the instruments of choice for this one. Half of the songs on this new release are original pieces by SRB and the remaining half consists of traditional North African folk songs as well as compositions by Elias Rahbani, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, and others. The new LP will be released by Drag City on May 26, 2009 and a US tour will begin around the same time. This will be the first tour ever by SRB to feature a full band. Tour dates will be announced soon.






http://www.myspace.com/sirrichardbishop



....the songs samples are amazing.

Somewhereout there, fugazifan is creaming his pants.

OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh OOOOOooooooOOOOOOh

Yeah, my brain exploded.

I bet this will be record of 09.

It'll definitely be one of the best, if the rest of the album is as good as these 4 songs.

I just read James Blackshaw is also working on a new disc, it's coming out through Young God Records sometime this spring, I think it's being produced by Michael Gira actually. This year is going to be awesome.

The past few years have been amazing for music I think! So many great acts and albums I think. This year will definitely be the best of this decade hopefuly.

hahahaha
















(its true)




this album looks like it'll be amazing
cant wait

i've got a video of him playing one of his new songs...i'll upload it tonight...

yeah, rick's new thing is gonna be great...full band = :D

June 17th at the Middle East. :D

shit, im so going to miss that. if only it would be a month or two later...

well, i just noticed yr location is Jerusalem...i was referring The Middle East, which is a club w/ two stages in cambridge MA.

i know. im originally from springfield MA.
and i visit boston once a year (have family in newton, amherst and acton) and my brother goes to school in lowell

my mother grew up in agawam. once a year? youre an ho9ur and a half, tops, outside the city.

anyways, yeah im seeing them with oaxacan in april. stoked, oaxacan is pretty fucking amazing free skronk rawk as well. They remind me of what i wanted vampire belt to sound like when i first heard them.

well, i wasn't sure.

i grew up in wilbraham.

go Pioneer Valley.

hells yeah!
i might be in mass in a few weeks. but im not sure

I can't find it... tell me when it finishes downloading and I'll download it off you.

doo doo.

tabs?

thanks for the upload, enjoying this right now.

tonight!

brains were blown.

i should have photos and a couple of videos (including most of a mind-warping "Kal El Lazi Kad Ham"!) up in the next day or two.

Great, great album!

Kal El Lazi Kad Ham:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ERkce2I44o

pre-show photo

thank you!!

what album is kal el lazi kad ham from. i know that i know it, i just fact seem to place it

_Grotto of Miracles_, and i think it's also on a 7"

edit - yep, the Eye Mohini 7" in a different, and longer, version.

good review by chemical imbalance/yeti founder mike mcg:
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/...reak-of-araby/

a couple of fantastic shows from the last few days...first up was Sir Richard Bishop, on the road to support his excellent new record and playing w/ a band as opposed to the solo route he's done for the last few years. had a chance to catch up w/ him before the show over a beer.


Review of the show




click for more photos:

 

I love the last song off this album, great harmonics and pulsing rhthyms.

The more I listen to this, the more it reminds me of the Marc Ribot and Los Cubanos Prostizos record, but middle eastern in origin.

the Ribot angle struck me during the show as well, and i made reference to Ribot in my review.

This album is AMAZING. Probably my favorite 09 release so far. I've been listening to this brilliant compilation plus a lot of rembetiko, so it fits perfectly.

Looking forward to seeing this with Paul Metzger opening!

Sir Richard Bishop’s new album —Oneiric Formulary— due out in April 2020

Sir Richard Bishop - Celerity

We saw one of the early shows of the Freaks Of Araby tour, at Brookdale Lodge in the mountains above Santa Cruz, CA. Bought a bunch of SRB LPs from the man himself.

Got into Omar Khorshid soon after, dl’ed a bunch of his albums from a fan site, bought the compilation and live album on Sublime Frequencies.

This is a great channel for Turkish microtonal guitar: https://www.youtube.com/user/TolgahanCogulu