Egyptian singer Abdullah Miniawy has spent the past decade lending his melismatic voice and Arabic classical maqam melodies to a fascinating range of experimental music, and. Alongside French trumpeter Erik Truffaz he released the 2023 jazz-inflected album Le Cri du Caire; in his ongoing collaboration with German trio Carl Gari, his vocals are paired with sparse electronic atmospherics; and his trio features two trombones playing through baroque-inspired compositions.
Since 2020, Miniawy has been working on a heavier, dancefloor-focused collaboration with French producer Simo Cell. Their debut EP, Kill Me Or Negotiate, employed snapping electronic percussion, thunderous trap bass and whispers of jazz horns, and the pair now delve into the darker corners of digital production.
Theming eight tracks around the AI and bot-related corruption of our online lives, the album is a masterclass in breaking apart the grid-like rigidity of electronic productions. Pixelated and The Dala Effect play through skittering, offbeat kick drums that are distorted by shards of static and undulating synth bass, while Easing the Hearts teases the frenetic feel of a footwork rhythm but never settles into a groove, and Travelling in BCC pairs a soaring jazz trumpet line with a constant menacing barrage of kick drums.
Rather than overwhelm the listener with this battery of unpredictable electronics, it’s Miniawy’s virtuosic voice that delivers form and structure. On Pixelated, for instance, he carries a soft, Auto-Tuned melody that trips lightly over the rippling kicks, while his soaring naked vocal on The Dala Effect provides welcome counterpoint to the track’s low-frequency intensity. Miniawy might lend humanity to the monstrous heaviness of Simo Cell’s productions, but Dying Is the Internet ultimately plays like the unsettling chaos of digital destruction. It only coheres if you surrender to the sound.
Also out this month
Canadian Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq releases a searing new record, Saputjiji (Six Shooter), combining her guttural vocalisations with industrial electronic production to blistering effect on tracks such as Fuck War and Ikualajut. French group Ireke’s second album Ayô Dele (Underdog Records) is a lively blend of psychedelic guitar lines, Afrobeat rhythms and lyrics in Yoruba and Spanish anchored in the interweaving vocals of dual singers Agnès Hélène and Olivya. Puerto Rican guitarist Gabriel Vicéns’s fifth album Niebla (Vicéns Music) is a joyous journey through Latin bomba rhythm and the intricate ensemble sound of his six-piece group, reaching a peak on the spirited traded solos of the title track.
