Praed - Made in Japan

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The duo Praed (who belong to the Beirut experimental scene) release ‘Made in Japan’. Here we have twelve songs that waver between challenging to lighthearted. Read Triplew.me’s review of Made in Japan.

This is the second release from Lebanese DJ and musician Raed Yassin and Swiss clarinet player Paed Conca who form the duo Praed. ‘Made in Japan’ flickers between improve-style jazz to electronic whispers of Arabic music and shadows of film soundtracks, along with excerpts from their European and Japanese tours.

At times its mind dizzyingly incomprehensible and purposefully elusive, yet at points the beats become satisfyingly regular.

Yassin and Conca, known for their live improvisations, are masters of the sample. They pull from a huge library of sounds and noises that dislodge distant memories. They pull their material apart, breaking it into pieces and sew it back together into an album of unusual compositions. The compositions include instruments and Arabic vocals next to paranoid electronics and jazz solos, adding their own clarinet, double bass and keyboard instrumentations.

‘The Suspect’ wanders more into rock territories with a regular deep bassline, free-wheeling clarinet and guitar fuzz. ‘Rocket’ samples Egyptian pop singer Mahmoud el Husseini with groaning megaphone echoes from Yassin. ‘Hamada & Tutu’ is a rehash of a soundtrack to an Adel Imam film, an unsteady synth solo with a primal backbeat. ‘8 Gega’ is an oriental, clarinet prodding sound frenzy that makes for difficult listening.

As with much of the output from Yassin and Conca this is an album that is supposed to be a challenge, the duo certainly isn’t here to put us at ease. This is an album made with humour and with tongue often firmly in cheek. Their re-working of local trashy pop culture mocks, but also gives the album a distinctly oriental feel that’s charming as much as it’s ridiculous. ‘Made in Japan’ may at times be challenging but it’s also an album that is thought provoking and fun.

Editor review

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