As time goes by I realise more and more how -perhaps- the only thing that really matters in life is ‘quality'. The quality of important and significant moments, whatever they are, the quality of the people we choose to surround ourselves with and the quality of the out-of-the-ordinay details that make everything more memorable such as, for instance, music.
Since the Milanese label Flankup Recordings embarked on its fascinating recording project, the two records released up to this point epitomise the concept of quality. The products that Paolo Russi and Francesco Bellini are putting together really are, so far, top notch. The EP we are talking about today, ‘Sidi Bou Said’, written and produced by a duo which bears the record’s same name and features the talent of Paolo Russi (one of the two founders of Flankup aka Discojuice) and Marco Lanfranchi (aka Indy), makes no exception. Their union was born from an audiovisual project that aimed to tell, through a documentary, the relationship between two cultures, two lands that share many more common traits than one might think: Sicily and the northern coastal part of Tunisia. Paolo and Marco acquaint us with this sonic journey with some truly symbolic words, showing up on the top of the back cover of the vinyl (whose magnificent artwork is created by Marcello Bivona, enriched by Giovanni Aponte’s graphic design), which we hereby quote, with our translation below:
🇮🇹 "Lungo le coste di questo mare passava la via della seta, s’incrociavano le vie del sale e delle spezie, degli oli e dei profumi, dell’ambra e degli ornamenti, degli attrezzi e delle armi, della sapienza e della conoscenza, dell’arte e della scienza.
Qui popoli e razze per secoli hanno continuato a mescolarsi, fondersi e contrapporsi gli uni agli altri come forse in nessun’altra religione di questo pianeta”
🇬🇧 “Once upon a time, along the coasts of this sea, passed the silk road, the route of salt and spices, oils and perfumes, amber and ornaments, tools and weapons, of wisdom and knowledge, art and science.
Here different people and races have continued to interweave, unite and dispute for centuries as perhaps in no other religion on this planet”.
This introduction is as thought-provoking as essential to explain the project and it helps to convey the idea of the intrinsic energy behind the creation of the EP, which now appears as a more complex, layered one, whose most tangible part is the music but (largely important to reiterate) it is not the only one!
‘Sidi Bou Said’ however, at a certain point starts to play…
…And From the moment you hear the first percussions breaking out, backed by some velvety harmonic pads, it’s difficult to stop listening to this record (or even skip some tunes). It flows softly, in a varied succession of Balearic, Disco, Funk, Afro influences, with its sonic minutiae sweetly and rhythmically making up its uniqueness. The opening/title track ‘Sidi Bou Said’ immediately clarifies the concept which, in my opinion, emerges most emphatically when listening to SBS: namely that it is an instinctively written record, guided by the inspiration and technical wisdom of Paolo and Marco but also by some innate, unplanned inspiration. The pressing rhythm, combined with delicate percussions and a neatly arranged harmonic fabric, makes it at the same time a complex track -for those able to grasp its complexities- and simple, pleasant for untrained ears. It therefore becomes redundant to manage SBS as a succession of tracks, highlighting each ones’ features, while it is much easier to point out, bit by bit, how each composition is functional to the next one but also capable of standing alone. In short, it is an extremely balanced EP, where the sounds can generate contrasting feelings, which eventually settle on a very pleasant sonic equilibrium. ‘Babbaluci’ and the following ‘El Haouaria’ are one the prelude to the other and, from both, emerges -as in each track- the analog ‘breath’ given by the machines with which the two producers composed the record. 'Babbaluci' is slower, more reflective and contemplative while, in 'El Haouaria’, a very personal and charming brand of Italo/Arabic Disco reappears in all its strength. The true club soul of SBS is anyway around the corner. Indeed, here comes the first and only remix of the tracklist, where Byron The Aquarius lays on the line his personal vision of the previous 'El Haouaria', making it a real dance weapon while keeping the elegance of its features intact, as only one of the most skilled House music producers of the last 10 years could do. Sagacious call by the pair (regarding the choice of the remixer) but not an obvious one. It is -in fact- difficult to pick a producer who could add something to the album, pushing it towards more listeners with its music, without altering the already cited equilibrium, which rules the EP. After Byron’s ‘Late Night Dub’ we move towards the end of SBS with ‘Sidi Bou Said Theme’: a slower, more Lounge interpretation of the opening track, with the main theme beautifully brought out as a final, delicate brushstroke. It really was pure pleasure to immerse in the sonic journey that Sidi Bou Said created with their self-titled debut album -out the 7th of December 2023 in its vinyl version and on the 19th of January 2024in digital one - and it was very stimulating to try to summarise the many emotions that listening to this album triggered. However, if I was to sum them up in a few words, in a few key concepts, what I would immediately think of would be, once again, the term quality. Extreme quality! A quality which is the outcome of an organic and enlightened artistic workflow, arising naturally within both its creators. Hoping for a chapter two of the Sidi Bou Said saga. Until next time!
As time goes by I realise more and more how -perhaps- the only thing that really matters in life is ‘quality'. The quality of important and significant moments, whatever they are, the quality of the people we choose to surround ourselves with and the quality of the out-of-the-ordinay details that make everything more memorable such as, for instance, music.
Since the Milanese label Flankup Recordings embarked on its fascinating recording project, the two records released up to this point epitomise the concept of quality. The products that Paolo Russi and Francesco Bellini are putting together really are, so far, top notch. The EP we are talking about today, ‘Sidi Bou Said’, written and produced by a duo which bears the record’s same name and features the talent of Paolo Russi (one of the two founders of Flankup aka Discojuice) and Marco Lanfranchi (aka Indy), makes no exception. Their union was born from an audiovisual project that aimed to tell, through a documentary, the relationship between two cultures, two lands that share many more common traits than one might think: Sicily and the northern coastal part of Tunisia. Paolo and Marco acquaint us with this sonic journey with some truly symbolic words, showing up on the top of the back cover of the vinyl (whose magnificent artwork is created by Marcello Bivona, enriched by Giovanni Aponte’s graphic design), which we hereby quote, with our translation below:
🇮🇹 "Lungo le coste di questo mare passava la via della seta, s’incrociavano le vie del sale e delle spezie, degli oli e dei profumi, dell’ambra e degli ornamenti, degli attrezzi e delle armi, della sapienza e della conoscenza, dell’arte e della scienza.
Qui popoli e razze per secoli hanno continuato a mescolarsi, fondersi e contrapporsi gli uni agli altri come forse in nessun’altra religione di questo pianeta”
🇬🇧 “Once upon a time, along the coasts of this sea, passed the silk road, the route of salt and spices, oils and perfumes, amber and ornaments, tools and weapons, of wisdom and knowledge, art and science.
Here different people and races have continued to interweave, unite and dispute for centuries as perhaps in no other religion on this planet”.
This introduction is as thought-provoking as essential to explain the project and it helps to convey the idea of the intrinsic energy behind the creation of the EP, which now appears as a more complex, layered one, whose most tangible part is the music but (largely important to reiterate) it is not the only one!
‘Sidi Bou Said’ however, at a certain point starts to play…
…And From the moment you hear the first percussions breaking out, backed by some velvety harmonic pads, it’s difficult to stop listening to this record (or even skip some tunes). It flows softly, in a varied succession of Balearic, Disco, Funk, Afro influences, with its sonic minutiae sweetly and rhythmically making up its uniqueness. The opening/title track ‘Sidi Bou Said’ immediately clarifies the concept which, in my opinion, emerges most emphatically when listening to SBS: namely that it is an instinctively written record, guided by the inspiration and technical wisdom of Paolo and Marco but also by some innate, unplanned inspiration. The pressing rhythm, combined with delicate percussions and a neatly arranged harmonic fabric, makes it at the same time a complex track -for those able to grasp its complexities- and simple, pleasant for untrained ears. It therefore becomes redundant to manage SBS as a succession of tracks, highlighting each ones’ features, while it is much easier to point out, bit by bit, how each composition is functional to the next one but also capable of standing alone. In short, it is an extremely balanced EP, where the sounds can generate contrasting feelings, which eventually settle on a very pleasant sonic equilibrium. ‘Babbaluci’ and the following ‘El Haouaria’ are one the prelude to the other and, from both, emerges -as in each track- the analog ‘breath’ given by the machines with which the two producers composed the record. 'Babbaluci' is slower, more reflective and contemplative while, in 'El Haouaria’, a very personal and charming brand of Italo/Arabic Disco reappears in all its strength. The true club soul of SBS is anyway around the corner. Indeed, here comes the first and only remix of the tracklist, where Byron The Aquarius lays on the line his personal vision of the previous 'El Haouaria', making it a real dance weapon while keeping the elegance of its features intact, as only one of the most skilled House music producers of the last 10 years could do. Sagacious call by the pair (regarding the choice of the remixer) but not an obvious one. It is -in fact- difficult to pick a producer who could add something to the album, pushing it towards more listeners with its music, without altering the already cited equilibrium, which rules the EP. After Byron’s ‘Late Night Dub’ we move towards the end of SBS with ‘Sidi Bou Said Theme’: a slower, more Lounge interpretation of the opening track, with the main theme beautifully brought out as a final, delicate brushstroke. It really was pure pleasure to immerse in the sonic journey that Sidi Bou Said created with their self-titled debut album -out the 7th of December 2023 in its vinyl version and on the 19th of January 2024in digital one - and it was very stimulating to try to summarise the many emotions that listening to this album triggered. However, if I was to sum them up in a few words, in a few key concepts, what I would immediately think of would be, once again, the term quality. Extreme quality! A quality which is the outcome of an organic and enlightened artistic workflow, arising naturally within both its creators. Hoping for a chapter two of the Sidi Bou Said saga. Until next time!
