Glitterbeat

IFRIQIYYA ELECTRIQUE - Ruwahine

Includes download code. "Sufi trance musicians and rituals -- from the depths of the Tunisian desert -- in conversation with post-industrial sonics. Ifriqiyya Electriques François Cambuzat -- a guitarist and field recordist (Turkey, China, Central Asia) -- is a veteran of the Mediterranean punk and avant-rock scene, which has always been more politically charged than its counterparts to the north and (far) west. With bassist Gianna Greco, he is half of Putan Club (and one third when these two fierce and uncompromising players are joined by legend of the NY underground, Lydia Lunch). Ifriqiyya Electrique was formed in the Djerid desert in southern Tunisia. The Banga is a key annual event in the lives of the black communities of the oasis towns of southern Tunisia, descendants of the Hausa slaves transported from sub-Saharan Africa. It is a ritual of adorcism, not of exorcism; of accommodating the possessing spirit rather than expelling it. The invitation has been issued by the rûwâhîne themselves, the spirits from whom the record borrows its title, and is taken up primarily in the streets and in private houses. The Banga is a musical tradition, with stark, metallic, cavernous percussion, and voices of cool urgency, but should not be felt as such, for it is most defiantly a ritual and remains so on this recording. Cambuzat and Greco are joined in live performance by the voices, krakebs, and Tunisian tablas of three members of the Banga community, Tarek Sultan, Yahia Chouchen, and Youssef Ghazala, with a fourth, Ali Chouchen, providing vocals and nagharat on the recording itself. The voices and rhythms are unaltered, of course. What is new here is the conversation the group initiates between guitar, bass, and electronics and the rhythms and chants of the Banga -- what Cambuzat refers to a post-industrial ceremony. It wont be an easy listen for purists and propagandists; but if post-industrial ceremony doesnt describe a large portion of the most challenging music of the last 40 years, what does? In short, the music can only be fully understood in the context of the events that gave rise to it. Happily, Ifriqiyya Electrique is a film and documentary project as much as a band. The footage is astonishing: of wild, ecstatic gatherings that seem, to the un-initiates, by turns other-worldly and utterly familiar. It is familiar because of the need for "new ways of forgetting," in Cambuzats words. But surely there is a need to remember too. For here is another deep tradition, another precarious music, on the brink: a vital part of a Sufi culture being pressed on all sides by the forces of reaction. Ifriqiyya Electrique will not be lamenting its passing -- because they will refuse to let it pass." - Glitterbeat.

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After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.

This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).

Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.

Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.

Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
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