| Spy From Cairo, The / Secretly Famous |
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| Album: | Secretly Famous | Collection: | World | |
| Artist: | Spy From Cairo, The | Added: | Nov 2009 | |
| Label: | Wonderwheel Recordings | |||
| A-File Activity |
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| Add Date: | 2009-11-15 | Pull Date: | 2010-01-17 | Charts: | Reggae/World |
| Week Ending: | Jan 17 | Jan 10 | Jan 3 | Dec 27 | Dec 20 | Dec 13 | Dec 6 | Nov 29 |
| Airplays: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | Dec 15, 2021: | At the Cafe Bohemian (rebroadcast from Apr 5, 2017) Reggada | 4. | Oct 04, 2014: | Music Casserole Saidi The Man | |
| 2. | Apr 05, 2017: | At the Cafe Bohemian Reggada | 5. | Jul 20, 2013: | Music Casserole Kembe | |
| 3. | Mar 14, 2017: | Waste FM Leila | 6. | Oct 04, 2012: | The Doldrummer Leila |
| Album Review |
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| Sadie O. Reviewed 2009-11-11 | ||
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The Spy From Cairo – Secretly Famous Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/18/09 Funky Arab/club grooves by multi-instrumentalist and producer Zeb, outa New York. Born in Italy to an eastern European/Kurdish Gypsy mother, he worked in London and studied stringed instruments from around the world, as well as electronics/sampling. This particular outing (he’s recorded and produced an almost absurd number of various projects) is heavily Arabic instrumental, with a funky rhythm section and some electronic/dub elements – and it’s gorgeous. Vocals all in Arabic (and Kurdish?) – no FCCs detected. All tracks are AWESOME; I like 6, 8 and 10 most of all. 1. 5:26 Blood and Honey ***flute intro, then midtempo belly-dance sway with a funky back beat. 2. 5:14 Nayphony ***midtempo lilting Arabic groove with a bit of funk and dub, lower in timbre than previous track. Gets really dubby. 3. 5:38 Kurdish Delight ***lovely oud, cool beat, bits of vocal samples. The music reminds me a bit of Rachid Taha (not the vocals, which are quite pretty, a bit like Indian singing). Ends with water and birds. 4. 5:31 Kembe ***very pretty strings, a bit of a club beat, then goes electronics and funk. Alternates between belly dance and electronic club. 5. 5:07 Ana Arabi ***hey! More pretty strings and hand drums!, gorgeous female vocals saying “I’m an Arab”. 6. 4:44 Leila ****low-pitched strings and club dub. So nice! 7. 6:12 Oudfunk **a bit more relaxed and atmospheric, still with great strings. 8. 5:50 Sufi Disco ****mysterious vibe – breathy flute and drone, as well as strings and funky eastern beat. 9. 7:26 Saidi the Man ***very trad intro – flutes, hand drums and male vocals, but they’re almost like Arabic folk hip hop, sounding like Rachid Taha, with extravagantly rolled R’s. Turns into dub reggae. Huh! 10. 5:32 Reggada ****swingy groove with a Reggae beat and wide variety of strings. This is bitchen! | ||
| Track Listing |
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| 1. | Blood & Honey | 6. | Leila | |||
| 2. | Nayphony | 7. | Oudfunk | |||
| 3. | Kurdish Delight | 8. | Sufi Disco | |||
| 4. | Kembe | 9. | Saidi The Man | |||
| 5. | Ana Arabi | 10. | Reggada |