After the major success of their debut “Silt” album, Wonderwheel Recordings have enlisted the help of some of our favorite producers from across the electronic spectrum to take a crack at the unique East African Retro Pop of Sudanese American chanteuse Alsarah and her band the Nubatones.
Argentinian laptop mystic Chancha Via Circuito brings “Fugu” into the rainforest with his deep and folkloric take on the tune, while Captain Planet brings “Wad Alnuba” into deep, late night slo-mo Disco Dabke territory. Africa is represented on “Silt Remixed” by both Central African Republic’s Boddhi Satva and Cape Verdean/Angolan producer DJeff, who both properly represent the wildly popular Deep House scene in the motherland with their refixes. Sorceress producer Issac Aesilli takes “Bilal Al Dahab” into melancholy, abstract electronic territory while KCRW DJ and LA fixture Jeremy Sole gives a tasteful, classy beat driven remix of “Habibi Taal” with help from Clap! Clap! and Beats Antique. Lastly, Wonderwheel label boss Nickodemus turns “Rennat” into a hypnotic, driving four to the floor filler, while labelmate The Spy From Cairo goes straight for the jugular with his dubby dancehall version of “Nouba Noutou”
Alsarah, is a Sudanese born singer, songwriter and ethnomusicologist. Born in the capital city of Khartoum, where she spent the first 8 years of her life, she relocated to Taez, Yemen with her family to escape the ever stifling regime in her native country. She abruptly moved to the US in 1994, when a brief civil war broke out in Yemen. Now residing in Brooklyn, NY, she is a self-proclaimed practitioner of East-African retro-pop. Working on various projects, she most recently has been working with The Nile Project and was featured on their debut release, Aswan (named 1 of the Top 5 “Must Hear” international albums by NPR). She has also collaborated with French producer Débruit on the album Aljwal, released this past November via Soundway Records UK.