Good to be Blu

It’s been a bit of a breakout year for our chum Blufrank, the man behind the music we turn to whenever we want to know what it would be like to party in outer space.  Futuristic retro is what best describes our friend – taking from the old and new alike with equal relish – and…

Distorshy in full effect

Do you fancy your fuzz a little pickled? A question no one would have thought to ask before but when Egyptian musicians Youssef Abouzeid, Ismail Seleit and Farid El-Sehrawy decided to create and build their own brand of pedals, with the first off the conveyor belt a fuzz/oscillator number called the Distorshy (a pun on the Arabic…

الإسكندرية، وجه آخر من الموسيقى البديلة

يوجد لدى الإسكندريّة ما يمكن أن أصفه بسلاح ذو حدّين، و هو نوع من الإنقطاع الزمني عن العاصمة، ففي حين أجد -و في رأيي الشخصي- أن الإسكندرية تعاني من شكل من التأخر في الحقبة الزمنيّة، مما يعطي لها ملمساً في المزج بين عناصر تتواجد في زمنين مختلفين، و ليس كأن الفنّان يعيد إحياء تراث مثلاً،…

The rap music of You Stink

Ever since a garbage crisis lifted the lid on a myriad of longstanding grievances brought about by endemic corruption and ineptitude, Lebanon has been in a whirl of mass movement and mobilisation reminiscent of those early, heady days of the Arab Spring. Through its ebbs and flows, the turbulence has provided a platform for Lebanese citizens to express their…

Dandin Weekly Chart Kicks Off

Today we launch the very first Dandin Weekly Chart, which will be coming out every Friday from here on in. Every week on our Facebook page we will list the top 5 most listened to tracks, albums and artists on Dandin as picked by our listeners. We will also be including two separate playlists, one that lists the…

PanSTARRS – Anything But Stupid

Youssef Abouzeid’s new PanSTARRS EP ‘Ghaby Ghaby Ghaby’ (Stupid, Stupid, Stupid) is a sonic and stylistic departure from the band’s previous releases, while still maintaining the echoey feedback-laden reverb-drenched hallmarks of the band’s signature indie-rock sound. The changes are derived from the introduction of a heavier bass synth sound to anchor the album alongside Abouzeid’s customary guitar work, and a change in…

Object Obscure – أوبجت أوبسكيور

عبدالرحمن أبوشلوع حين بدأت حديثي معه، أوضَح لي أن المشروع الموسيقي هو ثناءي روك -Rock Duo-، و بالرغم عن إهتمامي بمشاريعه الفنّية عموماً و دروبه المختلفة، وَجِب عليْ أن أسلط الضوء على أوبجت أوبسكيور –Object Obscure– كفريق روك بدلاً من مشروع فردي أو ثنائي، ملفتاً أهميّة لعمليّة العرض الحي على الرغم من خبرته كمهندس صوت…

Disorder – ديسؤردر

عبدالرحمن أبوشلوع منذ حوالي عامين، كنت واقفاً مع مجموعة من الأشخاص أمام كلّية الهندسة بالإسكندرية، و كنت أتحدث عن شتى الأمور، و كان يقف بعيداً قليلاً شخصاً يلاحظني و على قميصه وجدت ما ألفت إنتباهي. “Cloudkicker“، كلاودكيكر مشروع فردي أمريكي لبِن شارب  -Ben Sharp- و هو يلعب موسيقى تعرّف لاحقاً بالdjent و هي من أصناف…

UP-AND-COMERS SERIES: HIP HOP ARTISTS

This is the second part of a series of articles that will take a look at up and coming musicians from the Middle East in various genres. As such if you’re familiar with the more established artists of the region’s independent music scene you most likely will not find them here. Rather, the featured artists are…

Pie Are Squared – 74 ways to make the album Lucciole

Lucciole is the new album by producer and multi-instrumentalist Mohamed Ashraf, known as Pie Are Squared, an artist whose past forays in the world of ambient sound are some of the best examples of this genre by musicians from the Middle East. Lucciole though is a different beast all together, a departure from his previous work, and that…

Up-and-Comers Series: Alternative/Electronic musicians

This is the first part of a series of articles that will take a look at up and coming musicians from the Middle East in various genres. As such if you’re familiar with the more established artists of the region’s independent music scene you most likely will not find them here. Rather, the featured artists…

BLUFRANK Double A-Side MID(s) / Feelings Installed

Just in time for summer, uber-producer Blufrank is back with his heady mix of warped house, funk and disco. The new double A-side release MID(s) / Feelings Installed is all this and more and is apparently inspired by endless runs on Cairo’s Ring Road. Sonically, Blufrank tells Dandinblog, the music is comprised of “augmented sound collages utilizing…