Releases from artist / Veröffentlichungen von : The Maghreban

the maghreban returns to r&s for a new single following his dark debut album 01deas, perhaps with an icier sound. monster vip is a reworking of a double time rap track from the maghrebans strange u side project he added breaks and rolled it out. end level bosses lurk. beware of the monster. rave navel-gazing back to his roots: his first ever release was a jungle 12inch in 1994. early support from ben ufo. on the flip, batu (timedance/xl) offers up crisp percussion and ominous sound design in his energetic 140 remix of album opener eddies. then the ep is closes out with carpet bombing, the title of which references the producer adding more and more notes to the main percussive motif as it builds and builds.

the maghreban aka ayman rostom is one of the most unique and respected beat makers working in house and techno today. his dusky grooves, heavy bass pressure and clanking drum breaks sound like they were dredged from the bottom of the river nile, imbued with a maverick personality that shares kinship with the likes of detroits andres and waajed, making him a perfect fit on r&ss storied roster of pioneering outsiders.

it has become a tradition for the maghreban to make records commemorating the passing of cats he knew and loved. one of these tracks is for martha.one of the tracks someone said sounded like too many pots and pans. the other one he made using elka x705 organ sounds. it s a shame that these tracks together make for such a tepid, middling, unremarkable record. not his best work by any stretch. perhaps there is different music around the corner.

the maghreban returns with essential new house odyssey ‘brooklyn’, named after his dead cat. his second outing on black acre, ‘brooklyn’ is a breathtaking night flight, viewed through a prism both phantasmagorical and seedily terrestrial. trance inducing caribbean percussion, possessed chants, motown bass, sci-fi synths, wayward filter sweeps, analogue free jazz - all get their moment to shine in the weird and wonderful 8-minute microcosm that is ‘brooklyn’. flip-side ‘the carpenters’ strikes a more domesticated tone, with motorik industrial dub eventually giving way to haunted sci-fi bachelor pad lounge.

ayman rostom has really taken to the maghreban, with a succession of singles for versatile and his own zoot label that have shown him fully capable of bringing his sampling talents to the realm of house, disco and techno. the latest missive from the maghreban comes on black acre, a label rostom has previous with after that superb library music lp as dr. zygote a few years back. two tracks deep, lose it presents all that we love about the maghreban, the title track sees a classic “girl i’m starting to lose it” phrase lifted off an early jungle classic from boogie times tribe assembled with a monstrous analogue bassline and plenty of feverish effects tweaking in the mix. “wrong move” is just as smart, delving into the darkest depths of rugged breakbeat science.

2016 repress - 250 copies only. after the success of his smack release on versatile, maghreban returns with 3 tracks for the label. all of them are quite different. i m not gonna describe them all here… here are some adjectives who will help you to catch the vibe : b-boy house / rough / jackin / early techno influenced / esg / deep / k7. all i can say is that ayman has a special approach to house music, probably influenced by his hip-hop roots as a producer. lots of cuts, breaks and raw sounding for maximum floor effect.

the maghreban has been making dusty house music for a couple of years now and has put a few records out on his own imprint zoot and also on versatile records. some people have liked this. the maghreban found a bunch of old cassette tapes at his dads house. one said ‘alex july 84&#8242,,, on it. this tape was from alexandria, egypt in the summer of 1984. it had some interesting music recorded on it. the maghreban sampled a few of the tracks to make this one.

the maghreban returns to more familiar territory on this next 12 inch for zoot. dynamite kind of sounds mid sixties jingles record. radio caroline. john peel, tony blackburn. mid range. pneumatic open hats like steam being expelled down in the hull. calypso christmas - maybe some african notes here. more dutch wax resist. hand clapping. wow and flutter. the hypnotic sound of confusion.

the maghreban is new to house music, and doesnt really listen to house music, which isnt necessarily a bad thing. he has worked extensively in other genres under other names. looking at house from these sideways perspectives perhaps gives him an interesting angle on it. these first two tracks sound a little vintage and there is much more of this stuff to come, all quite dancefloor orientated. early support from call super and gatto fritto and radio play from thristian on nts.

the maghreban has been making some noise with his latest release on versatile wonder woman. rather than continuing along that disco-ish path, he changes tack as he returns to zoot with 3 tunes influenced by (but not identical to) different times from his teens. now easy is informed by those c. 93 dark jungle 12s he knew and loved. the dark stranger. don bad man. presha iii. the capsule ep. the video is a tribute to those and other records. not good is an innocent mess about wit...
the vinyl ep has a full colour reverse board picture sleeve. dj support from call super, radio play from b traits, benji b and moxie on bbc radio 1 and ben ufo on rinse fm.

years ago and aided by his older brother, the maghreban used to listen to a london pirate called green apple. he very much enjoyed these sounds. whilst not identical to what was played on the station, this tune is influenced by those and earlier times.
single sided pressing, stamped whitelabel.

a fan of limitations, the maghreban took multi samples from his casio mt-70 keyboard and used only them to make this ep whilst on holiday in north wales last year. most of the tracks were made whilst staying at portmeirion, the strange resort where *the prisoner* was filmed in the late 60s. the maghreban is a fan. the result is more mechanical than previous excursions, dictated by the entirely synthetic source material. no dusty vinyl samples this time. more techno. very early support from ben ufo and lefto.

the maghreban is new to house music, and doesnt really listen to house music, which isnt necessarily a bad thing. he has worked extensively in other genres under other names. looking at house from these sideways perspectives perhaps gives him an interesting angle on it. this second release sees the maghreban expand his sonic palette somewhat, taking in some african sounds but also continuing along the vintage theme of his first 12 inch. radio play from benji b (bbcr1), thristian (nts), support from ben ufo (rinse/hessle), brian not brian (going good/kristina records), gatto fritto (international feel), sasa (in flagranti, nts), leri ahel (mutant disco).

the maghreban. i saw this name for the first time when ayman sent me afric, out on his own label zoot. i really got into this raw, percussion heavy stuff. asked him some new track for versatile and here is the result: smack, with his rave vs chicago vibe, and two deeper jams. more to come!

the maghreban returns after the success of the afric 12 inch to take a little trip through space with two star trek inspired cuts. amok time is an ode to the brutal vulcan mating ritual and is punctuated by a large laser and heavy 90s progressive house sonics. the empath is more mournful and melodic than previous excursions, perhaps even world weary.

quantic brings the title track from his new album in 2 versions plus a remix from the maghreban.

incl rmxs from luke vibert, the maghreban and original