Photo: Hans Van Der Linden

Back in June, The Dwarfs Of East Agouza announced their upcoming album Sasquatch Landslide with the release of ‘Neptune Anteater‘, a bold and exciting first glimpse of the record’s feverish energy. Now, with the album’s October release drawing nearer, the Cairo based trio of Sam Shalabi, Maurice Louca, and Alan Bishop have let loose the entrancing and transcendental ‘Titular’, offering another superb taste of what’s to come. Speaking of the track, Shalabi reflects, “This piece reminds me of the ‘after hours’ music I heard one night in a dark bunker-like jazz nightclub in Dakar many years ago… I’ve never heard that kind of music before or since.” Listen to ‘Titular’ below and watch out for the release of Sasquatch Landslide on October 3rd through Constellation Records.

llustration by Maha Kourdy

The Dwarfs Of East Agouza have been blowing our minds since their debut Bes dropped in 2016. So it’s incredibly exciting to see the Cairo-based trio of Sam Shalabi (Land of Kush, Shalabi Effect), Maurice Louca (Alif, Bikya), and Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, The Invisible Hands, Alvarius B.) join the always excellent Constellation Records for their upcoming new album Sasquatch Landslide, landing this October. The album was recorded by Emanuele Baratto and mixed by Jace Lasek, and it features seven fervent tracks, brimming with the trio’s “signature trance-inducing explorative energies”. As the press release describes, the new album sees them “expand on their telekinetic fusion of North African rhythm, heat-haze improvisation, shaabi rawness, free jazz, and psychedelic groove”.

October is a while away but The Dwarfs Of East Agouza have shared the lead single, ‘Neptune Anteater’, giving us a thrilling taste of what’s to come, with all three players pushing and pulling at the edges of rhythm and melody. Take a listen below.

Photo: Maged Nader

With less than three weeks to go until The Dwarfs Of East Agouza‘s highly anticipated debut album is out, the Cairo based trio have shared a second single from Bes. Sam Shalabi (Land of Kush, Shalabi Effect), Maurice Louca (Alif, Bikya) and Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, The Invisible Hands, Alvarius B.) had already enticed us with the album’s hypnotic and explosive opening track ‘Baka of the Future’. The driving and transcendental ‘Clean Shahin’ only heightened our anticipation for the forthcoming Bes. The effort is coming out as a double album on April 29th via Nawa Recordings. Now listen to ‘Clean Shahin أقزام شرق العجوزة – نضافة شاهين’.

When stellar musicians like Sam Shalabi (Land of Kush, Shalabi Effect), Maurice Louca (Alif, Bikya) and Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, The Invisible Hands, Alvarius B.) join musical forces, you know the outcome has to be amazing. Under the name The Dwarfs of East Agouza, the Cairo based trio have been creating music together since 2012, blending in each one’s different influences and styles. As the press release describes, their “instrumental improvisation-based explorations are propelled by Louca’s North African percussion loops and shimmering keys, Shalabi’s West African tinged free jazz guitar and grounded by Bishop’s driving Krautrock-style acoustic bass”.
What’s more, they are readying their debut Bes, set to be released as a double album on April 29th via Nawa Recordings. And we can already groove to ‘Baka of the Future’, the hypnotic and explosive opening track, clocking in at nearly ten minutes.

In other related news, and ahead of the album’s release, Dwarfs of East Agouza are currently on the road performing their new material for the first time to lucky European audiences. Having just played in Sweden and at Berlin’s CTM Festival, the trio’s tour includes stops in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and France.