Gonjasufi: The Caliph's Tea Party

  Quote

Gonjasufi:

 

The Caliph's Tea Party remix album - listen to Mark Pritchard & Bear In Heaven mixes now

 

It's a tricky thing, re-working a completely unique and peerless piece of music. It is made even trickier when the personality behind the original music is so vivid and otherworldly that it is almost sure to continue to cast it's long shadow over whatever new form is chosen for it.

 

Of course the questions of whether or not to remix Gonjasufi's classic A Sufi and A Killer arose, but with that voice and those songs, it was never going to fail. Of course the fact that Gonja had made fans out of quite a few incredibly talented artists didn't hurt either.

 

 

So, The Caliph's Tea Party was slowly summoned to life. Like the Caliphs of the Ummahs of the 7th century, orchestrating affairs from their palaces, Gonjasufi has assembled a collection of artists in his musical world and invited them to exchange ideas. In this spirit, the symbolic and musical centerpiece of the album, as well as its namesake, is the result of the mutual admiration formed between Gonjasufi and Broadcast and The Focus Group. A bewitching, drastic re-working of 'DedNd' it takes the form of a suite of layered compositions and radiophonic transmissions.

 

Elsewhere, reinterpretations from new talents shine while established artists continue to surprise. Mark Pritchard channels Ennio Morricone with epic orchestral dystopia on his remix of 'Ancestors' while retaining the inherent gravity of Flying Lotus' original production. Young guns Shlomo and Jeremiah Jae eschew their labeling as 'beatmakers' and tap into a fractured emotional core within 'Change' and 'Holidays', respectively, giving them new leases on life as subtly mechanized melancholia. Bibio smooths out the rough edges of 'Candylane' for a remix indebted to the 1980s R&B leftfield, while Brooklyn's Bear In Heaven and Oneohtrix Point Never deal in heavy motorik meditations and ethereal musique concrete.

 

That The Caliph's Tea Party lives up to it's concept as a companion piece to A Sufi & A Killer is not only a sizeable accomplishment, but also a testament to the source material. Gonjasufi has emerged in 2010 as the most striking new voice in a vast musical landscape that continues to outrun true classification. With so many errant strands of creativity moving in all directions, it may well prove fortunate that a Caliph has been selected.

 

Preorder Gonjasufi - The Caliph's Tea Party at Bleep

(see photos for the silver foil - on both the vinyl and cd versions)

 

Gonjasufi - The Caliph's Tea Party

Released 4th October 2010 on silver foiled digipak CD, limited edition silver foiled vinyl and digital

 

01. Ancestors ((Dreamtime) Mark Pritchard Rmx) Listen above

02. Candylane (Bibio Remix)

03. Ageing (Dam Mantle Remix)

04. The Caliph's Tea Party (Broadcast & The Focus Group "DedNd" Remix)

05. Kobwebz (Jeremiah Jae Remix)

06. Love Of Reign (Bear In Heaven Remix) Listen above

07. She's Gone (Oneohtrix Point Never Remix)

08. Holidays (MRR Remix)

09. Change (Shlomo Remix)

10. My Only Friend (Hezus Remix)

11. DedNd (agdm Remix)

12. SuzieQ (Dem Hunger Bowel Blood Remix)

Link to Warp's page

How about an instrumentals version?

Not a bad list of remixers, curious to hear what they do. (I would start by trashing the vocal track)

What a talented lineup of producers for such a horrible vocalist.

i have had his debut for quite a while now and still haven't got a moment for a decent listening. there's been a lot of positive critics and some say it's already a classic, but for me, at the moment, it's just another warp release.

i hope i change my perspective soon, with a proper listening.

  On 8/10/2010 at 7:16 PM, ruiagnelo said:

 

02. Candylane (Bibio Remix)

 

04. The Caliph's Tea Party (Broadcast & The Focus Group "DedNd" Remix)

 

Now THEY should be interesting, especially the second one. Cool that they've done the title track as well.

I've said it before but I laughed when I first heard Gonjasufi's stuff. Before that I was enraged at how bad I thought his vocals on the FlyLo album were. I don't know what clicked, but something made me just try A Sufi and A Killer, and since then I've loved his stuff. Pre-ordered this new one.

  On 8/10/2010 at 10:14 PM, six said:

What a talented lineup of producers for such a horrible vocalist.

just now getting into sufi and a killer, it's great

  On 8/11/2010 at 3:45 PM, Rubin Farr said:

  On 8/10/2010 at 10:14 PM, six said:

What a talented lineup of producers for such a horrible vocalist.

just noticed "04. The Caliph's Tea Party (Broadcast & The Focus Group "DedNd" Remix)"

this will be interesting

Bibio, Jeremiah Jae, Shlohmo, & Dem Hunger!

  On 8/11/2010 at 6:06 PM, kaini said:

just noticed "04. The Caliph's Tea Party (Broadcast & The Focus Group "DedNd" Remix)"

this will be interesting

instead of doing remixes, I wish Broadcast & The Focus Group would do another album...

  On 8/11/2010 at 8:23 PM, Deepex said:

Bibio, Jeremiah Jae, Shlohmo, & Dem Hunger!

i really want to hear the bibio remix

I'm most pumped for the Dem Hunger mix. Shits gone be babababaattty ratty shatyyyscatty

  On 8/11/2010 at 10:02 PM, beatfanatic said:

  On 8/11/2010 at 6:06 PM, kaini said:

just noticed "04. The Caliph's Tea Party (Broadcast & The Focus Group "DedNd" Remix)"

this will be interesting

 

instead of doing remixes, I wish Broadcast & The Focus Group would do another album...

+1

  On 8/10/2010 at 10:14 PM, six said:

What a talented lineup of producers for such a horrible vocalist.

His vocals grew on me very quickly. I hated his voice at first, but that's part of the charm.

  On 8/12/2010 at 9:14 PM, beerwolf said:

His vocals grew on me very quickly. I hated his voice at first, but that's part of the charm.

²

I'm actually very excited to hear this!

the OPN remix is the only one i'm really curious about. gonjasufi's album seems like it never caught on. eh.

interesting. the mark pritchard remix for me is pretty bad. ancestors is such an amazing track...

I was curious when I heard him on the track on Fly Lo's LA album. So I went out and got a Sufi and a killer. I am gradually warming to it. IMO It's one of those ones that you are unlikely to instantly enjoy listening to but perservere and it becomes a much more enjoyable album. Instant classic though, not so sure.

I agree that this remix album looks like there will be a few golden nuggets in there.