Search Results for:

GONJASUFI

Gonjasufi

Callus

    ‘Callus’ is Gonjasufi’s third album for Warp Records, the most challenging and raw recording of his career. Across nineteen tracks, created during the last five years and in three studios across two US states, Gonjasufi exposes the scars of a lifetime, digging beneath the surface coat of a callus to strike nerves and expose his reality.

    If the earliest Gonjasufi records suggested obstacles to overcome, the scowling violin drone and electronically mangled vocals of ‘Poltergeist’ and colossal riff and crushing rhythm of ‘The Kill’ make it clear that he’s now facing them, without fear or hesitation.

    During ‘Maniac Depressant’ he lashes out like some industrial warrior, his screams charging against gnarled guitar. Over the big, head-rattling beat of ‘The Conspiracy’ he rejects the complacence of unquestioned belief systems.


    TRACK LISTING

    Your Maker
    Maniac Depressant
    Afrikan Spaceship
    Carolyn Shadows
    Ole Man Sufferah
    Greasemonkey
    The Kill
    Prints Of Sin
    Krishna Punk
    Elephant Man
    The Conspiracy
    Poltergeist
    Vinaigrette
    Devils
    Surfinfinity
    When I Die
    The Jinx
    Shakin Parasites
    Last Nightmare

    Gonjasufi

    MU. ZZ. LE

      Gonjasufi’s sonic appeal is not based on one single emotion. It’s one mans soul poured out via a sound, an outlet. Each song is wrapped in its own sense of being, every single feeling is intertwined within his lyrics.

      ‘MU.ZZ.LE’ although fairly short in length, is huge on messages. Political, social and spiritual interpretations that define him as an artist. Written on the road, it was an outlet for Gonjasufi to challenge himself. It’s the response to all the adrenaline, aggression and anger he felt traveling the world, it’s a spectrum of his creativity and a testimony of how one mans passion and determination is often misunderstood as anger. “There’s a duality that exists and to deny it, is the biggest mistake” says Gonjasufi.

      The mini-album's down-tempo strings, heartbreaking soul, reanimated hip-hop and crackling haunting vocal stylings are stitched as a running thread throughout each song like a patchwork quilt. It’s a lonely journey that will take you through the innermost thoughts of Gonjasufi’s darkest hours. He recorded and mixed it on his own in his home studio surrounded by his family and the stark contrast of the Mohave desert. The end product is his outlet and realization for who he is, a way for him to feel comfortable in his own skin again.

      Gonjasufi

      The Caliph's Tea Party

        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 they are almost sure to continue to cast a long shadow over whatever new form is chosen for the remix. 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 seventh 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.


        Latest Pre-Sales

        187 NEW ITEMS

        E-newsletter —
        Sign up
        Back to top