Al-Qasar

"That's pretty bitchin" - Iggy Pop (BBC6 Music) When continents collide, they make a thunderous sound. Arabian fuzz, they term it, a vision that’s brazenly electric and deeply connected to its roots - it's psychedelic rock with one foot in the Mojave desert, the other in the Sahara. Al-Qasar is a collective which was started Between Paris and Los Angeles by producer Thomas Attar. The musicians came together, from France, Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, and the United States. Al-Qasar’s music never wavers, pulling from the hypnotic roots of North African trance and threading it into a fabric with the elaborate beauty of Arabic scales and the shock and thrill of rock’n’roll. Bass, drums and percussion create an irresistible groove, while electric saz and guitars build a wailing wall above, with ecstatic Arabic, Turkish, Bambara vocals inspired by history as it strides into the future. Al-Qasar’s magnetic pull drew big names from around the world, such as The Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Sudanese innovator Alsarah, Algerian oud virtuoso Mehdi Haddab (Speed Caravan), Malian legends Cheick Tidiane Seck and Mamani Keita, and French psych-rockers The Limiñanas. The project has performed on 5 continents, with appearances at Sziget, Pukkelpop, Lowlands, WOMADs, Paléo, Mawazine, Transmusicales, and Reeperbahn.