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LP
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NP 044LP
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A central iconic figure in the ever-thickening Cairo underground electronic scene, ZULI has crossed borders years ago with a relentless international touring schedule and releases on Lee Gamble's UIQ as well as Haunter Records, now considered as flagship works. His meticulously crafted sound, located at the crossroads of IDM, hip-hop, jungle, and more has never stopped developing. It is characterized by power, precision, and very elaborate arrangements. Digla Dive - Live is an additional step further in his extended quest where studio compositions are constructed in a live setup spirit. "Alteration Jump" features Elvin Brandhi and Karim El Ghazoly. Edition of 300.
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2LP
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UIQ 003LP
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Terminal is the debut album from Ahmed El Ghazoly, aka Zuli, for Lee Gamble's UIQ label. Electronic prism-pusher Zuli explores themes of identity, both hyper-local and global, in Terminal, his singular and definitive artistic statement. Expanding his sound to encompass melancholic ambient composition and grimy rap from prominent Egyptian MC Abyusif, as well as newcomers Abanoub, Mado $am, R-Rhyme, and mysterious Mecca-based vocalist MSYLMA, Terminal finds Zuli drawing upon a multiplicity of personal experiences in a concerted effort to upend preconceptions of what an Egyptian artist "should" sound like. In Zuli's own words: "In a world that feels like it's regressing into tribalism, many of us who don't fit into any one specific group identity feel sidelined at best. When people talk to me, whether it be the press or peers in the scene I operate in, I am often approached with a preconceived notion of pretty much everything from my influences to and tastes to my politics and lifestyle, solely based on my nationality. It is a caricature that has proven very marketable, one that makes for a more interesting read/conversation/booking, apparently, than a multi-faceted (hence unique) human personality just like each and every one of us." Across the 14 tracks of Terminal, the Cairean artist smartly unpacks and dissolves those lazy pre- or misconceptions by forming his own, syncretic musical language. Meshing the rhythmic grammar of hip hop and club styles with the Arabic dialects of his MCs and vocalist and the free syntax of ambient music, he dissolves and undermines outmoded ideas of exotification, presenting an image of himself that's more akin to the reality of Cairo and the sci-fi idea of P.K.D's scramble suits than any cliche conjured by music media. With controlled aggression and a gauntleted grasp of chaos, Zuli serves big highlights in vocal pieces such as the opener "Nari", featuring all the MCs entangled in a noxious noise rap clash, which smartly contrasts the haunting plangency of MSYLMA's lament on "Kollu I-Joloud". Vocals only account for half of the album; Zuli really comes into his own the sparring grime instrumental "Bump" and the sawn-off junglism "Wreck", and the album's more delirious moments, like the poly-chromatic designs of "He's Hearing Voices" and the heat-warped geolocators diffused into the ambient keen and astral jazz flourishes of "Follow Your Breath". Mastered by Helmut Erler at Dubplates & Mastering. Design by Dave Gaskarth, photography by Selim El Sadek.
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12"
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SPCTR 010EP
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Zuli's new offering Trigger Finger is a game of shadows, bass weight, and outworked tension. A kind of extremization of Zuli's own roots as a beatmaker for the Cairo rap scene, tinged with the urbanism of grime and darkside jungle. But the dark and crusty sonic palette does not limit the possibility for the tracks to display various layers of emotional content. It is Zuli's most cohesive, complex and original work to date, exhibiting his constant growth as an artist.
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12"
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UIQ 009EP
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Egyptian producer Ahmed El Ghazoly makes a stunning second mark on Lee Gamble's UIQ label with Numbers. The six tracks experiment with tessellating dry and fluid textures. The dusty, humid London-via-Cairo swerve of "Bow" goes into the metastable techno momentum of "CommProto". "She's Hearing Voices" feels like a smoking area between rooms, heard in a queasy but spangled state. The chromatic trance warp of "What You Do" convulses into action, followed by its grubbing Autechrian inversion, "Tongue Chomper", only to slide off the page into the melted dancehall of "Foam Home".
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12"
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UIQ 002EP
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Lee Gamble's UIQ label presents the debut EP by Cairo multi-instrumentalist, producer, and sound artist Ahmed El Ghazoly aka ZULI. "Robotic Handshake in 4D" syncs neck-snap sub knocks with shimmering gamelan tones and gremlin voices like a lost Dabrye bomb, before the creamed microtonal timbre of "Compactpact" and the Beneath-style bleep-and-bass pressure of "131001G." "Robotic Jabs in 4D" sparks its lush, fluid synth swell with desiccated 2-step jungle patterns before the decelerated thump and STL-style dub house triplets of "Ahmed ?" Closer "Dr. Beckett" convulses like a Gantz riddim during an ayahuasca ceremony. RIYL Lee Gamble, Coil, Urban Tribe, Beneath.
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