The Dwarfs of East Agouza

The Dwarfs of East Agouza (قزام شرق العجوزة) are a trio of musicians whose name comes from the Cairo neighborhood where they once shared an apartment. They combine plenty of styles seamlessly into a captivating sound that covers a range between trance inducing post rock to dystopic, dissonant drones, and strong middle eastern grooves in between. Guitarist Sam Shalabi is a prolific collaborator who has been working simultaneously with a handful of bands whose work clusters primarily around free jazz and post-rock, often incorporating Arabic scales and non-western instrumentation. The overall tone in this outfit's catalog falls within those same parameters, but with a particular emphasis on the avant-garde and free jazz. The music feels improvisational, very rich and textured, and almost meditative in quality without going down the ambient path.