Harken ye all to the call of Gonjasufi. He has returned in the form of the remix, and sweet lord is it triumphant. Now before I go on, if you haven’t heard Gonjasufi’s album, the Gaslamp Killer produced masterpiece that is A Sufi & A Killer, put this rag down and go buy it now as it is one of the best albums to come out this year.
Anyway, starting with Mark Pritchard’s sheerly epic and brooding rendition of Ancestors (originally produced by Flying Lotus), taking the western soundtrack vibe of the album to its fuzzed-out electronic conclusion, the rest of The Caliph’s Tea Party twists and turns like a Dan Brown novel, offering a mix of polish and blissful fuzz.
Second track, Bibio’s take on Candylane, is one of the more traditional electronica sounding songs on the album with bouncy beat and airy samples eventually giving way to massive bass and catchy guitar licks and mind bending sound manipulation. On the other hand tracks like My Only Friend and Change are more lo-fi, with sort of Warp meets Madlib vibe, while songs like SuzieQ or the title track go even showcase disparate styles next to each other like mini mixtapes.
Half danceable electronica, the rest an oddball mixture of world music influences and hip hop wrapped in beautifully hazy and stoned production, these songs display a subtle genius which unfolds more and more with each listen. Make sure you have good speakers though as it’s very easy to miss a lot of the charming samples and melodies otherwise.
