An album of audio shade, the 18 tracks highlight his personal IDM strengths which include lo-fi leanings, shortened vignettes, clever beat composition, and an air of mysticism in its melodies.
Vizier of Damascus continues his sonic trek into experimental territory with his new album, the independently released Ramadan Heights. An album of audio shade, the 18 tracks highlight his personal IDM strengths which include lo-fi leanings, shortened vignettes, clever beat composition, and an air of mysticism in its melodies.
The power in looped music is the mantra-like quality it possesses, making it easy to get lost in a vibe without overthinking it. It can have a meditative and trance like affect. Vizier’s style of droning repetition is evocative of the wonderful Buddha Machine, reaching similar hypnosis on the back-and-forth track “Speaking Urdu Summers” and the glowing swells of “One Madinah’s Won.” That certainly seems to be the modus operandi on many of the tracks throughout Ramadan Heights. The title track runs a percussive and chugging loop, its gauzy, low-end turbulence shifts into and out of focus in a dreamlike state. Vizier of Damascus often plunges the listener directly into the middle of a curious groove and keeps them there for a spell.
The degraded fidelity on the album as a creative choice is varied, occasionally reminiscent of vinyl or cassette distortion but also a lo-fi of a different kind, a downsampled decimation that for better or worse conjure a corrupted file feel and Napster nostalgia. Additionally, while the automation of various elements for intended focus is well executed by Vizier, there are often unchecked volume spikes/gain issues that occur. This is perhaps a mastering shortcoming as the album seems fine on a Bluetooth speaker but can nearly punch out stock speakers in a car without warning. “Night Prayer Versus The Jinns” has a skillful chop to it but is one such example.
Overall Ramadan Heights features many different components ranging from eastern inspired flutes, drums and stringed instruments to plunging chill-out synth (listen to “Rasm,”) dialogue/sound samples, and digital drums. Most of which seem to fit under Vizier’s exploratory use of the stereo field in his pursuits. Sure to perk up some ears in its deviations of sound, it’s definitely worth a listen.
Ramadan Heights is available on Bandcamp.
