Shalabi Effect

Shalabi Effect's gorgeously packaged two-CD release covers more territory than most acoustic/electric groups these days. In many ways they seem closest to Aisha Kandisha's Jarring Effects and the Baraka el Farnashi label in approaching their programming from an instrumentalist's perspective. Although the music appears to have its roots in performance, the tunes have a structure and lack of flab that avoids the "bongos-and-bleeps" epithet.