Soapkills - The Best of Soapkills

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 22 / 7 / 2015

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Review

The Brussels-based label Crammed Discs is one of those trusted record labels whose compilations always prove winners. Chanteuse Yasmine Hamdan formed this now disbanded duo with Zeid Hamdan (no family relative) who was in a rock band before turning to electronic instruments. 'The Best Of Soapkills' is compiled from three self-released albums they put out between 2001 and 2005. Exclusive to 'The Best Of Soapkills' are two tracks, 'Cheftak' and 'Wadih'. 'Cheftak' is a marvellous, strolling, jazzy triphop number, while 'Wadih' is a sparse and intricate lullaby. Many songs include inspired contemporary versions of music standards. Soapkills contributed tracks to various theatre plays and films, most notably to the film 'Divine Intervention' by Elia Suleiman. They appear close to a Bristol-Beirut partnership, as Soapkills share a breezy, oceanic and groovy quality with musicians on Bristol labels like Cup Of Tea. Even the syrup-styled first minutes of 'Aranis & Koullou Ndif' come to an end in great surprise. There are no clichés allowed. The hallmark of Soapkills comes from their cunning mystery. 'Marco Slow' is a clever, jigging little instrumental ditty, well-sequenced on the album before Soapkills go dubbing on 'Herzan' in typical non-reggae style. Soapkills play 'western' styles methodically. Their subtle arrangements of triphop, lounge music and dub are very unlike popular productions in these genres. This collection may appeal to fans of lo-fi and slow-motion indie rock, I hope. In fact, the first track with a typical Arabian flavour is 'Enta Fan' which comes more than half an hour into this compilation. A touch of Berlin's Basic Channel sound can be found on 'Souleyma' ,but the best is saved for the last. The glorious grace of 'Marra Fi Ghnina' ends an expedition into music that one perhaps never thought possible. Their three albums are available as downloads. 'The Best Of Soapkills' for the time being, however, will be their sole release on CD outside the Levant.

Track Listing:-

1 Leh Zaalen
2 Yahoo!
3 Cheftak
4 Tango
5 Marco Slow
6 Aranis & Koullou Ndif
7 Herzan
8 Galbi
9 Enta Fen
10 Wadih
11 Manni 2elak
12 Souleyma
13 Kasdoura
14 Marra Fi Ghnina

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/soapkills
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_Kil

Label Links:-

http://www.crammed.be/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Crammed
https://twitter.com/CrammedDiscs
https://www.youtube.com/user/CrammedDi
https://plus.google.com/+CrammedDiscs
https://crammed.greedbag.com/