Wenu Wenu
On *Wenu Wenu*, Syrian singer Omar Souleyman brilliantly blends old-school *dabke* music with modern influences to create an irresistible amalgam. Serpentine oud lines mix with snaky synthesizers until you’re not sure which is which; a similar sleight of hand occurs between the traditional Eastern percussion and electronic beats. At the center of it all is Souleyman’s singing, so perfectly enmeshed in the driving feel of dance tunes like \"Ya Yumma\" and \"Warni Warni\" that it, too, is difficult to separate from its surroundings.
Syrian singer Omar Souleyman’s Wenu Wenu is technically his first proper recording, having been cut in a studio in Brooklyn rather than on site at one of the thousands of weddings he’s performed over the past two decades. Four Tet's Kieran Hebden, who produced, made the wise decision not to try and improve on a sound that doesn’t need fixing.
Syrian singer Omar Souleyman’s Wenu Wenu is technically his first proper recording, having been cut in a studio in Brooklyn rather than on site at one of the thousands of weddings he’s performed over the past two decades. Four Tet's Kieran Hebden, who produced, made the wise decision not to try and improve on a sound that doesn’t need fixing.
Syrian wedding singer Omar Souleyman teams up with Kieran Hebden to produce a non-stop party of dabke music.
Syrian wedding singer Omar Souleyman teams up with Kieran Hebden to produce a non-stop party of dabke music.
The Kieran Hebden-produced Wenu Wenu is an inscrutable, occasionally delightful, and vaguely infuriating record.
The Kieran Hebden-produced Wenu Wenu is an inscrutable, occasionally delightful, and vaguely infuriating record.
<p>Omar Suleyman's collaboration with Kieran "Four Tet" Hebden shows the Syrian singer at his frenzied best, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong></p>
<p>Omar Suleyman's collaboration with Kieran "Four Tet" Hebden shows the Syrian singer at his frenzied best, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong></p>