Soldier Of Midian

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Just when we had been led to believe that Raz Mesinai had put his Badawi incarnation to bed, ROIR issues his best effort under that moniker since 'Jerusalem Under Fire'. Mesinai's musical interests have taken him from underground illbientist and street-corner dubster to a more intense immersion in the drumming circles of the Palestinians and Yemenite and Moroccan Jews of his native Israel.

On 'Soldier of Midian', percussion does indeed take centrestage. This record packs quite a punch, almost as wildly spell-binding as the Master Musicians of Jajouka. Badawi pounds away on the zarb, the darbouka and the bendir, as flutes, bells, dulcimers and bass describe circular melodies, urged on by some wild female ululating on the first track, and never lets up. The Arabic instruments describe a series of notes, a drone or a melody and just keep repeating it, getting more and more trance-inducing as the drumming propels them forward. Included among the all-new material is a really fine number called 'Final Warning' which was previously only available on an Asphodel 12-inch.

It's the music for a dervish's wedding played by a dream team of Jewish and Arab musicians that would never be assembled in reality, since the mental and physical roadblocks raised between them would stymie that dream before it could ever get underway. Though 'Jerusalem Under Fire' is still his reigning masterpiece as far as sheer curiosity and deft musicality is concerned, this single-minded and driven CD is a brilliant piece of work.