Mohammad Syfkhan / E the Artist (Bello Bar)

This was a launch concert for Mohammad Syfkhan's I Am Kurdish album. It was taking place in the Bello Bar, which is one of Dublin's pokiest venues but also somewhere that hosts a lot of forward thinking music put on by Vinnie Dermody's Enthusiastic Eunuch organisation. The venue's annoying feature is that there are very few good seats giving you a reasonably clear view of the stage, so if attending you need to get down early. My friend "Eoghan" and I were in the queue when doors opened but we still weren't able to nab seats right at the front of the raised bit, but we were at least able to grab stools in front of the stage. From here we had an unobstructed view of E the Artist, who did laptop stuff (and occasional guitar stuff) while also using his voice as an instrument. I am generally a bit wary of laptop musicians but this guy seemed to have something and I hope we see more of him. He has a short record on Bandcamp that might be worth investigating.
Mohammad Syfhkan himself is a smartly dressed Kurdish fellow who used to live in Syria but has left there for a country where he is less likely to be killed. He plays the bouzouki and sometimes sings, while a programmed instrumental track accompanies him. I found the sound of his bouzouki fascinating… it had a quality that made it sound like it might have been electronically treated, but maybe that is just the way bouzoukis sound when played Kurdish-style.

In some ways he is a bit like Omar Souleyman, in that they are both Kurds, the music is also from the world of Dabke and they both played lots of weddings. Nevertheless they are still different: there is a definite groove to Syfkhan's music but it's nothing like as frenetic as Souleyman's. This is maybe music for a wedding of respectable older people who still like a boogie, not for completely mad for it young people who've drank too much sugary tea and are now buzzing their nuts off. Nevertheless, by the end of the set everyone was up and grooving.
And he kept playing and playing. Eventually I felt that I could only take so much music so I slipped away into night, stopping to buy a copy of the album and the Under the Island compilation. "It's past my bedtime," I commented to Vinnie Dermody as I was going. "It's past a lot of people's bedtime," he replied.

Check out Mohammad Syfkhan's album on Bandcamp.