The wizard of oud

>> A psychedelic synch-up with Sam Shalabi

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

I'd heard that if you play Pink Floyd's psychedelic classic Dark Side of the Moon from the exact moment of the MGM lion's third roar at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz, the imagery, music, rhythm and movement will synch up perfectly. Because I have a lot of time on my hands, I've tried it, and the similarities are uncanny. When I talk to the Shalabi Effect's Sam Shalabi, who plays the oud (the Arabic forerunner of the lute), he swears that the same effect can be achieved when you synch up the Shalabi Effect's self-titled debut CD with The Breakfast Club.

"One of the many similarities," says Shalabi, "is when Molly Ringwald gets her first kiss, just when [guest singer] Deirdre Smith starts singing in 'On the Bowery.'" I start to smell some old-fashioned shuckism, though, when Shalabi later adds it will also work when synched up with Ernest Goes to Camp.

On the other hand, if your idea of great psychedelic music is Spacemen 3, Helios Creed, Amon Duul, Kieji Haino and even a dose of the almighty Floyd, than you will really trip out on this amazing double CD. Rounded out by Anthony Seck, Alexandre St-Onge and Will Eizlin, the Shalabi Effect have truly succeeded in creating, using the words from their bio, "the ultimate drug record."

Throughout the voluminous 131 minutes here, these cerebral soundscapes paint pictures of a barren Texas desert ("Mending Holes in a Wooden Heart"), vicious sandstorms ("Aural Florida (Approach)") and claustrophobic spaces ("Boardwalk at Apollo Beach"). Relying mainly on improvisation, the compositional process is more in tune with creating moods through use of tonal shapes and stretching dynamics.

In fact, the Shalabi Effect may have more in common with the acidic pairing of Dark Side of the Moon and Wizard of Oz than you would think. It certainly has a lot in common with the absolute essence of true psychedelic music. "When we start a piece, we will talk about it before we begin playing it," says Shalabi. "We will start with a common visual picture, like frames from a film or a mood or a feeling. We don't really concern ourselves with the nuts and bolts of what we're doing."

Shalabi explains that for the piece "Aural Florida," for example, the four musicians would have the colours of red and black in their minds with a common idea that they were approaching a very barren landscape. For the piece "Leaving a Horse to Die," the four members would conjure up specific imagery of a strange, Jodorowsky-esque cowboy film, with the band imagining being stationed around a campfire while dying of thirst. Says Sam: "Psychedelic music, to me, is music that should be able to take you to different places and make you look at things differently."

CD launch with Town & Country and others at Hotel 2 Tango on Friday, July 21. Shalabi also plays with Christof Migone, Jon Asencio and others at Blizzarts on Sunday, July 23, 9pm, $4