There's only one Omar Souleyman. In recent years the Syrian wedding singer has found audiences far from home for his hypnotic, mesmerising, thrilling take on Dabke folk music. Wenu Wenu, produced by Four Tet's Kieran Hebden, should add to that number. Of course the new album, recorded in Brooklyn, should also work for the masses back home (where Souleyman has already released hundreds of cassettes) because it doesn't vary all too much from the tried and trusted template – tough, fast, frantic grooves in full flow throughout. Hebden employs a light touch to simply fine-tune the techno-facing aspects of Souleyman's wig-out, while pointing some of the tracks more firmly towards the dancefloor. Nahy and Ya Yumma are great wallops of Middle Eastern ecstasy, and the title track is a blast of feral, tribal intensity. World music? More like out of this world music. omarsouleyman.bandcamp.com
Download: Ya Yumma, Wenu Wenu