about
Moving Still is back with three Egyptian bangers for a freebie EP called Ouddy Bangers Vol.1. It follows on from his infectious disco floor-filler Sidi Mansour (Moving Still Edit), which took the festival circuit by storm, and his italo-esque edit of Egyptian pop star Azza Kamal's 'Maadna Bkra' in collaboration with Dutch producer Tjade. Both edits reached #1 in Rush Hour's best sellers chart and played out across the world with support from Palms Trax, Hunee, Skatebård, David Vunk, CC:DISCO!, Esa Williams and Nabihah Iqbal.
The A side is a love letter to Hamid El Shaeri, king of Westernised synth-pop in Egypt. A1 features Cheb Arab who was the protege of Hamid, sadly making only one album before dying in mysterious circumstances. “Lo Kan”, from the album of the same name, tells the story of love, patience and passion. The track features Moving Still’s signature arpeggiated bassline and pitched down vocals to add depth to the passionate lyrics. The resulting edit is dancefloor ready, whilst still retaining the emotion of the original. Meanwhile the A2 is the last track from the first album of Magdy El Shaeri, composed by his older brother Hamid. Western pop with a Middle Eastern twist, the Arabic maqam trills are at home with the funky guitar and synth sounds. The saturated TR707 gives the track a grittier feel, and a reverb-heavy Roland JX3P motif is carried through the song.
The B side is Egyptian pop royalty Simone, produced by one half of Germany’s Modern Talking, Dieter Bohlen. The lyrics reflecting on life are unusually emotive for an Italo disco-esque banger, and these act as inspiration for the recreation of the song. The dialogue between the 303 and ARP bass provides the track with a distorted core, and the mournful lead in the outro is recreated and repeated to amplify the melancholy of the track. This infectious upgrade is sure to be in your ears for long after the last note ends.
“The idea of the edits is that they are my favourite Egyptian artists and the songs are really personal to me. I always imagined these musicians to have worked together at some point because of their shared connection to Hamid El Shaeri and possibly gone out together for a bit of argila (shisha) and some vino.
I wanted to share these tracks with everyone for free as a thank you for the enduring support I have received over the last number of years. I hope it gives you the same HI-NRG and joy it gave me while editing them!”
“I want to thank my wife Grace for believing in me and helping me put this jigsaw together. To my little son, thank you for inspiring me to edit the last track for the EP. Special thanks to Rachael Williams, Nabihah Iqbal, Disco Arabesquo, CC:DISCO!, Habibi Funk, Lee Kelly, Liam Maher (Minos), Dar Disku (Maz & Vish) and Rhys (Optimum Mastering) for all the love and support to get this completed. Big shoutout to Tracy Chahwan for reading my mind and for working on these graphics to the finest detail, you made it even better than I imagined :) and to Carla Aouad for the amazing promo vid.”
Moving Still has collaborated with two Lebanese artists on the artwork for this EP release. The illustration for the EP has been created by Tracy Chahwan and will be available to buy with profits going to charity to benefit Lebanon. The 40 x 40 Giclée print on cotton rag paper will be packaged and distributed in partnership with Hen’s Teeth, a creative studio in Dublin, Ireland.
credits
released October 25, 2021
Edited & Mixed by Moving Still
Mastered by Rhys at Optimum Mastering
Graphics by Tracy Chahwan
Promo video by Carla Aouad
Poster printed and distributed by Hen’s Teeth
license
all rights reserved