SceneNoise x Ballantines True Music brings you Blended, a project built on the concept of uniting the worlds of electronic and acoustic music, and exploring the infinite world that can come from combining forms and instruments rooted in age old tradition with the digital. From this collaboration, the circle is completed, and we are left with something wholly contemporary, fresh, and rooted.
For this project, we chose two artists that in their own creations already espouse this concept. The Meteors Project, made up of Gaser El Safty and Karim El Zanfally, draw deep from a variety of genres, spanning from early prog-rock to techno. Their music is comprised of controllers launching loops, topped by electric and acoustic guitar riffs, break-beats and synth lines, culminating in a medley of hard-hitting dance music.
BalQeis is a classically trained oud player, but that schooling hasn't restricted her music - all the contrary. She employs her virtuosity on the instrument and knowledge of Middle Eastern modes to lay down elegant, serpentine compositions, which she splits open with distortion heavy metal-esque shreds. On top of that, she uses loops to create what can only be described as a wave of oud. More recently, BalQeis has been incorporating analog beats into her work; essentially, she is a one-woman band, known for pushing the limits of the oud - in her case, a matte black one slung across her chest.
Over the course of a few weeks, The Meteors Project and BalQeis met in their respective studios, bonding and jamming, becoming acquainted with each other's musical quirks. The result is a track that exhibits the best of both artists, and even more, something new that could only come of their collective creation. It is True Music, Blended. Check out the documentary, listen the full track and watch the music video for 'Ouds in Space' below.
