Inspirational Electronica to Wake You Up

Fatima Al Qadiri’s recent EP Genre-Specific Xperience, released originally under a pseudonym, brings an eclectic taste the table. Mixing cultural sounds as broad as Islamic chants, Catholic hymns, and steelpans, this relatively short album leaves you both entranced and frightened. The eerie mix of the ever-present electric steel drums and elevated chants imagines a horror film set at a tropical resort. The head track “Hip Hop Spa” especially recalls some sort of religious evocation that the next track answers with a high-tempo percussion hurricane. Don’t miss out on “Vatican Vibes” or “Corpcore,” the former bringing Baroque-style firmly into Al Qadiri’s art while the latter’s pulsing march of beats invokes industrial beats. For those new to Fatima Al Qadiri, she’s an electronic musician (read: DJ) currently living in Brooklyn, originally born in Senegal, and grew up in Kuwait during the Gulf War. Her work across constantly recognizes her trans-cultural history, as her album last year Asiatisch worked off themes of “the China” viewed from a Western lens through pop culture and the ways these cultural forms are exploited until they lose all meaning. Her political meaning behinds Xperience seems less obvious, but listeners won’t be disappointed if they pick either album up.