Chronomad - Aksak

Saam Schlamminger, born 1966 in Istanbul and resident of Iran til the age of 12, shows his musical roots, but puts an electronic twist into it all. He spent many years with teachers from Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Iran, New York and Paris studying eastern rhythmics. He specialized in the instruments Persic Zarb and Daf, which he recreates electrically. What he comes up with are lazy, broken tabla and analog beats atop quirky bleeps-n-blips and driven along with muddy bass tones. I usually don't go for ethnically tinged electronics, as they usually come off repetitive and contrived, but it's Chronomad's musical past that allows this project to have genuine appeal.

He resides on the 'Alien Transistor' label, which is owned by Micha and Markus Acher (The Notwist) based in Weilheim, Bavaria.