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Shortly after Andre Afram Asmar began working on Harmonic Emergency, the follow up to his acclaimed 2003 Mush debut Racetothebottom, he suffered an aneurism that left him with only half of his faculties intact. The completion of the album became the most therapeutic practice Asmar would undertake, and he sought out musicians to help him realize the vision that he feared he might have lost. With an international list of collaborators, including legendary reggae bass player Fully Fullwood, drummers from all over Latin America and the Middle East, and vocalists from Syria and Israel, Asmar collected hours of original source material for Harmonic Emergency. Combining epic arrangements, flowing production, and a master’s touch on the board learned at the feet of some of dub’s greatest mixers, Asmar breathes true urgency into Harmonic Emergency; frequencies clash to uneasy resolutions, genres pile atop each other with astounding effectiveness and live percussion is suddenly overwhelmed by adrenalized electronics. As the third world struggles to make itself heard from outside the halls of power, Harmonic Emergency seeks to project the intensity of that very voice from within.
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