Islam Chipsy & EEK / Glove

Over the past several years, things have gotten crazy on Cairo’s streets. Every week, at outdoor wedding parties celebrated by entire neighborhoods, people are dancing to chaabi music in communal ecstacy. The genre is Egyptian street-pop with a working-class touch – political and mass-euphoria inducing – and its newest form, electrochaabi, is responsible for a global dance-floor upheaval. Islam Chipsy is one of the most exciting chaabi musicians of the moment. Like Omar Souleyman, he makes his money at weddings and in clubs, and with his virtuoso keyboard playing and two high-speed drummers (EEK), as well as his brilliant syncopations and pan-Arabic melodies, he crafts psychedelic concert experiences that electrify the ears and legs of his audience. Mahmoud Refat, Chipsy‘s manager, musician himself and Arab label-pioneer (100copies) promised us, »You will get the best concert in the festival.« And despite strong competition, it’s entirely possible. Hamburg pianist and composer Thies Mynther and DJ and producer Tobi Neumann are performing their new caper before the show under the name GLOVE. It consists of piano-based electronic dance music – and it will soon also be appearing in album form.