Been Laden You Too Long
Darbuki Kings Records, 2009

As Reviewed by Johonna

It is always a happy experience for me to get mail from Zaina…..mostly because it’s not a bill  (hehe).  But more importantly, it is usually something a bit out of the ordinary that she wants me to write about.  Been Laden You Too Long is just such a CD.  Just the title made me laugh.  Even more surprising, was the note from Zaina telling me they wanted me to review it….Wow!  I am honored to be asked.

Now, last year I reviewed The Darbuki Kings’ previous two albums, Doumtekastan and Lawrence of Suburbia both of which I listen to pretty regularly on the shuffle mode for my computer.  And have nicknamed them the blue and tan album respectively, since it seems these guys really like the same picture of the two of them and used it for both their albums.  So this third installment I have affectionately nicknamed the black album, because they really like that picture and give it to us again with some slight variations (martian bubble helmets with radial antennae, the background changed to a lunar scene and earth hangs in the background).  And since they reduce their costs on album cover design and photographers, they end up putting it where it really matters to these guys….the music.

Right out the gate their blend of atypical music and instruments works up a sound storm reminding me of old movies like Barbarella.  That Tube Screamer Guitar and Stratocaster both give several tracks a very heavy metal/rock band sound that are not usually put together with the tabla.  Put in some South American beats for a tango and entertaining monkeys, as well as a jazzy number for Corinthian Slap with some funky bass and you have another delightful non-bellydance CD made with instruments we often associate with the middle and far east.  I like that they left off the dueling drums track that they had included in the previous album.

As I mentioned before, The Darbuki Kings spend most of their money for their albums on studio time.  I found it entertaining after reading the cover that the studio is a “solar/wind powered retreat”.  Since there are only three credited members on this album, they don’t have to worry about the electric bill being too high for all the hours that they spent cultivating their full, deep sound.  And it is obvious that they did.  Clear crisp sound levels for all the instruments.  Nice entrances and exits when changing instruments, synthesized or not, during songs.  The range of rhythms run from funky rock to jazz and back around to traditional middle eastern and South American.  Crediting the track title eight to Otis Reading makes me think that these guys are more into music than the repetitious album picture suggests.  This is another wonderful installment in the musical adventures of Antone and Adnan.