Moving Still Edits 12″

We are honoured to have none other than Jamal Sul better known as Moving Still as the first artist to bless us with two ‘90s Kuwaiti edits on a 12” EP release, the first of the ‘Yallah Ya Ashab’ (Let’s Go Friends) series. The release is in collaboration with Kuwaiti cassette label Al Nazaer who have had a major impact on music from the Gulf region since the ‘80s. Moving Still follows on from his infectious disco floor-filler Sidi Mansour (Moving Still Edit), which took the festival circuit by storm, and his italo-esque edit of Egyptian pop star Azza Kamal’s Maadna Bkra in collaboration with Dutch producer Tjade. Both edits reached #1 in Rush Hour’s best-sellers chart and were played out across the world with support from Palms Trax, Hunee, Skatebård, David Vunk, CC:DISCO!, Esa Williams and Nabihah Iqbal. He recently came full circle with a beautiful 6 track EP Kalam Hub on close supporter Palms Trax’s label CWPT.

For the A side, Moving Still & Disco Arabesquo have combined forces to flip Omrena, a 1998 track from Kuwaiti singer and actor Bashar Ali Sultan, best known for his playful song El Galb El Mehtas. Omrena (‘our lifetime’) is a tale of longing to that time spent with our loved ones and the desire to unite with that lost love. The edit is brought to life with Moving Still’s signature arpeggiated bassline and drums, and masterfully arranged by Disco Arabesquo. The result is a percussive club banger, adding a sense of urgency to the yearning of the original.

The B side Nerjaa (‘we return’) is a mystery of a one hit wonder by the obscure band Firkit el Lotus (the Lotus band). Recorded in 1994 in Kuwait, written by Sultan Johar and produced by Meshal Jumah, there are no further details on the band’s members or how long they were together. The original track was a Moving Still find from a Kuwaiti mahragan (festival) compilation, sharing it with Disco Arabesquo during their first in-person meeting in Amsterdam in 2019. The Arabic new-jack swing track has been a quiet obsession of the two ever since. This stripped back edit transforms the original with a refuelled and recreated 808 drum and sub-heavy bass, with crooning vocals to have you fall in love while dancing in the club.