Secrets of the Past and Future

Scarab was a collaboration between WordSound Recordings founder/mastermind Skiz Fernando and Professor Shehab, an Iranian refugee and art school graduate. The Professor’s collection of tablas and Middle Eastern hand drums, and deep knowledge of Persian music, blended well with Fernando’s interest in dub and trance states; this album, which originally came packaged in a blue leather sleeve meant to evoke a passport, takes the listener on a journey full of looped rhythms, throbbing sub bass, samples of traditional stringed instruments and chanting monks, and more. The beats and melodies (such as they are) are laid out in minimal and subtly shifting patterns, sometimes using tape rewind or vinyl crackle as compositional elements. The album creates an ominous mood that somehow draws the listener in, almost hypnotically.