When this video starts, you might imagine you're about to see a souk in Beirut or Amman. Little clues give it away-- you can spot a piñata, the girl's bandana is by CRYPTIK, and the car is an old Chevy.
The music is by Armenian-American L.A. local Bei Ru (who has performed at Low End Theory), and the video is directed by Postas. Check it out: things get weird and the music is tight.
Bei Ru's new instrumental album is called Saturday Night At The Magic Lamp and blends bass music, Middle Eastern sounds, funk, and hip-hop. The record has live musicians playing bass, guitar, electric oud, cello, keyboards and piano on more than half the songs.
Bei Ru recently traveled to Kuwait where he performed at a Red Bull-sponsored event, the country's first to feature local and international electronic-based musicians. He also performed in Jordan and Lebanon during this trip. "It was just a matter of finding sounds that struck a chord with me and playing around with them," say Bei Ru regarding the album. "Some of those melodies were like some ancient-calling type shit that just resonated with me for some reason, on some in-my-DNA-type shit. I don't really know what it was, they just spoke to me." Saturday Night At The Magic Lamp is available now on iTunes.
