Dhafer Youssef @ Beck'sVerandah, Perth (19/2/2007)

Wed 21st Feb, 2007 in Gig Reviews

It began in Africa-caa-caa-caa-caa… You know how it goes. Contemporary music owes so much to the beats and rhythms of traditional African sounds that it’s a wonder we don’t see more acts like Dhafer Youssef. While most of its influence comes via generations of colonisation and cultural thievery, there is the occasional act that, instead of adding another slight development to hundreds of years of musical evolution, fuses those rhythms together with selection of sounds that would usually be considered polar opposites.

Take Youssef as Exhibit A. There’s no rehashing of influences with this man’s work. Armed with his voice and oud (a lute-like instrument from North Africa), tonight’s main attraction is surrounded by a string quartet, tabla master Jatinder Thakur and a box of electronic tricks; something that reflects Youssef’s place in music. Bringing distinct European string sounds alongside Indian rhythmic cycles and Middle Eastern vocals with the occasional sprinkling of effects, Youssef creates a sound that, to put it simply, is unlike anything else.

The show starts with Youssef’s vocals floating strangley above a purely synthetic trip-hop beat that shows what this man is capable of. As his set develops, it takes on a more traditional feel, with the electronic beats of the opening number giving way to the tabla sounds from Thakur. There’s a strange consistency with the transition though, as the tabla’s cyclical beats take on similar structure to the rhythms used in so much modern-day electronic music. On Youssef’s other side is the group known as the Divine Shadow Strings. With two Australians, a Slovakian and an Austrian the cross-cultural, cross-paradigm theme continues as the quartet deconstruct conventional ideas of classical music, warping the usual string sounds to fit in and around Youssef’s compositions.

But despite all the goings-on around him, there is no doubt that Youssef is the star of the show. Though the musical style is impressive for so many reasons, shivers go down every spine in the venue when he opens his mouth. Softly-spoken in between songs, it’s amazing to hear the sound of Youssef using every last breath to sing out, as he raises his arms to the heavens. From the lowest notes coming from the depths of his gut to the bird-like calls from the back of his throat, the Tunisian’s vocals take this performance beyond ‘transcendiary’ and into the divine.

The only dull moments of the show come when Youssef and Thakur draw their oud and tabla pieces out long enough for their counterparts to lose interest. The talents of the man on oud are undeniable - he shows how North African traditions influenced the recognisable sounds of Spanish and Italian guitar - and Thakur’s tabla was flawless, but after promising so much early on, some of the later tracks slide dangerously close to wallpaper music. Suffice to say, the reintroduction of the string quartet during the encore brings a refreshing conclusion to a performance that, as a whole, has proven that there’s still unchartered territory in the world of music.