Moving Still’s Cosmic Arab Disco

Back in the 80s, when North America’s Soul and Funk driven Disco was spreading like wildfire to every corner of the world, Europe took it personally. Somewhere around the coasts of Northern Italy, the Italians were cooked up a storm of their own.

Without taking away the heart of Disco’s blueprints, Italians morphed the Electro, Funk, and Jazz fundamentals of the genre into a more psychedelic, raw and frantic sound called Cosmic Disco. While a wide majority of the genre is influenced by Afro and Brazilian music, Jeddah-born, Dublin-based producer Jamal Sulaimani AKA Moving Still has flipped Cosmic Disco with his brand of Disco from the Middle East and beyond.

Incorporating inspirations from the Middle East, South West Asia and North Africa, Moving Still has now put his name as of the best operators in the highly talented network of Arabic electronic artists across the globe.

We take a look at some of the fragrant bangers Moving Still has released over the years that have been on heavy rotations in DJ sets across Europe and North America.

CHEBA YAMINA – SIDI MANSOUR (MOVING STILL EDIT)

‘Sidi Mansour’ which is originally a Tunisian folkloric song has been sprung to life several times through its Arabic iterations, and one of the better-known versions is Algerian artist Cheba Yamina’s classic. Moving Still took the original on a spin for a high energy edit with a mind-numbing bassline. ‘Sidi Mansour’ remains to be the producer’s finest release to date.

AZAH KAMAL – MAADNA BKRA (MOVING STILL & TJADE EDIT)

Another Arabic Classic and another gorgeous Moving Still edit. Part of Dar Disku Records’ club-ready edits that released late last year, Moving Still teamed up with Dutch extraordinaire Tjade for a lush Italo-esque remake of Egyptian pop star Azza Kamal’s ‘Maadna Bkra’. The best part of the release was that 50% of the profits from the release were donated directly to middle-eastern based charities.

MOVING STILL – WANEET

An incredibly underrated tune from Moving Still’s ornate catalogue, ‘Waneet’ was released on London-based label, The Nail Shop, as part of the ‘With Oud’ EP, featuring some thumping tunes like ‘Al Disco Haram’ and ‘3awiz Tramadol’. What makes ‘Waneet’ special is its pitched-down yet hypnotic vibe.

NERMIN NIAZI – SARI SARI RAAT (MOVING STILL EDIT)

Discostan, a diasporic musical project led by Arshia Haq and Jeremy Loudenback featured Moving Still with two Cosmic Disco edits off of British-Pakistani disco duo Nermin Niazi and Feisal Mosleh’s 1984 album ‘Disco Se Aagay’. The Los Angeles-based label and archival project re-mastered the album and invited Moving Still to weave his magic on ‘Saari Saari Raat’.

SIMONE – AL HAYAT (MOVING STILL EDIT)

It’s just been a week since this edit has been released and it already has the potential to go down as a Moving Still classic. After a short hiatus, the Dublin-based producer returned with a freebie EP called ‘Ouddy Bangers Vol.1’ with three skittery edits of Egyptian classics. ‘Al Hayat’ follows the producer’s Sidi Mansour vibe with its hypnotic bassline coupled with euphoric vocals.

Moving Still’s Ouddy Bangers Vol.1 is out now on His Bandcamp Page.

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