Sanam - Live at Cafe Oto (2024) [Hi-Res]

Beirut’s SANAM burst on the scene in 2023 with their debut album Aykathani Malakon, chosen by The Guardian as one of their 5-star albums from 2023: “Aykathani Malakon thoroughly embodies their originating influences, whipping up kosmische, post-punk, psych rock, free jazz and Levantine folklore into an alchemical tour de force delivered with a defiant, DIY disposition”.

Under difficult conditions, the band took to the road for a European tour in November 2023 with the final show at Café Oto, London’s hub for experimental music. From their incendiary European debut earlier that month at LeGuessWho then rapturous, sold out shows in Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and the UK, spirits for the Cafe Oto gig were high and it was destined to be a tour highlight. ‘Live at Café Oto’ captures the intensity of the shows, a ritual where improvised rock, free jazz and noise underscored an exorcism of traditional Egyptian song and Arabic poetry.

“We were very anxious about this tour, being that the war on Gaza had really taken the life out of our lungs and it felt scary to leave home. We were between a rock and a very hard place - if we cancel all our efforts go to waste and if we leave, we’re on the periphery of it being very hard for us to come back. But we have a voice and a song that needs to be heard, now more so than ever.” Anthony Sahyoun

Drummer Pascal Semerdjian adds: “On this tour, I felt the album evolve from being a set of improvised tracks captured spontaneously, into ripe solid songs. Playing these shows back-to-back, our chemistry kept growing, we got closer, and our live sets, at least to me, were an embodiment of this evolution. In a way, this was the real birth of the band”

Vocalist Sandy Chamoun: “We started the tour with a great push at LeGuessWho, and we kept this energy throughout the whole tour. Every gig felt like I was playing the songs for the first time, providing a new and fresh experience for me. We finished the tour with an emotionally intense gig at Cafe Oto, a dream venue. The audience was incredible, as if we had known each other for a long time and the energy was intense and intimate at the same time; it felt like we were in a small circle of fire together, both us and the audience.”

“The tour was taking place during a terrible phase, on so many levels, political, emotional, existential, and then came the music, a force that bonded us as a group through trust, creativity, and of course also with the audiences we connected with” Farah Kaddour

“There was definitely magic in the air for our show at cafe oto - an iconic, humble and warm venue and the last show of the tour – it felt like everything was in the right place. It was my favourite show by far, specially that we were also comfortably able to talk about Palestine, the atrocity we have to live with and can’t ignore.” Pascal Semerdjian

“The venue also really spoke to us, what they stand for and their modus operandi is similar to how we envision musical spaces should function, both socially and politically. We need a cafe Oto in Beirut. Every city needs one.” Anthony Sahyoun

Tracklist:
1.01 - Sanam - Aykathani Malakon (Live at Cafe Oto) (3:49)
1.02 - Sanam - Mouathibatti (Live at Café Oto) (6:47)
1.03 - Sanam - Bell (Live at Café Oto) (5:48)
1.04 - Sanam - Ya Nass (Live at Café Oto) (7:10)
1.05 - Sanam - Rings (Live at Café Oto) (7:24)
1.06 - Sanam - Shajar Al-Touti (Live at Café Oto) (2:01)
1.07 - Sanam - 94 (Live at Café Oto) (5:42)
1.08 - Sanam - Oulo La Emmo (Live at Café Oto) (3:57)
1.09 - Sanam - Ayouha Al-Taiin Fi Al-Mawt (Live at Café Oto) (4:06)