Mohama Saz is pure pleasure: sonic, visual, and sensory pleasure—the pleasure of playing and caressing textures, of letting go and dancing, of discovering new sounds and playing with them, of trance and shared ecstasy with the audience. Its four members are responsible for some of the most twisted, expansive, and exciting rock records to have emerged here in recent years. This time, they chose to leave the basement and turn toward the sea—that eternal Mediterranean that washes over every chord of the two albums they’ve released so far, More Irán and Negro es el Poder. The Turkish string instrument, the bağlama-saz, is to blame—or rather, to be thanked for the gift it offered when it crossed Javier Alonso’s path and opened up the vast world of possibilities already hinted at in More Irán and now fully explored in the outstanding Negro es el Poder.

A gift, because that is how Javier and the rest of the band understand the immense, dense, and above all diverse legacy of melodies, rhythms, materials, timbres, rituals, and spirits that inhabit the shores of the Mediterranean. Only in this way—when there are no stylistic alibis, quotas, cultural hierarchies, complexes, or shame; when learning happens through play and enjoyment—does the magic emerge. And yes, there is plenty of magic in their lucid blend of Tuareg hypnosis, Turkish labyrinths, Arabic color, and flamenco duende. There is also magic in that torrent of sound which is not rock, nor pop, nor psychedelia, nor even “world music,” yet somehow all of these at once. A magic that hooks you, that compels you to return to their records again and again, lifting you into an endless dervish-like spin. In short: pure pleasure.

.
MOHAMA SAZ
QUEMAR LAS NAVES

.
MOHAMA SAZ
VIVA EL REY

.
MOHAMA SAZ
NEGRO ES EL PODER