San Francisco’s Random Rab is making old music new. Spinning only original tracks in his sets, Rab incorporates ancient melodies to create neo-classical dance and downtempo, modern gypsy music in the same vein as Beats Antique, though drawn from much older influences.
His sound is very tribal, derived from African and Middle-Eastern traditions, samples and instruments. It takes you on a tour of worlds that no longer exist and creates vibrant auditory images; you are zoomed back by digital tricklings and beats that swoop in and make thousand-year-old lullabies bang.
Random Rab is an experimenter, especially with different types of vocals, and his stuff isn’t for everyone or every occasion. It has yet to fully develop and is sure to turn into something even more interesting with time. His latest album, Arose, is a big step up from his earlier work and promises big things to come.
Fantastic settings, fire dancers and hallucinogens call for this type of music; Rab has been a regular in the West coast festival scene at Burning Man, Symbiosis and Do Lab events, like the one in the video below set to his track “Beethoven’s Filth”. These people know how to get down and I am going to join them.
