Wow.  And furthermore, wow.  A Sufi and a Killer is a complex and dizzying album that can be difficult to immediately digest but, ultimately, it delivers an incredible hyper-real payload straight to the core.

Sumach Ecks, operating under this Gonjasufi guise, conducts this fascinating musical excursion with distinct fervour.  Displaying his gravelly voice throughout much of the album – a Tom Waits for the hip-hop world if you will – he proves to be a cryptic storyteller; one that lets you into his realm and delivers you from the caustic to the sublime.

Following an eerie introduction, Sumach’s coarse vocals lurch out while the background strings stir on ‘Kobwebz’ and, meanwhile, ‘Ancestors’ feels like a sitar-led appeal for guidance from a higher power.  With a guttural primal growl we leave the rolling piano theatrics of ‘She Gone’ to hit the raw Stooges-esque grinding guitars on ‘SuzieQ’.  By the time you reach track 8, you’ve no idea what the hell to expect. Still, that’s what makes the album so hideously addictive. Anyway, onto the Las Grecas sampled ‘Kowboyz&Indians,’ stripped away from its flamenco psych-rock origins to provide haunting support vocals on this marauding track.  Gonjasufi’s also not afraid to draw upon his darker lyrical arsenal and express the ‘Killer’ side of his persona; astral visions (on ‘Sheep’ and ‘Klowds’) turn nightmarish as on the grimy ‘DedNd’ and brooding ‘Love of Reign.’

It quickly becomes apparent that Gonjasufi has weaved a diverse, yet holistic tapestry which segues from one style to the next with unwavering nerve.  An array of interpretative influences are clearly visible but the way in which he sees these as malleable and interchangeable singles out Sumach’s desire to eschew the regulation hip-hop checklists.

‘Made’ and ‘Duet’ are two markedly beautiful visions that ebb and flow sending you away to a place you never knew existed – the latter surrounding you with its otherworldly reverberating soul.  Elsewhere, sounds of brass lightly drift through the background on the dreamy ‘Made’ which, akin to ‘Ageing’ with its “once a man, twice a child” mantra, prophesises an almost regressive state before building up to a gloriously understated climax.

So there you have it; an album of genuine craft and originality cast aside from any genre-asphyxiation.  Both dexterous and lyrically introspective, it’s a dream that you don’t want to wake from, although the reality is you can always press rewind.  Believe me, you will.

‘A Sufi & A Killer’ is out 8^th March on Warp.

http://warp.net/records/gonjasufi www.myspace.com/gonjasufi

Words: Ben Nicholas