Bedouin Sound Clash (ROIR, 1996)

Badawi, AKA Raz Mesinai, is a New York-based Israeli dub musician (and a member of the dub group Sub Dub) with a penchant for Middle Eastern drumming.  The drumming, when blended with a rootsy dub sound, has a similar sound and power to Nyabinghi drumming by acts like Count Ossie and Ras Michael.  However, rarely does Badawi truly blend these sounds to adequate effect.   Most successful is "Suspicious," a mellow, hypnotic number featuring female vocalist Honeychild, whose sleepy voice lends a smoky blues bar feel.  I think that this sound -- also found on "Lack of Oxygen to the Brain" -- is the best for Badawi, as it has an appealing Alpha & Omega-type vibe, but most of the material on Bedouin Sound Clash veers away from traditional reggae and towards percussive Middle Eastern music and experimental modern dub.  At best, this non-reggae sound can prove unique and somewhat entrancing, as on "Attack of the Giant Fruit Flies," but for the most part, exhaustingly repetitive tracks like "Big Foot," "Cyborg Stepper," "Turbo Auto Drive," "Badawi Dub," and "Chamber of Dub" sound to me like semi-organized noise with a modicum of reggae thrown in so that it can still be deemed "dub."