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Khedmat Be Khalq

by Naujawanan Baidar

supported by
Otis Nugatory
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Otis Nugatory Can't find the words to say how compelling and new this music feels. One of the finest releases of 2022. Hat tip to Bruce A. for the recommend. In turn, I urge bold music lovers to buy this and crank it posthaste
PadraigC
PadraigC thumbnail
PadraigC It's extremely rare that music actually 'infects' me - gets into my head, stays & takes me away to faraway places & cultures. This album does all of the above - it's really, really great, I can't help but start movin' when I hear it!...just press play yourself!.... Favorite track: Aaghaaz.
Tyler Knapp
Tyler Knapp thumbnail
Tyler Knapp Sometimes I listen to this music and dance around with a knife in my hand and try to replicate the knife dances I saw in Yemen. 10/10 Favorite track: Raftim Az Ayn Baagh.
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Due to continued demand we have repressed Khedmat Be Khalq on red vinyl. International customers can also check Cardinal Fuzz (UK) and Feeding Tube Records (US) for cheaper shipping costs. Limited to 300 copies worldwide!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Khedmat Be Khalq via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    edition of 300 
    Purchasable with gift card

      €20 EUR or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      €9 EUR  or more

     

  • Handmade "Mini-LP" Style CD
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Limited amount of "mini-LP" style CD copies of Khedmat Be Khalq courtesy of Sam Giles in collaboration with Cardinal Fuzz out of the UK! In matte card tip-on jackets with printed inner sleeves. Please remember that the image provided here is a mock-up only!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Khedmat Be Khalq via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Limited Edition Clear Vinyl
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited edition transparent pressing, limited to 300 copies in a textured matte reverse board sleeve..

    Includes unlimited streaming of Khedmat Be Khalq via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Black Vinyl Edition
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Standard black vinyl pressing in reverse board sleeve. Co-released with Feeding Tube Records (USA), Cardinal Fuzz (UK), and Ramble Records (AUS). Visit these partners to save on shipping to your part of the world!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Khedmat Be Khalq via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
Aaghaaz 00:42
2.
3.
Akram Yari 03:46
4.
Sang-e Khane 01:35
5.
6.
Dur Nest 03:52
7.
8.
Mosaheba 00:44
9.

about

Iconoclastic Afghan-American "street music" project Naujawanan Baidar makes its long anticipated return with Khedmat Be Khalq (Serve the People), its third album and first new release in almost three years.

Originally planned as a "studio debut" in the classic sense, a veritable avalanche of setbacks tangled and delayed the recording process over a span of several years as compounded tragedies - both international and personal - disrupted the project's intended transition from simply being a ramshackle demo/home-recording outlet for founder N.R. Safi (The Myrrors, et al) into a properly working band. At the end of the day the process of assembling what would eventually become Khedmat Be Khalq became a lot like that of the previous two releases: gnarled and sun-baked tracks cut up and collated into a blown out collage of sound.

If there is any obvious difference this time around it is perhaps to be found in the increased focus of the material. Whereas the group's previous two projects ran the gamut from sparse acoustic improvisations to tape-loop-inspired noise, "Khedmat Be Khalq" presents a more unified hybrid of Afghan folks styles and electric energy, further exploring Safi's "maximalist minimalism" approach. Tape-saturated and over-amplified Afghan rubab, armonia, and ghichak meet pounding multi-layered rhythms that at times hint at 1970s-1980s industrial music or the heady throb of German krautrock groups like Faust or Amon Düül. Perhaps nowhere is this unique combination more striking than in Naujawanan Baidar's swirling re-arrangement of the Afghan folk classic "Raftim Az Ayn Baagh" that closes the album. The rubab melody that serves as the song's core is warped into something that in all honesty wouldn't sound particularly out of place spun between early Savage Republic and Crash Worship.

Lyrically the album moves away from the more abstract and impressionistic style of Safi's earlier material towards a concrete attempt to address the struggle of the Afghan masses from the complicated perspective of the international diaspora. The songs here work to draw out and examine the contradictions and challenges faced by a people once again locked in the talons of a sociopathic religious fundamentalism, connecting the country's position to the current global fight against imperialism, militarism, and resurgent fascism, and attempting to recover obscured historical fragments and lessons surrounding the proud radical history of Afghanistan's diverse population over countless decades of intensive struggle. It is here that Naujawanan Baidar's "street music" aesthetic blossoms into a sort of avant garde agitprop - a militant soundtrack angling at a revolution.

This vinyl reissue of Khedmat Be Khalq is a collaborative project between Radio Khiyaban and three other labels, from whom you can order your copy of the record and possibly save on shipping if you are located in one of the following areas:

NORTH AMERICA:
Feeding Tube Records
feedingtuberecords.com

UNITED KINGDOM:
Cardinal Fuzz
cful.bandcamp.com

OCEANIA:
Ramble Records
ramblerecords.bandcamp.com

credits

released July 8, 2022

Recorded and produced by N.R. Safi
All songs composed by Naujawanan Baidar except for:
Track 9 traditional Afghan melody, arranged by Naujawanan Baidar

Design and artwork by صافی
Special thanks to Sadaf and Meis

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Radio Khiyaban Eindhoven, Netherlands

experimental sound platform centered around the SWANA underground and its various international diasporas...

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