The Abominable

Description

El Michels Affair follows up the mighty success of their *Yeti Season* LP with a new EP titled *The Abominable*, a collection of previously unreleased tracks, alternate takes, and instrumentals from the same recording sessions. Their signature cinematic soul mixed with Turkish funk influences and the grittier Bollywood soundtracks made for an instant classic. The EP begins with the previously unreleased gem "Messy Grass," whose synth intro, punctuated by distant yeti cries, gives way to a formidable backing track over which Tamer Pinarbasi's qanun dances. On "Cham Cham," El Michels Affair once again invites Piya Malik to the mic, who graces the instrumental track originally named "Perfect Harmony" with her stylized storytelling voice. While vocal parts have been added to some tracks, they have been removed from others to let the band take center stage. Thus, "Poison Song," "Uncut Gem," "Smoked," and "Progress" are all instrumental versions, giving them a totally different energy than the vocal versions. The EP is released with two different sleeves, each featuring two paintings by different Ghanaian mobile cinema artists, commissioned by Chicago's Deadly Prey gallery, which are interpretations of the original album sleeve. One version includes paintings by Stoger and Heavy J, who also contributed to the paintings for the *Return To The 37th Chamber* album sleeve. The other version of the sleeve consists of two paintings by Teshie and Farkira.