Leila Abdul-Rauf: Through her work across five Vastum albums, Leila Abdul-Rauf has been a sonorous contributor to 20 Buck Spin’s discography for more than 15 years now. Concurrent to that she’s also amassed an impressive body of solo work whereby she could showcase the full range of her multi-instrumental artistic and vocal talents.

On ‘Andros Insidium’ Leila draws us into a ceremonial descent, through the architecture of shadow itself. Unfolding like a ritual text etched in obsidian, each movement traces the violent and sacred geometry of transformation. The presence and wisdom of the feminine divine looms throughout, as an ancient and uncompromising force, in conflict with everything buried, exiled and made monstrous by the machinery of societal pressures and unrealistic expectations. The album delves deep into the dark vastness of the psyche of woman: wild, ugly, vulnerable and powerful.

Sonically ‘Andros Insidium’ is a mutation of the cinematic dark-ambient, industrial and ritual folk expressed in prior releases, now sharpened into something far darker, more narrative and intimate. Leila’s vocal work becomes a new focus with a wider variety of styles and characters, exorcising the demons of patriarchal fragmentation and revenge fantasy as lived myth. In its most potent moments, ‘Andros Insidium’ suggests that wholeness is not purity or light, but the terrifying act of reclaiming everything that was discarded, and learning to speak with its voice.

Vaelastrasz: A dark ambient project from Virginia. Formed in 2016 by musician Min Naing, Vaelastrasz conjures melancholic atmospheres with loop-based melodies using her keyboard.

Mephisto Halabi Julius Masri is a Philadelphia based multi instrumentalist, and performer/composer for the city’s dance community at large. His music focuses on improvisatory methods and syncretic / linguistic exchanges within various musical languages including Jazz, Metal, AfroCuban, Experimental Noise, and Arabic music. Born in Tripoli, Lebanon, he moved to the States in 1990 and picked up drumming a year later.

The Arabic Room - الغرفة العربية | Mephisto Halabi - مفيستو حلبي | Musica Telharmonia Internacionale (Viva!)

Angel Meat: Harsh Thanatology? Post Opera? Or maybe just a Maria Callas tape eating itself alive while drinking cough syrup. Regardless, Angel Meat is a duo from Philadelphia consisting of vocalist Anna Young (Layer Meat/Hermit High Priestess) and harpist Myles Donovan (Disemballerina/Narco Medusa/A stick and a stone) accompanied by a chaotic pet poltergeist of electro acoustic feedback. Part improv, part song. Part structure, part disintegration. Movements of decay, movements of recovery. Spiritual exorcism, shaking the bars of its fleshy prison. Authentic Queers and Phony virgins, rising from the ashes of Antigone. Ultimately, we're all just Angel Meat as far as mortality goes, and we thank you for being here.

Contact the host of ANDRΘS INSIDIVM tour MMXXVI