(World Fusion, Dub, Oriental) Jef Stott - Saracen (Six Degrees Records #657036 1146-2MJ) - 2008, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 7. July 2010, 14:20
Jef Stott / Saracen
Used drive  : SONY    CD-RW  CRX320EE   Adapter: 0  ID: 2
Read mode               : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache      : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction                      : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out          : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks   : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations       : Yes
Used interface                              : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format              : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate                : 896 kBit/s
Quality                         : High
Add ID3 tag                     : Yes
Command line compressor         : E:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%x" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "ALBUMARTIST=%v" -T "ALBUM ARTIST=%v" -T "COMMENT=EAC Secure Mode, Test & Copy, AccurateRip, FLAC -8" %s
TOC of the extracted CD
     Track |   Start  |  Length  | Start sector | End sector
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        1  |  0:00.00 |  6:17.13 |         0    |    28287
        2  |  6:17.13 |  5:31.45 |     28288    |    53157
        3  | 11:48.58 |  5:45.51 |     53158    |    79083
        4  | 17:34.34 |  5:15.39 |     79084    |   102747
        5  | 22:49.73 |  4:33.16 |    102748    |   123238
        6  | 27:23.14 |  4:49.21 |    123239    |   144934
        7  | 32:12.35 |  7:34.59 |    144935    |   179043
        8  | 39:47.19 |  7:00.22 |    179044    |   210565
        9  | 46:47.41 |  6:47.54 |    210566    |   241144
       10  | 53:35.20 |  5:10.60 |    241145    |   264454
Range status and errors
Selected range
     Filename G:\Music\Jef Stott - Saracen (2008)\Jef Stott - Saracen.wav
     Peak level 98.8 %
     Range quality 100.0 %
     Test CRC 4F821A0D
     Copy CRC 4F821A0D
     Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
Track  1  accurately ripped (confidence 2)  [C2C3D15C]
Track  2  accurately ripped (confidence 2)  [D493E971]
Track  3  accurately ripped (confidence 2)  [90E1AEED]
Track  4  accurately ripped (confidence 2)  [796E635E]
Track  5  accurately ripped (confidence 2)  [2D687C4B]
Track  6  accurately ripped (confidence 2)  [448451DC]
Track  7  accurately ripped (confidence 2)  [11770CC3]
Track  8  accurately ripped (confidence 2)  [37455350]
Track  9  accurately ripped (confidence 2)  [97EF75FD]
Track 10  accurately ripped (confidence 2)  [A4895255]
All tracks accurately ripped
End of status report

REM GENRE Electronica
REM DATE 2008
REM DISCID 8C0DC60A
REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v0.99pb4"
PERFORMER "Jef Stott"
TITLE "Saracen"
FILE "Jef Stott - Saracen.flac" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Lamaset (Miami Mix)"
    PERFORMER "Jef Stott"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "Sono (Album Version)"
    PERFORMER "Jef Stott"
    INDEX 00 06:14:62
    INDEX 01 06:17:13
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Ashk"
    PERFORMER "Jef Stott"
    INDEX 00 11:47:19
    INDEX 01 11:48:58
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "Saracen (Eye of Horus vocal mix)"
    PERFORMER "Jef Stott"
    INDEX 01 17:34:34
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Medina Stepper"
    PERFORMER "Jef Stott"
    INDEX 00 22:48:41
    INDEX 01 22:49:73
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "Faqir"
    PERFORMER "Jef Stott"
    INDEX 00 27:20:38
    INDEX 01 27:23:14
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    TITLE "Axis (Evolve)"
    PERFORMER "Jef Stott"
    INDEX 01 32:12:35
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    TITLE "Overland"
    PERFORMER "Jef Stott"
    INDEX 00 39:45:48
    INDEX 01 39:47:19
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    TITLE "Blissm'lah (Darbuka Re-Mix)"
    PERFORMER "Jef Stott"
    INDEX 01 46:47:41
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    TITLE "Aegean Dub"
    PERFORMER "Jef Stott"
    INDEX 00 53:33:25
    INDEX 01 53:35:20

Saracen, Jef Stott's first full-length solo recording, has been a long time coming. His roots in experimental guitar work led him into the transglobal sonic underworld a la Balkan/Middle Eastern influences that formed the band Stellamara, where he discovered a wider range of instruments to experiment with, namely the hypnotic oud (Arabian lute). Thus he began a serious study of traditional cultures and their instruments, taking a departure from his former fascination with electronic sounds. But all in good time, his passions united and a natural marriage was born, he founded the label Embarka records to further his exploration into the endless world of sounds.
Stott has been on the global music scene for over a decade, and last year he released SoukSonik, an EP, on Six Degrees' (digital-only) Emerging Artists series. His honest efforts were validated with heavy rotations and a successful world tour, building up to his much anticipated solo debut.
He plays many of the instruments himself, including the Persian oud and dulcimer; saz and cumbus (Turkish lutes); various percussions and electric bass. Stott collaborated with Persian and Arabic vocalists MC RAI, Reda Darwish and Hooman Fazly to top off the already full and steamy hot cup of modern-world-beat-brew.
Saracen opens unapologetically; "Lamaset" immediately begins with a solid beat and waves of dubby rhythms rolling in to make way for magnetic vocals and that Middle Eastern string sound Stott so loves to share. The album continues, maintaining the opening momentum and breathing out long, deep steady exhales that often sound like Mercan Dede or Cheb I Sabbah, while remaining uniquely Stott.
Though the record is solid from start to stop, there are tracks worth revisiting before moving onto the next one, like "Ashk." It is an eerie and symphonic psychedelic lullaby, the sensual rhythms and hypnotic vocals whisper like a familiar scent only pausing long enough to make you notice it before it drifts again.
The title track lures and charms as Stott's seamless blend of percussions – be they Indian, African, Brazilian or Egyptian based – tell a mysterious story, one that knows no cultural designation, except maybe just one called Human Expression.
The beats pick up on tracks "Medina Step", "Faqir", and the infectious "Axis." The only thing missing is a good disco ball, solid dance floor and another notch (or ten) of volume (because something really incredibly good happens when a mash up of sounds from around the globe are fused together all at once on top of an in-your-face beat and listened to extremely freaking loudly).
It's interesting to note that Stott has a degree in Anthropology and that he specifically focused on Turkey and Morocco, writing ethnographies about their cultures. He cites this education as a catalyst to his thoughts on music and what "truly global music would sound like." If ever there was a puzzle to solve, it's looking for those dividing lines that separate our cultures, and more significantly, how they've influenced each other along the way. What we label "traditional" has come to mean pure and unadulterated, though nothing could be further from the truth. Artists like Stott who are creating "new" sounds, are perhaps really just explorers, unearthing our past and reconnecting fractured pieces of a world culture.
Saracen is a logical and impressive response to Stott's straightforward academic observations. It flows like a wave across all oceans, collecting and dispersing pieces of the whole not as we experience it through finite cultural boundaries, but as the never-ending process of an ecosystem sustaining all its parts. ~ Jill Ettinger