Scenenoise Podcast

In this episode of SceneNoise’s Select series, Cairo-based DJ and producer Mahib performs a live set of his own productions, a blend of electrifying mahraganat and EDM beats, with a ting of hip-hop and emotionally driven rhythms. The set takes us on a throbbing journey through the bustling sounds of Cairo, featuring echo-laden vocal samples, synthesised instrumental melodies, and pumping edits of classic shaabi tunes.

This Saturday on Select, we have Alaa Jazaeri. Emerging from Riyadh’s vibrant underground scene, he established himself as one of Saudi Arabia’s top-rated DJs, landing spots at major events like Sandstorm Festival and Freaks of Nature. Jazaeri is also the founder of Narratives, a storytelling music platform, curating mixtape podcasts and a series of dynamic events across the Kingdom, Canada and Lebanon, that saw global headliners like Nick Curly, Dolby, Violent Sentir and Gorge. For our Select 311, Jazaeri brings a carefully curated soulful groovy set, blending dreamy and minimal vibes with funk and jazz-infused deep house melodies, featuring soothing and chill tunes by international bands and producers like Mara Lakour and Jesse Maas.

Egyptian experimentalist and Kafr El Dawar Records co-founder YUNIS is set to premiere ‘The Partridge Bird’, an evocative track from his latest project, ‘Opera for 1000 Crows’ (*الحجلة). This exclusive release offers an early glimpse into the sonic landscape of the performance, blending live electronics, cello, voice, and toys to explore the paradox between grief and celebration. ‘The Partridge Bird’ embodies the thematic essence of ‘Opera for 1000 Crows’, drawing inspiration from a traditional funeral dance ritual in Upper Egypt and Delta villages. This limping movement, performed by women around graves, mirrors the motion of crows, creatures deeply tied to burial myths in Islamic traditions. The track encapsulates this duality, transforming it into a haunting, funeralistic soundscape that bridges life and death. Following the track premiere, ‘Opera for 1000 Crows’ will make its full debut on February 13 at the French Institute in Cairo, marking YUNIS’ first performance of the project in Egypt after extens

Select 309 features Kontrast, a Beirut-born DJ based in Riyadh who has crafted a distinctive sound that blends melodic house, techno, indie dance, and progressive house. Drawing inspiration from the Lebanese electronic music scene, his collaborations with international artists like Rafael Cerato, Tim Taste and Sam Gino have further shaped his unique style. For his Select set, Kontrast delivers a fluid mix of melodic house and techno, driven by high-energy tempos, intricate acoustic drums, and uplifting frequencies. The set maintains a steady rhythm of flowing grooves. Tracks like ‘Benigne’ by Upercent, ‘Can't Stop’ by Jonathan Kaspar and ‘Flores’ by TWiiNS shape the vibe of the set.

Select 308 comes courtesy of K.led, a DJ, musician and engineer with over 13 years of experience, with notable performances at venues like Montreal's Salon Daome and Soundstorm in Riyadh. K.led’s eclectic and genre-fluid approach to sound began in local underground clubs, where his ear for rhythm and evolving style led him to shape diverse sets that speak to a broad spectrum of listeners. This three-hour set was recorded during a recent performance at Beast House, K.led blends a mix of deep grooves and pulsating beats with moments of rough, gritty energy. The set transitions between diverse sounds with tracks like Terry Hunter & Aaron Smith's ‘Enuff Enuff’ (feat. Frankie Knuckles) and Shonky's ‘Mama Queen’ combining elegance with a bit of rawness.

Select 307 comes courtesy of Ghent-based Syrian/Libyan producer and DJ Bader Shahit, known behind the decks as Bader. Growing up immersed in Libyan tagaza majrouda rhythms and Syrian classical music, Bader has built himself a distinctive musical identity, merging contemporary club music of heavy bass patterns with various musical elements from across the MENA region. His select set, recorded in Yalla Worldwide studio in Ghent, is a bass-heavy mix of acid, breaks, techno, electric boogies and Middle Eastern textures, featuring Mix Monster Menno on the scratch and Acid Ponch on drums. The set also features hard-hitting tunes like El Sawarikh’s ‘Ekhwaty’ and Cheb Naser’s ‘Ole Ole’.

This week on our Select series, we have Cairo’s indie rock rouser Dirty Backseat, the electronic solo project of producer and singer-songwriter Moe Hani, with an exclusive mix of a string of unreleased productions that he recorded back in 2024. Dirty Backseat is best known for his nuanced melancholy-tinted sound that serves as a distillation of Moe’s influences of post-punk, psych-rock, synth-pop and electronica. His select set is as dreamy as it’s danceable, featuring thick basslines, gritty rhythms and heart-pumping tunes with some of Egypt’s veterans the likes of 200 Shams and Omar Zahran.

On the 305th episode of SceneNoise’s Select series, we present Brooklyn-based Alexandria-born selector Solofan, a resident and the host of El Commodino show on Radio Flouka. Having spent years immersed in the underground scene in Berlin and Brooklyn, Solfan developed his own signature sound where he experiments with free-form mixes that unravel like symphonies. His Select set is a high-energy mixture of early EBM, acid house, IDM and hardcore, featuring Tarab influences, African polyrhythms, and deep club cuts, intermingled with tunes by the likes of Trinity Magas and Assassins of Youth.

This week on Select, we have a special set from Egyptian-Bosnian vinyl maven Taty, whose distinct crate-digging approach and hypnotic sets cemented him in Berlin’s underground electronic dance scene. Taty turned up with a vinyl-only set of deep and ambient techno, featuring textured obscure sound, echo-laden hypnotic beats watered down by reverb effects, and atmospheric soundscapes. Recorded on his home setup using technics turntables and an Xone 42 mixer, the set evokes a certain vibe of trance that’s certainly meditative.

In Select 303, we have Cairo-based selector and producer P.O.V with a futuristic bass-heavy electro set, exploring the interplay between sound, space and time with a fresh approach to music synthesis. The set opens with an ethereal drone noise that seems to drift aimlessly through space, which then dissolves into pulse-pounding bass-driven beats with subtle frequency modulations and granular textures, embodying the chaos and order of the universe. The set features bumping tunes by a slew of international producers the likes of Deemphasis, Koova, Logitech and more.

This week on Select, we have France-based Moroccan DJ, producer and Radio Flouka resident Leïla Koumiya with a stormy left-field bass set, mixing syncopated Amazigh rhythms and elements of dnb with chopped rap samples from the likes of Julmud and Caïn و Muchi. Koumiya has cemented herself in the regional underground scene with her hybrid and versatile sets, exploring the nuances of her North African roots through a poetic blend of traditional sounds, polyrhythms, rap influences and percussive bass music.

This week’s Select comes courtesy of Omar Taa’i, aka Taai, a Cairo-based music producer behind Abyusif and Marwan Pablo’s collaborative track ‘SMACK THAT’. His prolific discography features tracks with regional hip-hop artists the likes of R3, Alvin, BEGAD, and Xander Ghost. For our Select 301, Taai cooked us a mix of hard-hitting trap beats and instrumental tracks, featuring some of his favourite Egyptian hip-hop tunes.

This week on Select, we have a special set from Dublin-based Saudi-born maestro Moving Still marking THREE HUNDRED episodes of our exclusive mix series

Joining us this week on Select is UAE-based Lebanese-born selector and producer Tarek B with a dynamic house set, mixing micro and minimal elements with relentless groovy basslines and the occasional electro break. The set features a slew of eclectic tunes by global producers and artists such as tINI’s ‘So High’, Last Pines’ ‘Go Ahead’ and DJ Gear Hoover’s ‘Studio Gear’. Having been manning decks since 2017, Tarek’s sets have traversed dancefloors at some of the region’s top clubs and festivals, from Dubai and Beirut to Istanbul, Amman, Riyadh and more, spinning at the likes of B018, Snoopy Beats and Boogie Box. He’s also played Boiler Room Abu Dhabi and Ibiza’s Blue Marlin club.

This week on Select, we have a special set from Ramy Tsuruta, a Japanese-Lebanese selector, producer, and founder of party collective and record label deependofthepool. Raised experimenting with the analog machines of his father, Tsuruta established a dynamic and unpredictable style, influenced by the sound of cities like Beirut, Budapest, Tokyo and Berlin. His select set starts off with a toned-down house beat shimmering amidst atmospheric sounds that feel quite earthly and meditative. It then smoothly transitions into a wholly unique mix of analog sounds, encompassing 80s/90s electro, techno, house and new beat.

This week on Select we have S!Na, a NYC-based German-born Syrian/Sudanese selector with a weighty drum-heavy bass dub mix, inspired by the spirit of the New York underground scene. Rooted in a deep meditative groove, the set explores the different ranges of bass, featuring hypnotic rhythms and a dub edit of Anunaku & DJ Plead’s ‘Clap Clap’, as a personal nod to her Syrian roots.

In this episode of Select, we have Amman-based Palestinian DJ, producer and rapper Shalaby with a special rave-coded mix of UK bass, techno and grime. The set features hard-hitting rhythms, complex drum patterns, fresh sharp transitions and a fine selection of hip-hop tracks from his favourite producers and rappers in the MENA region, the likes of Shabash, DJ Gawad and Ziad Zaza.

For our 295th Select , we have a special showcase set from Cairo Jazz Club 610’s Disco-Tech, a party series dedicated to revitalizing the intersection between tech-house and disco. Skillfully curated and mixed by Disco-Tech’s budding residents Moenes (who’s also the series’ co-founder), Jess, Mazen A, and Muze, the set will take you on a groovy glide with razor-sharp transitions, packed with heavy, funky beats and the warm soulfulness of 90s disco tunes, akin to the uplifting vibes of Disco-Tech parties.

This week’s Select comes courtesy of Cairo-based artist Hashem. As one of the few rock selectors in the underground scene, Hashem has carved a niche for himself with his dynamic sets, merging various sounds from rock and disco to synths and electro. When he is not behind the decks, Hashem is a singer-songwriter recognised for his smooth alternative synth-pop releases like ‘Other Clone’, ‘Kolena Benmel Fe Youm’ and ‘Bases, Mesh Shayel’. His Select set showcases a fresh, intriguing style that’s distinctly his own, meshing threads of different genres into one cohesive sonic spectrum that’s intense, powerful and thoroughly enjoyable. The set is a mixture of bass, left-field sounds and electro, featuring 80s sonic aesthetics combined with fast-paced beats, prominent bass drums, and heavy basslines along with a few trap samples. An infectious growling bass emerges in the first quarter of the set, followed by a selection of eclectic tunes like Julmud’s ‘Kalma’’, ‘Zein’ by Hassan Abou Allam, and 200 Shams’ ‘Atmana A

On this week’s Select, we have Saudi selector Haffs, one of the most promising talents who has been dominating the Kingdom’s dance music scene over the past few years. She has played at major festivals and venues in Saudi the likes of SoundStorm, XP Music Futures and Beast House. Inspired by the unsullied human-earth connection and the serene tranquillity found in the historical oasis of AlUla, Haffs’ select set is a harmonious synergy of deep, melodic house and organic oriental rhythms. The set features a melodic intro of dreamy piano notes, transitioning into atmospheric and tribal sounds interspersed with soft vocals of that ebb and flow, resembling the natural reverb of the desert’s mountains. The set features tunes by a slew of international producers such as Storm, Heart Pieces, Qallin and Dreamland.