This is going to be a real treat. Verboten has become a major institution in NYC, one I spend entirely too much time at. They’ve brought in Damian Lazarus before, but this time, we’ll be witness to one of the first offerings of something new. Lazarus is bringing his live collaborative artist project “The Ancient Moons” to Brooklyn. There’s a live element to playing outside in the wilderness, the desert or at sunrise that is very intangible. Any veteran of Burning Man, Space Miami at Sunrise or a forest rave can tell you that, but it’s hard to describe and even more difficult to translate. It’s easy to imitate, but it rarely comes off as anything but lame & vaguely disrespectful. To that end, I quote the man himself:
“There is nothing that compares to DJing under the stars in the night air or being responsible for soundtracking the rising of the sun in the morning and I wanted to create an album that reflects these beautiful moments.”
That’s an incredibly difficult task, but they’re going to try.
Damian Lazarus pulled in 3 of Pakistan’s leading Qawwali singers. Because you had ever encountered that word before reading it here? It’s a rhyming style dating back to the 13th century still performed to this day. This is the exact opposite of wearing a headdress at Coachella. True respect, reverence, and Damian Lazarus dropped that into some dope house. That and the instrumental is linked below, but I’m just getting started talking about how crucial this party on May 1st is. He’s not just making it respectful himself, he’s got help.