THE SPY FROM CAIRO mostly known as ZEB (and the PLEB ) has been a producer and a musician for well over two decades.
He plays the guitar (electric and Flamenco)the bass, the arabic Oud, The Turkish Saz, the
Albanian Cifteli, the Sitar and programs and produces all his music.
He has definitely helped shaping the New York underground dance scene for many years...
His ethnic dubby music style has become very familiar to many people around the globe and his love for the "eclectic" has pushed him to work on many different music projects,
alone and with many other musicians and DJs.
He was a co-founder with partner Sasha Crnobrnja ( now IN FLAGRANTI ) of the famous
( and now defunkt ) ORGANIC GROOVES, a regular NY party where musicians and DJ would
blend into one "cosmic experience".
He co-produced 5 albums with ORGANIC GROOVES.
As Zeb he also released 3 albums with Italian Label Irma records the last of which was produced with DJ SABO ( Global Warmbeats ).
He has been known for his involvement with TURNTABLES ON THE HOUDSON.
Another very popular NY party with live musicians and DJs which later became also a record label along with sub label WonderWheel Records, run by DJ NICKODEMUS.
He released many tracks both on Wonderwheel Records as well as Turntables on the Houdson and worked on many remixes with DJ NICKODEMUS.
His own remixes include : Billy Holiday, Astor Piazzolla, Baba Maal, Omar Faruk, Richard
Dorfmeister, Farid Al Atrache, Novalima and Nickodemus.
He released in 2009 the album ZEBSTEP for the Japanese label Rudiments Records.
His tunes can be found on hundreds of compilations , ranging from Reggae/Dub to Asian Lounge and downtempo trippy jazz .....
HIS DISCOGRAPHY IS ALMOST ENDLESS SO:
CHECK IT OUT by clicking on the BAND WEBSITE LINK on the left.
His latest project as "The Spy from cairo" is called "SECRETLY FAMOUS" and will be released on WonderWheel Records ( via ESL ) around the end of November .
On the player above, you can listen to a taste of the new album "secretly famous"....
AND ALSO check out the project OBLIO with partner Sasha Crnobrnja (pka IN FLAGRANTI)
very different from the SFC style....a trip into late 70s and early 80s electronica.
the OBLIO album should be released soon on CODEK records!
A LITTLE LIFE BIOGRAPHY:
Real Name Moreno Visini was born in Italy on june 21st in 1969 from non married parents.
His mum roots could be traced in Eastern European/kurdish Gypsies ( not sure about the father..).
Started to play his fathers guitar when he was 8 years old and immediately loved music ( he learned then, that "MUSIC IS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE MAGIC REALLY HAPPENS").At 15 he left his family to fulfill his dream of musician and run away to London
England where he struggled with horrible jobs and language barriers for a year untill he was eventually eccepted in the Arabic/Indian and West Indian community of Ladbroke
Grove ( west London ). In the mid 80's he played with a few different bands ranging styles
from funk to reggae and world music and then fell in love with electronic music ( the "SAMPLER" was another "magic making instrument" to him! ).
In 1986 his father passed away and Zeb returned to Italy to spend some time with his mother, he then went to Spain where he absolutely fell in love with Gypsy flamenco and started to play the classical guitar ( flamenco style ).
Back in Britain a year later, he started to create his own style of music, mixing the sounds of the peoples who had been closer to him such as Arabs and West Indians.
He was then hired by the band "The Indians" based in the US to record "Indianism" (the band first album ).
Moved to Los Angeles for a few months to play guitar with the Indians and make the record
then moved to New York ( where he stilll lives almost 20 years later... ).
The band The Indians fell apart only 2 years after the release of their first album on Polygram US so Zeb decided to focus on using samplers and keyboards to make his own music trying to learn as many instruments as possible to avoid being depending on "other musicians".....The rest of the story starts above....
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The Secret Archives of the Vatican Podcast....transglobal breakbeat dub science...dubstep, hiphop, drum'n'bass, dub, electronica, global beats, Moroccan, Indian, Arabian, downtempo, ambient, globetronica.....click on the picture or find us on iTunes
Salim habibi! First off, I freakin' love your Punjabi Doll Rock! I was giggling and bouncing around during the entire video :) Second, I miss you and want to hear music and stories about your trip! Let me know when you're not too busy soaking in the Turkish baths and we'll get caught up.
Ranger Rick on KZSUThanks for the add. Are you psyched about your SF show? Congrats on just getting airplay just now. I promoted your concert with Nickodemus, and I'm on live now.. kzsulive.stanford.edu or on the college radio link at iTunes. You two look like you're going to have a positive vibe at your show. I'm looking forward to being there.
Online!
