This specially-priced Lion Productions LP edition contains all known grooving and infectious Middle Eastern inflected rock/beat tracks from the Sea-ders (or Cedars, depending on which 45 label you look at), Lebanon's top musical export to the world. Eight dynamic tracks, with driving rhythms, blazing electric bouzouki (or oud?), recorded between 1966-1968. Fantastic! Many groups have used elements of Eastern music to add mystery and exotica to their sound; the Sea-ders didn't flirt with foreign culture-they tapped right into the source. Decca Records contacted the group and offered them a record deal in the UK. Well, that didn't pan out, making the band's EP a very rare item indeed, despite being one of the most exciting releases of the era. Faced with studio bills from Decca, they sold their instruments and equipment and moved back to Beirut, leaving this perfect microcosm of exotic '60s pop in their wake. Liner notes by Mike Stax (Ugly Things Magazine). Limited pressing of only 500 copies. This time around, vinyl is mastered at 45 RPM for maximum fidelity. The Sea-ders would only record eight tracks, but what amazing tracks they are!
"As Record Collector magazine once noted, the Sea-Ders took a decidedly different tack when approaching this thing that is rock & roll. Instead of spiraling into over the top eastern-flavored otherness (like so many of their peers at the time) the Sea-Ders, having landed in London and signed to Decca in 1967, embraced a more primal, early Kinks-esque, approach to their songwriting. Coming from Beirut their take on the genre was already unique with succinct flourishes of psych and freakbeat coupled with their inherent cultural influences. Like so many non-western takes on the genre, the end result is a curious and unexpected gem." -Aquarium Drinkard
"They effortlessly combine hookah-smoked Middle-Eastern guitar lines & hand drum beats with flawless London pop-psych production, and the effect is decidedly heady." -Weirdo Records
