Ekbar by Raf Reza

The first album proper from Bangladeshi-Canadian producer Raf Reza explores his obsession with all things dubwise, heavily referencing his UK connections via soundsystem culture bleep nostalgia whilst simultaneously serving as a research outlet for his fascination with late-era internet arrival in the Bangladeshi cultural landscape. Growing up in Tokyo with a musical education in Toronto via lockdown escapades in Glasgow, Raf’s sound has progressed over the years from low slung boogie and house experiments to a more centred, identity-informed path which has culminated in this album for Telephone Explosion.

Massively attuned to the Baul devotional music of Bangladesh, Reza carefully picks samples from film soundtracks and folk music which combine with his studious approach to Jamaican dub foundations. Conceptually, Reza is concerned with exploring the potential of sonic futurism via mining and combining Bangladeshi sounds of the past. With a rise in DJ culture and soundsystems across the capital of Dhaka and an interest in electronic dance music amongst the diaspora, as evidenced from the nascent Bengali rave crew in his home of Toronto, a question Ekbar (One Time) poses is how might these cultures interact through contemporary music production methods. Whilst his most recent release 'Dubfoot' on 12th Isle's various artists compilation Orsova channels the same bleep + dub hybrid, the Bengali cultural references are unique to this body of work. The album moves across tempos from the classy opening of 100bpm cut 'Taal Riddim' through to 160 jungle via dubstep and breaks, semi-obscured monologues buried in the mix and other times brought up the front of the stereo field. On the closing track 'Man As Bird', he enlists the help of close friend Joba Poetry for a Bengali take on dub poet forefathers such as Linton Kwesi Johnson. Similarly inspired by trips to London record shops as much as digging for rare 80s and 90s Bengali cassettes (presented as a mix for Seance Centre's NTS show last year), the hybrid sound of Ekbar (One Time) stands as a particularly fresh addition to the global influence of the UK hardcore continuum.

Words by Fergus Clark 2025

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