It took more than only some time and the ability of imagination to believe that Carte Blanche, this piece of extremely exciting and astonishing contemporary music, played by some of the most talented and able musicians of the international avant-circuit, could be realized. Karkhana, a highly explosive mostly Middle Eastern/Mediterranean ensemble comprised of Sam Shalabi (Land Of Kush, Shalabi Effect, Dwarfs Of East Agouza), Sharif Sehnaoui ("A"Trio), Michael Zerang (Peter Brötzmann, Hamid Drake, Jaap Blonk, Ken Vandermark), Mazen Kerbaj ("A"Trio), Maurice Louca (Dwarfs Of East Agouza), Tony Elieh, and Umut Caglar (Konstrukt) is rolling out a carpet of sound for Egyptian songstress Nadah El Shazly's voice to dip deep into it. On the other side, two grand seigneurs of the underground, ex-Sun City Girls and Rangda guitar wizard Sir Richard Bishop and David Oliphant play it loud. Drone-ish in a way, but very heavy, sharp and crystal clear. Ripe. Carte Blanche will be released as a one-time pressing. Vinyl cut by Peter Koerfer at Ivory Tower. Extra-heavy deluxe cover, printed cardboard insert.