Rare Elements: Omar Faruk Tekbilek is the second installment of 5 Points
Records’ highly acclaimed Rare Elements series, which pairs master musicians
with the world’s hottest remixers.

The album features an array of top remixers interpreting ten new tracks
recorded expressly for this purpose by world-renowned Turkish
multi-instrumentalist virtuoso Omar Faruk Tekbilek. The remixers include:
Amon Tobin; Flosstradamus; Tommie Sunshine; Junior Sanchez; Nickodemus; Joe
Claussell; Cheb I Sabbah; Albert Castillo and Kodomo. These all-stars took
the traditional Turkish instruments and melodies Omar Faruk recorded for this
album and transformed them using sensibilities grounded in electronic and
dance music. Omar Faruk has a long-standing interest in meshing musical cultures,
and he took pains to preserve the musical integrity of the original tracks
while still leaving the remixers free to creatively reinterpret and reshape
them into new, high-energy forms.

On this album, Omar Faruk plays twelve traditional Turkish instruments: ney,
kaval, kavala, zurna, oud, baglama, jura, darbuke, def, bendir, davul and
finger cymbals. He modestly only considers himself a virtuoso on the ney,
(bamboo flute), the zurna (double-reed oboe-like instrument), the baglama
(long-necked lute) and percussion, but the tracks speak for themselves. He
is a masterful performer whose first-rate musicianship provides a cohesive
thread throughout the album, while the remixers’ individual perspectives
lend a variety that makes the album an exhilarating and exotic adventure.