dZihan & Kamien - Freaks & Icons

Dzihan & Kamien’s debut album, Freaks and Icons, gets off to a funky start with “After,” only to slow things down with the “Dabudei.” They draw on a definite Middle Eastern influence: it crops up often, from the strings on “Streets of Istanbul” and “I Guess She…” to the percussion of “Just You & I.” But they are equally adept at making beautiful downtempo, like the sinewy “Before,” the slinky “Slowhand Hussein,” or the whispery “Colores.” Some of the tracks are rough around the edges, but their quality shines through nonetheless. The dreamy and sweet “Smile” cements the fact that they know what they’re doing. A great debut from a very talented duo.

Stunning album by the two austrians, Freaks and Icons is definately worth the money you'l spend on it. The sounds are mature and well blended with turkish and even greek style instruments. All this with the brilliant electronic sounds really brings out a stunning feel. "Homebase" and "Smile" are highlights to myself and most of my friends.

Brilliant album. Alternates between funky house and surreal ambient moods (sometimes within the same song). Definately reccomended :D

One can certainly tell these guys have some turkish influences. Apart from the extremely relaxing tracks like 'Homebase' and 'Slowband Hussein' there are some more uptempo funky songs, most of them flavoured with these mysterious oriental samples.
The album is very well produced, and all songs are very well crafted. I was surprised hearing an actually rather poppy song (Smile) with a female singer and a verry pretty melody.
This album is not 'yer average lounge' but has enough to offer to be well worth a listen.