Ashraf Sharif Khan and Viktor Marek released their debut SUFI DUB BROTHERS (2020) under their real names. Meanwhile, their approach of amalgamating sitar sounds (Khan) and elastic beats (Marek) has created enough identity to call the entire project that. Their polyrhythmic tracks not only move your legs, but also tickle your cerebral synapses due to their complexity – sometimes this sound almost makes you dizzy.
There are always new, surprising details and changes in rhythm to discover. The sitar is both a percussion and a melodic instrument. The dream team met 15 years ago through a theater project. Khan comes from a family of sitar virtuosos; in his native Pakistan the instrument is part of classical music; Since the late 1990s he has lived between Oslo and Hamburg (where he also teaches at the music school). Marek honed his skills in Hamburg’s electronic subculture, including collaborations with Jacques Palminger and Knarf Rellöm.
He has now largely said goodbye to the Hanseatic city; he only has a studio and an arbor. As an impresario of transcontinental sounds, he now commutes between Sicily and Burkina Faso. Patrick Kabré also comes from the West African country, lending his throaty, powerful vocals to the frenetic track “Doumba”. Since the first album, Khan and Marek’s Outernational sound has taken a big leap towards organic fusion.
This review appears in Musikexpress 1/2026.