Sikka Score Vol 1 CD Launch at DUCTAC

Last Monday saw the launch of a compilation album of select works by the musical features of Sikka 2013. Since it was titled "Sikka Score Vol. 1", I'm guessing this is something that will happen again. I was hoping for something like this to eventually make it to production, as this year's Sikka featured a diverse selection of good local musicians. And it was really nice of many of the artists on the CD to come in and set up at the launch - held in a flattened Kilachand Theatre at DUCTAC - to perform for just a few minutes. It was a great evening, and an excellent showcase of some of the best Dubai (and Sharjah) has to offer in locally-made music, from classic guitar (Track 1, Valentin Spasov) to acoustic rock (Track 5, Harrison Rice) to beat-boxing (Track 8, Ray).

Track 9: Noush like Sploosh performed the moody "Lonely at Night", the music/art video of which was featured at Sikka in the video gallery.

Track 10: Sach Holden, supported here by Jeremiah and the Lucky Strikes, doing his folk rock piece. Ordinarily a solo artist with an acoustic leaning, his Sikka contribution was backed by an uncharacteristically large complement of collaborators from different genres.

Track 12: One of my new favorite local bands, Fables of Cantt, with their catchy synth rock sound.

Track 11: I'm always good for jazz, and Them had it going on. That's not bad grammar, by the way - the band is actually called "Them".

Track 13: One of the best (and most surprising) acts was Nada Dada's rendition of an original song about Sharjah in the style of a mid-20th jazz siren, here supported by Sikka music organizer Kamal Musallam. And it was not just the content; it was actually sung quite well, and in a very unique and pleasant genre of music. For someone who I thought was a visual/performance artist, she sure can hold a note.