Hurqalya

[NEAR EAST PSYCH-ROCK] Hurqalya is a band with no real website and no recorded music, save two short cell-phone videos posted by fans on YouTube. But listen up, you aspiring psych-rockers: Hurqalya has found something that works, even if you can’t find the band. This year, Hurqalya performed a dozen-plus shows at venues like Lan Su Chinese Garden and MidEast Cafe. The band apparently tapped into the belly-dancing circuit, which means it’s begun incorporating esoteric instruments like the cumbus and davit, backed by gypsy women writhing in low-lit, red, plush rooms. Hot! Playing “Pan-Mediterranean World Beatnik,” band leader Doug Shafer oversees a rotating cast of members, some of whom formerly joined Shafer in Negara, a slightly more melodic project. These are the Sufi mystics of the Portland music scene: transient, hermetic, wise and fairly talented. Hurqalya’s sound is somewhat like Sir Richard Bishop with a motley troupe of hand drummers. If you’re expecting that ex-Sun City Girl’s virtuosic vamping, you might be a little disappointed, but you’ll still be able to get your Near East freak on. 

Where: Camellia Lounge
Phone: 221-2130
Address: 510 NW 11th Ave.