No.14 Leila Arab

The following text is from Wikipedia. Info on Leila is sparse. Her music is rich, complex and fabulous.

Leila (born Leila Arab Persian: لیلا عرب‎‎) is an Iranian-born recording artist, producer and DJ based in London, England.

She has worked with prominent European musicians including Björk, and has released music on Rephlex Records, XL Recordings and Warp Records.

She has also recorded experimental and rare music under the alias Grammatix (credited as Aliel Bara) and Little Miss Specta. Most recently, Leila released the album U&I for Warp Records featuring Mt.Sims in January 2012, her latest since 2008’s Blood, Looms & Blooms.

Recording History

In 1993, she began working with Björk for the ‘Debut’ and ‘Post’ tours. In 1998, she released her debut album ‘Like Weather’ on Rephlex Records which included the single Don’t Fall Asleep. The album features vocal contributions from Donna Paul, Luca Santucci and Leila’s sister, Roya Arab. In 2000, she released Courtesy of Choice on XL Recordings, with vocal contributions from the same singers. In 2003, she rejoined Björk for her 2003 greatest hits tour. In 2005, a collaboration between Leila and Björk from the greatest hits tour called ‘Nameless’ (subsequently titled “Storm”) appeared on the Matthew Barney film and soundtrack of Drawing Restraint 9. In 2008, she released her album Blood, Looms and Blooms on Warp Records. On this album, Leila worked with Terry Hall and Martina Topley-Bird in addition to her long term collaborators Luca Santucci and Roya Arab. In 2009, she contributed a cover of an Aphex Twin song to the Warp20 (Recreated) compilation. Her song ‘Underwaters’ is the track on the 2011 Avios advert with the flying electrical equipment.

Selected discography

• Like Weather (Rephlex Records, 1998)
  (EPs/Singles:) ‘Don’t Fall Asleep’, ‘Space Love’.
• Courtesy of Choice (XL Recordings, 2000)
  (EP/Single) ‘Sodastream’
• Blood, Looms, and Blooms (Warp Records, 2008)
  (EP/Singles) ‘Mettle’, ‘Deflect’.
• U&I (Warp Records, 2012)
  (EP/Singles) ‘(disappointed cloud) anyway’, ‘welcome to your life’

One of my favourite Leila tracks – ‘Feeling’: