Kareem Samara
Oud improviser with loops, samplers, and field recordings
Based in London, United Kingdom
Oud-led pieces with percussion, looping, and electronic layering. The records lean toward spacious, detailed playing rather than club pressure, with archival voices and field recordings folded into long-form improvisation.
More about Kareem Samara
Kareem Samara is a London-based improviser and composer working at the edge of oud performance, electro-acoustic composition, and political memory. His Bandcamp pages frame him through decolonial ritual, Arab futurism, and the tension between tradition and technology, and his collaborations place him in live experimental, indie, and left-field pop circles.
A story
He made A Ceremony as a first attempt to put Arab Futurism into practice inside the frame of an Egyptian Islamic festival/performance.
Playing
- 2026-11-06 2026-11-06T17:45:00 · Kareem Samara · TivoliVredenburg
Start here
- Astoria (2026)
Clean, stripped-down oud recording. - Prayer For Rain (2020)
Connects ritual form with his political framing. - A Ceremony (2020)
Early statement of his Arab futurist approach.
Worked with
- Nadah El Shazly collaborated with
- Goat Girl collaborated with
For fans of
Anouar Brahem, Amirtha Kidambi, Soweto KinchOfficial links
Plan Le Guess Who? 2026 with Songpot · Ask about Kareem Samara in ChatGPT or Claude