Much respect to Nawa Recordings, one of the only labels in the Arab world promoting radical new music. Bandcamp writes on the label here.
Arab Music
[Music] Byzantine Time Machine – Adventure In Istanbul
Byzantine Time Machine are a new discovery, thanks to a darling friend in Italy who hipped me to their mix of ethno-dub music a few months ago.
[Music] Abdou El Omari – Nuits de Printemps
I’m not a fan at all of when labels throw mere snippets of an album simply to force you to buy vinyl (which is reasonably priced, but shipping is more than the disc itself, make it a horribly overpriced artifact).
Still, I’m a fan of pretty much everything Habibi Funk has released. I’m sure this gem by Moroccan musician Abdou El Omari will be no exception, judging by the wee snippet.
[Music] Omar Metioui & Mohamed Mehdi Temsamani – Ritual Sufi-Andalusi: Al-Shustari (1212-1269)
Omar Metioui is a Moroccan classical musician who was born in 1962. In this album, Metioui collaborates with Mohamed Mehdi Temsamani in their interpretation influenced by the Andalusian poet Al-Shustari.
[Music] Mehmet Polat Trio – Everything Is In You!
Turkish oudist Mehmet Polat, a familiar name to this blog, has new music available!
[Music] Achref Chargui Trio – Tajaliyat
Afoforo Music Club is a label out of Tunis, Tunisia, specializing in a fusion of oud music, indie rock and an odd jazz hybrid. The Achref Chargui Trio boast members from Tunisia, France and Italy, and they gel together quite nicely.
[Music] Joseph Tawadros – The Hour of Separation (2010)
Joseph Tawadros is an Australian oud virtuoso of Coptic heritage. This album comes from 2010, and is an instrumental masterpiece.
[Music] Fairuz – Christmas Songs From Syria فيروز أغاني الميلاد
An early Christmas present for my friends on the Gregorian calendar, courtesy of Fairuz.
[Music] Assa’d Khoury – Al Ghaba (1978)
All credit goes to my friend Thomas for hipping me to Assa’d Khoury, the king of Syrian electronic belly dance groove music.
[Music] Ghoula – Hlib el Ghoula
Ghoula is an arist from Tunisia who makes an aural salad out of Hip-Hop, electronic music, North African ethnic instrumentation and whatever else he can throw in. It’s nice to hear real fusion still being made.
