Kaisfatdad’s posting about Rachid Taha prompts me to get on with my promise in the February Blogger Takeover thread to write something about Arabic music.
So why Arabic music? Not for the lyrics, that’s for sure, which could be problematic in unwittingly choosing songs with dodgy lyrics.
Curiosity, really. I was at a conference in Egypt last year. I will be at another in UAE this year. Reason enough to connect to Arabic culture, and music seemed like a fairly accessible way in. I was dancing to Mahraganat with local staff in December – who knows how I can use the musical knowledge to connect with people a year from then?
Also, I like my share of North African music – mainly Malian desert blues and the albums Justin Adams made. I have a few Natacha Atlas albums. I thought I knew what I might be letting myself in for. I’ve started posts on Colombian, Brazilian and Ukrainian music. What can be so hard?
And here comes to the reason why it took me so long to get to this – it’s so daunting. The previous posts referred to were charted territories – there were a lot of online guides to help me into the music. Arabic music – that from the 22 countries where Arabic is the main language, and their varied diasporas – is as vast as the territories, as rich and as varied. Quite probably many of you know more about Arabic music than I will ever do (in which case, please post below!) – it feels very skindeep at the moment and there isn’t an idiot’s guide that I could find. Apart from one helpful blog (Arab Tunes), which offers 46 mixtapes and 460 artists/posts.
460 different artists to listen to… Luckily, I could follow my interests – beautiful voices and interesting instrumentation, leading me from 460 to about 60 musicians/singers/groups I liked and a select few whose songs I really liked.
What follows are a selection of 10 songs from the several hundred I have listened to over the last month. They are largely songs with female singers, because they sound awesome. I hope you find something to like.
Alexandra-based duo Aqsa Alwasat (Singer-songwriter Tuqa McAwi and multi-instrumentalist Amr Ezz) started in 2013.
Malo Akher
An extraordinarily piercing voice, which soars over gentle strings and piano
Yasmine Hamdan, from Lebanon, became known with Soapkills, the duo founded with Zeid Hamdan, one of the first independent electronic bands in the Middle East. She teamed up with Mirwais (produced/co-wrote some of Madonna’s albums) to record the Arabology album under the Y.A.S. moniker.
Hal
This is from her solo career –indie rock, Arabic-style
Terez Yazan and Friends was formed in 2014 by Terez Sliman, a Palestinian singer songwriter with guitarist Yazan Ibrahim.
Will you come dream?
The contrast between her intimate vocals caressing the eardrum and the plucking of the guitar strings is delightful.
Syrian-American singer Gaida mixes traditional Arabic sounds with American jazz and folk music. She works as a singer and as a speech and language pathologist.
Indulgence
This song is almost what I think of as typecast Arabic – the oud, the qanun, the violin, the soaring and swooping vocals. It’s almost a cliché, but it’s so beautifully done, a justifiable indulgence, particularly when it breaks free around the 3:30 mark.
Ghalia Benali, a Tunisian singer, songwriter, writer, and graphic designer. Her voice has been dubbed as multicultural and polymorphic.
Awaddu
This is from the Wild Harissa album, which is such a wonder of different styles from classical, through flamenco, folk that each new song is a wonder springing from the last and is a reminder that so much of western music originated from the Arabic world. This one is so special because the move from guitar and violin duetting into the whole band at play feels like a whole musical history in 4 ½ minutes.
Mashrou’ Leila (Leila’s Project) was a Lebanese four-member indie rock band, formed in Beirut in 2008, causing many controversies due to their satirical lyrics and themes – unabashed and critical lyrics on Lebanese society, failed love, sexuality and politics. In September 2022, the band disbanded, citing harassment and hate campaigns as a reason for the band breaking up.
Imm El Jacket
I love the lush violin-led interplay between the instruments and the voice, passionate and warm.
Oum El Ghaït Benessahraoui, better known as Oum is a Moroccan singer-songwriter who mixes hassani, jazz, gospel, soul, afrobeat and Sufi music influences in her songs.
Whowa
She has such a powerful, expressive, clear and joyful voice. Moroccan music hasn’t been my favourite in my explorations, but Oum is remarkable, and she does the ululations very well.
Hawa Dafi is a Syrian band based in Majdal Shams, Occupied Golan Heights.
Shebak Zgher
This is deliciously tight playing
Zeid Hamdan and Maryam Saleh. Zeid is a seemingly ever-present figure in the contemporary alternative Lebanon music scene, collaborating with so many, he would need a Pete Frame double spread. Maryam is an Egyptian singer songwriter.
Eslahat
This song would be a good one to end this post, as it features distinctive vocals similar to the previous songs, but also has a modern electronic sheen to the music, that I would like to focus on in a follow-up post. There is a lot of exciting experimentation in modern Arabic music.
However I end it with Khebez Dawle, a band originally from Syria, they made their way as refugees to Europe and now live and work in Berlin. Their Wikipedia page gives some sense of their remarkable and severely daunting origin and journey.
Beta’ammer
Starting off reminiscent of U2, this quickly becomes a reminder to me that Arabic music comes from an area of the world undergoing enormous hardship and conflicts. There was deep joy but also deep pain, sorrow and anger in a lot of the music I listened to.
Arabic music – it’s like opening a door from a very familiar world to a whole new landscape. There are echoes and some familiarities, but there’s a lot that is complexly new, and I’m enjoying getting to know it. I think those of you who haven’t yet, might also.
oud, ney, qanun, violin, and a percussion instrument,(riq, or table or daff)
It seems I cannot post multiple YouTube clips directly in the OP, which is why there are the links instead which take you to the clips instead.
Well I never! There I was this morning, having a light Arabic “snack” by listening to the late great Rachid Taha playing with Eno and Mick Jones, and you come up with this magnificent banquet!!
As you say: where does one start?
The guy who has a flower stall in Kärrtorp Square often plays some gorgeous Arabic music. I’m going to ask him for some names. Actually he also plays a lot of Celine Dion, Phil Collins and Meatloaf.
So we might get Egypt’s answer to Meatloaf! That should be tasty!
Back to 1961 for a concert by Oum Kalsoum, an artist who is to Arabic music what Billie Holiday is to jazz.
More popular now than ever. A household name throughout the Arabic speaking world.
Listen and enjoy!
Thanks, KFD. You have gone straight to the soul of Arabic music, haven’t you?
Oum Kalsoum/Umm Kulthum (transliterations seem to vary) is one of the two giant figures of 20th century Arabic music, the other being Fairuz. Helpfully, they each come from one of the two major countries for producing Arabic music, Egypt and Lebanon. I have found may of my favourites from those two countries, (although there is a sweet spot of Tunisian singers I’m fond of).
Oum Kalsoum, reputedly, would sing one or two songs over a whole concert, extending and extemporizing them like some sort of Grateful Dead jam:
“The duration of Umm Kulthum’s songs in performance was not fixed as upon the audience request for more repetitions, she would repeat the lines requested at length and her performances usually lasted for up to five hours, during which three songs were sung. For example, the available live performances (about 30) of Ya Zalemni, one of her most popular songs, varied in length from 45 to 90 minutes, depending on both her creative mood for improvisations, illustrating the dynamic relationship between the singer and the audience as they fed off each other’s emotional energy. An improvisatory technique, which was typical of old classical Arabic singing… was to repeat a single line or stance over and over, subtly altering the emotive emphasis and intensity and exploring one or various musical modal scales (maqām) each time to bring her audiences into a euphoric and ecstatic state known in Arabic as “tarab” Wiki.
Fairuz, the only one of the two still alive, has produced more than 80 albums. Here she is in concert in her mid 70s
https://youtu.be/S44F01vpr6Y
There does seem to be a touch of Celine Dion about her.
To be honest, I’m edging in slowly to Arabic music, via more modern bands, styles and singers. These two really to be for the cognoscenti.
The Grateful Oum!! I never thought I would see Ms Kalsoum and Jerry Garcia in the same sentence.
But you are right on the money. She was famed for her long, semi-improvised songs that built up to extraordinary climaxes. (I can’t help thinking of Nusrat Ali Khan.)
Excellent article about Oum here:
http://www.arabosounds.com/en/a-tribute-to-oum-kalsoum/
“More than thirty years after the death of Oum Kalsoum, al-Atlal continues to enjoy success among music-lovers of all social backgrounds. The artist knew how to charm everyone, from street sweepers to the president (Nasser was one of her most fervent admirers and often attended the famous concerts on the first Thursday of every month), from destitute peasants to well-to-do civil servants. There were those who wondered about the exceptional effect the Sett, “the Lady”, (or the “Mother of the Arabs” as some publicity material would have it) seemed to have on the masses. She was the subject of spiteful gossip and speculation: how could a relatively plain, uneducated peasant girl have managed to acquire such knowledge and culture in such seemingly unpromising circumstances? And how did she manage to make sacred music sound profane and the profane sacred?”
Here’s Rachid with his tribute to The Lady which includes samples of her singing.
What’s the arabic word for ‘crossroads’?
Great thread, thanks. (And I prefer the links presented like that.) The Beta’ammer video is powerful. I have a few friends who made their way over to Europe (from various African countries, via Libya). I find it weird when talking to them about their journey (“journey” in the literal sense, not the stupid modern usage) as they seem so matter-of-fact about it. One of them, from Burkina Faso, can’t even swim, came across on an overcrowded dinghy (leaving behind his wife and children) yet seems totally unfazed by his experiences.
Terez Yazen and Friends is the track that immediately appealed to me most. Am playing the album on Spotify now. (Wish my ears worked better, but it still sounds lovely.)
Thanks for your thoughts, Gary. I guess where you are in the Italian coast you might feel that Africa/Arabia isn’t so far away. Good that you have made human connections with some of the people who have made the journey over the Med. They must have quite some stories to tell if their experiences.
I wonder if the African/Arab influence is detectable in any of the local/regional music scene(s) where you are?
Love it. Like Chinese circus music, it always delights me.
Do you have any favourites?
I have a little 3CD set called the ‘Beginner’s Guide To Arabia’ on the Nascente label that you can pick up for only a few quid – it’s a really good collection of relatively hard-to-find arabic pop covering North Africa and a swathe of the Middle East. Includes Oum Kalthoum, mentioned above.
Pick up a copy from Discogs here:
https://www.discogs.com/release/1147018-Various-Beginners-Guide-To-Arabia
Seconded, as is Beginner’s Guide to African Funk from the same series.
Thirded – great set.
Something more to look into – thanks, VV!
Bit of Arabic fusion music from Dhafer Youssef.
.
And Azam Ali from Iran via India
Marvellous coordination of different instruments and genres from Dhafer Youssef in that first clip, although I didn’t see much responsiveness from the guitarist or violinist. He’s definitely on my list for more listening after being pointed in his direction in the takeover thread.
I think I would have loved to hear more oud/violin interaction. That’s one of the resonant pleasures of Arabic music – when those two instruments play together, ideally accompanied by the qanun, which is, I think, some kind of hammer dulcimer. Now that is an instrument I have loved since hearing it on Dead Can Dance albums.
And speaking of which, I read in Azam Ali’s Wiki entry, that she learned the santour, an equivalent instrument. Now that, I’d love to hear her playing. Don’t get me wrong, she’s got a beautiful, honeyed voice, but she’s not really Arabic, is she?
No. I did think that when I posted it but decided WTF. As stated she’s Persian from Iran.
Different language, Farsi, different music culture.
I really liked that Ofra Haza album in the 90s
The one called “Yemenite Songs” is amazing. And I also have one on vinyl called “Shaday” on which the track “Im nin’alu” is a complete earworm.
Coldcut agreed.
Eric B wasn’t having any of this foreign muck, but noticeably stopped complaining when it got him a hit.
Im Nin’Alu being in the charts and on TOTP in 1988 at the same time as Dominion, both with ancient Middle Eastern rock/stone edifices in their videos, perhaps it was inevitable that Eldritch and Gaza would collaborate on a version of Temple of Love.
Shw was Israeli from Yemen, I think. Jewish and Arabic musical interweaving probably goes back to at least the Andalusian middle ages in Spain.
There is an excellent album of early Andalusian music by Jordi Savall called Granada, which includes music from Jewish, Muslim and Christian sources.
There’s a lot of Arabic influence in Flamenco of course. But that’s another thread!
Flamenco is really exciting – like a whip cracking. And the more I listen to Arabic music, the more I can hear the parallels and possible connections between the different musical forms. This clip of Tomatito & Sheik Al Tuni showcases some of that (captures a bit of magic), while still showing the differences that mean they are not and cannot be the same.
https://youtu.be/4uapUGquAtc
Flamenco is quite possibly a result of the fact that the majority of Spain, all of Portugal and even a little bit of southern France were at one time the Muslim caliphate of Al-Andalus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalus
Stand by for a Dad Joke:
“I can’t get enough Spanish Flamenco music. I find it very Moorish.”
The late great Sheikha Remitti. I saw this remarkable woman live once,
Rowdy? She made Slipknot sound like Barclay James Bloody Harvest!
You could not stand still in that Mahgreb Moshpit that she created in a meadow in Djurgården.
Fripp and Flea were fans.
Thanks for the thread and the list, which I will work my way through. I love music played on the oud, particularly that on Anouar Brahem’s ECM albums. ‘Barzakh’, his first album, is the favourite, followed by ‘Astrakan Cafe’. Brahem, who comes from Tunisia, occasionally works with western musicians (John Surman and Dave Holland on ‘Thimar’, Jack DeJonette, Django Bates and Holland on ‘Blue Maqams’, and Jan Garabrek on ‘Madar’, for example) but all of his albums are rooted in North African music.
@DuCo01 and I are also big Anouar Brahem fans @Munster and we have seen him live. He did not disappoint.
My favourite album is Le pas du chat noir, probably because it was the first I heard.
It may surprise you to hear that the album cover and the French song titles made me think more of the delights of Paris than the souks of Tunis. Thinking about it, I was very wrong there!
The astounding eyes of Rita is another very fine album.
Anouar is a remarkable musicians who creates a soundscape that is uniquely his own. In the words of Mike Scott: ” I have heard the Big Music.”
I have the 1999 compilation Arabesque, which is a rather nice selection of 1990s Natacha Atlas, Rachid Taha, and the likes of Stereo MC’s.
https://www.discogs.com/release/469657-Various-Arabesque
Bought mainly, at the time, for Stereo MC’s ~ Fever (Steve Hillage Remix) but I think my tastes are broader now.
That’s very tasty. The Stereo MCs – got themselves connected, didn’t they? There’s been quite a few Steve Hillage references going round the blog this week. I remember buying the first System 7 album on the same day as Screamadelica in Southampton Our Price. I didn’t know then, and in some ways I still don’t, which album I enjoy more.
First time I heard the word ‘Habibi’. That’s probably about the only connection with the Arabic theme of this thread.
I have that and a compilation called Camelspotting from about the same time. They got me interested in Rachid Taha and Khaled, both of whom I have been lucky enough to see live and also Amr Diab and various other ‘Cheb’s.
Such compilations are a good way to dip your toes into the water and see what you might like I always think.
Yeah, Camelspotting is another goodie.
The German reissue label Habibi Funk has issued a lot of North African jazz and pop from the 70s and 80s. The link below is a good example.
https://habibifunkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/habibi-funk-009-jazz-jazz-jazz
I remember hearing the Lebanese musician Rabih Abou Khalil on Radio 3 back in the 90s, which led me to buy the album below:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarab
Thank you for the pointers, Hawkfall. The habibi funk label is now on my ‘to explore’ list. The Tarab album, if it is as consistently good as the one taster track I listened to (I liked the title), is also something to dig deeper into
The introduction with the ney (Arabic flute) leads gently into the first tentative notes of the oud, which gets bolder and now free flowing through the piece until it really let’s rip, accompanied all the while by a frenetic, yet gentle flapping if the drumskins, before coming to rest among more of the ney. Very moreish!
If you wanted to put on a festival of the best of Arabic music, you wouldn’t need to leave Paris to create a stellar line-up.
I can’t believe we’ve got this far without mentioning the wonderful Algerian-berber singer-songwriter, Souad Massi. Oodles of charisma and some gorgeous tunes.
Paul Weller would have mentioned her. He plays piano and sings on a track one of her albums.
And while we’re in Paris, let’s visit Barbes and listen to their National Orchestra. They were a cracking live band.
Rachid Taha, Cheikh Rimitti and now Souad Massi, KFD? Are you sponsored by the Algerian Tourist Board? It’s a good job you’re fulfilling your regular mandate of posting the artists I would never post. Not my sort of thing at all, any of them, but it would be a full place if we all liked the same things.
Not sure about l’Orchestre National de Barbes, but they know how to throw a party, that is for sure.
Weird. I can imagine you and I wanting to attend the same festival @Salwarpe. And then almost always seeing different acts!
I’ve seen Rachid, Remitti, Souad and ONB live and I enjoyed all the shows a lot.
But as you say, it’s all to the good. The thread ends up with a broad spectrum.
The latest Arabic combo I’ve seen live was at the Roskide Festival last summer: Araw N Fazaz. They play music that fades in slowly and then builds up to a series of powerful climaxes.
It started French oud player Leo Fabre-Cartier was on a study visit to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and met Younes Baami, who plays the lotar (an instrument I suspect nne of us have ever heard of).
“Baami plays the traditional loutar, an oud-like string instrument that is prominent in the traditional Berber music called amazigh.”
To my joy, I see they have now posted a clip of the concert on Yer Tube.
I was Up the Front there in the Gloria Tent.
Here’s a clip of Younes playing the lotar with singer Titi Zayania
Now another clip of Araw N Fazaz recorded in Geneva. Wonderful musicianship!
Now, unplugged out in the countryside,
A delicious Atlas Mountains breakfast to get your teeth into! Can there be a better start to Monday morning?
Read more here.
https://www.roskilde-festival.dk/en/years/2022/acts/araw-n-fazaz/
Thread of the year so far. Loads to follow up, great videos. More like this please!
one of the albums I listened to a lot at the end of last year was Who Are We? by Al- Qasar. Another Barbes crew, the album features guest appearances by Lee Ranaldo out of Sonic Youth and Jello Biafra. Clearly not a traditional act, but their take on psych rock, fortified with rai and gnawa influences is a fine listen
I will now further irk the purists by mentioning Acid Arab, another French- Algerian crew who mix Arabic sounds with dance music: “Blending Algerian Raï and Gasba, Syrian Dabke, Turkish dance, and floor-shaking Chicago Acid moves, they make music that targets hips with surgical precision. Nothing they do feels appropriated; instead, Acid Arab weave sand-blown Korg synth filigrees in ways that would make Dabke keyboard titan Razen Said proud. On ٣ (Trois), their third album (of course), the pulses quake, inviting us all to the post-pandemic party.”, it says here.
Thanks, KD. Acid Arab are due a place on my next thread – “Arabic music alternatives – beyond the oud”. They are great. Trouble is, there are about 30 other experimentalists on my list and I’m still digesting them…
Al-Qasar are, however, new to me. They sound excellent.
Yes, the Al-Qasar album was in my top albums of last year, and I posted it on the thread before this, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded.
Damn right you will have irked the AW purists, @Kid Dynamite!!
I fear there will a riot in the casbah tonight after your comments! I advise you all to lock up your camels.
Time to get this thread back on the straight and narrow with Karem Mahmoud!!
Possibly I was seen to be posting too many Arabic threads? This one
has now disappeared from the forum pages.
With good reason?
Did you get here via Cypress Hill?
Ahwak
This song has been going round my head all morning – real earworm tendencies.
Born in Kuwait, Hiba Mansouri recorded some songs with Lebanese producer Zeid Hamdan, including this, written by Abdel Halim Hafez and made famous by Fairuz. There weren’t many more, but they are quite pleasant in a gentle trip-hop style
Just want to correct an error I made. The song was written by Zaki Nassif (as per the YouTube title). I think Abdel Halim Hafez might have been one of the first performers of the song.
A thumbs up for Hiba. A very agreeable earworm.
Back to Sheikha Remitti for a moment.
When I saw the title of this song , my hopes soared.
Incroyable! She’s doing a cover version of Alizee!
Sadly the Godmother of Rai does not mention her bathtub or her goldfish.
You rascal, KFD! Reposting a clip in the same thread just to give you the excuse to share yet again Alizee’s whining lyrics and winding body. What a scoundrel!
All I can say is hope you don’t Google Debra Paget Indian Tomb snake dance. Her dance to Misirlou is something to behold.
Misirlou is as deeply rooted in Arabic music as Fairuz and Umm Kulthum – and as Egyptian as the latter if you examine the roots of the word. Dick Dale, himself, comes from Lebanese roots and learned the song from his father playing the oud at home.
Closely associated with belly dancing, of course – another part of Arabic culture, here is a 150 minute mixcloud of 50 different versions of the song.
And here is a history of the song.
Knock yourself out…
An NPR Tiny Desk performance always seems to give an artist a chance to shine. Here’s one from Yasmine Hamdan from your Top 10, Sal.
One interesting thing I’ve discovered about her is that she appears in Jim Jarmusch’s Only lovers left alive.
A charismatic lass!
Yes, she is charismatic and a creative force in Lebanese music. That second clip is exactly the same one as the one I linked to in the OP, but it is nice to see her (and the enthusiastic audience) well-filmed by Jarmusch on the thread.
I’m sorry to keep getting at you, but putting her in the NPR tiny desk environment (as dull, colourless and worthy as the ‘unplugged’ concerts used to be) is like putting her on display in the zoo.
This (from her 2009 album with Mirwais) is much more fun, wouldn’t you agree?
Ooops! Sorry about posting the same song twice but the Jarmusch connection is quite a feather in her cap. There’ s a great mutual admiration.
“I met Jim Jarmusch when I started recording my album ‘Ya Nass.’ He was writing the script for ‘Only Lovers Left Alive.’ Jarmusch was always a great inspiration to me, way before meeting him. Working with him was fantastic.”
This is what he had to say about her in an interview with Le Monde:
« Je l’aime, dit d’elle le cinéaste. Elle a écrit cette chanson pour le film. Cette fille est un cadeau. A nous, et au monde. Je l’ai vue chanter à Marrackech. Exactement comme Adam dans le film, je suis resté scotché. Mais qui est cette minette, elle est juste incroyable ! »
« Elle m’a donné un iPod rempli de ses musique pop arabes préférées. Elle est mon professeur. Elle va m’apprendre. Je veux tout connaître. »
“She is my professor”. High praise indeed!
Here’s the complete interview which is a good read. In French, but with Google Translate and School French you should get the gist of it.
You and I are just going to have to agree to differ about Tiny Desk concerts, Sal. I love them.
I agree that your live clip is far more exciting
I fear you won’t go for this KEXP visit either but I do like their sessions, so I’m posting it anyway. The presenter is a big fan. KEXP and NPR sessions have an enormous international audience, so these must have really helped to increase her popularity.
Not to mention your efforts, Sal. Thanks to this thread, Yasmine is now well and truly on the AW map.
Hi KFD – I feel we are like Statler and Waldorf – grumpy old men in the balcony enjoying complaining as well as the show. I feel Statler as the more disgruntled is my role, whereas you would be the more genial Waldorf.
As I said, having the video embedded in the thread is no bad thing, and thank you for the rather enjoyable mots en Francais que tu as ajoute. Heureusement, je souviens suffit de la langue pour conprendre. Cette fille est vraiment un cadeau. I would love to hear her mixtape… I will look at the article later.
KEXP is very different from the precious semi-acoustic world of Tiny Desks. Some of my favourite discoveries have been through KEXP. The full band experience and the engaging and informed interviewing of Darek Mazzone is almost always a treat. The best of US public service broadcasting.
If I have achieved nothing else with the thread(s), broadening the reach and enjoyment of Yasmine Hamdan will be a prize I am happy to take away.
But let’s not be unambitious. There is so much more out there to discover! There isn’t a really good live concert clip of Rim Banna, the Palestinian singer-songwriter who tragically died in her early 50s, but this gives you an idea of who she was, what she meant and her personality. It’s a great tribute.
The audio clips on YouTube are definitely worth a listen.
That Rim Banna tribute is very moving @Salwarpe. I am glad you put her on the AW map.
I think you have more than a few prizes to take away from this thread!
You are asking more than a few questions that I would like an answer to!
Next question for me is; how and why did Cairo become the centre of the Arabic film and music industry?
Take it easy! There’s no hurry to answer that!
Sal, your comments on Dick Dale’s Misirlou were a real eye-opener. And that site about the history of the song is quite stupendous. Thanks!!
Of course it got me thinkin about other Arabic tunes that have made an impact on Western music.
There must be some other classical, pop and jazz composers who have dabbled, surely?
Natacha Atlas (known perhaps from Transglobal Underground) did a wonderful oriental cover of I put a spell on you.
She sings in several different languages.
Film soundtracks might be an interesting place to look for Arabic music that as reached Western ears.
From the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby movie of the same name: Road to Morocco
And here’s Julie Driscoll with a song from Road to Cairo…..
Admin: That’s enough Roads!!
I love Natasha Atlas, don’t care what language she’s singing in…
The Wikipedia entry on Arabic music is comprehensive and extremely interesting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_music#
It came up with a new name: Moroccan singer, Zohra Al Fassiya.
Some interesting comments in that video about how Jewish and Arabic musicians co-existed and performed happily together.
None more than Orchestra El Gusto, (who I stumbled across yesterday) who have been described as Algeria’s Buena Vista Social Club which consists of both Jewish and Muslim musicians.
Wonderful!
Here’s a complete concert for your listening pleasure.
I posted El Gusto clips on Facebook and one of the Swedish pals replied with this Rachid Taha track.
And then the original version by Dahmane el Harrachi which was a big hit back in the day. Dahmane was a great idol of Rachid Taha’s. I’d never heard of him before today.
Great to have an English translation of the lyrics.
Here he is live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQH_R8M5ny4
Thoroughly splendid!
I confess! I have been posting rather a lot of music from Algeria. All wonderful stuff of course, but now, to balance things out, here is an artist from Lebanon. And not just any old artist but the extraordinary Sister Marie Keyrouz.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXBA3n6NH4E
A sensational singer, but also a very learned scholar: she is rather a remarkable person.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Keyrouz
Don’t think Sound of Music! Don’t think Leaping Nuns of Norwich!
Think Hilliard Ensemble or Stile Antico. Best to just close your eyes and listen.
Believe it or not, back in the day when my finger was on the pulse of the whole Byzantine Chant scene, I saw her live at the Kulturhuset here in Stockholm. Completely sold out and rather wonderful!
It’s too much for me, KFD – 13 videos and over two and a quarter hours of music since this morning. I can’t keep up.
Don’t worry @Salwarpe! There’s no hurry. Take a look and a listen at the weekend. It’s there for you and everyone else to enjoy (or not!) when they have time.
I had a quietish day today so I managed to root around a little extra.
A thread on Arabic music with 54 comments! I take my fez off to you. You’ve inspired a whole gaggle of us to get interested in exploring a very enthralling topic. What a broad-minded, knowledgeable community we are!
Here’s some Egyptian chaabi,
Sheikh Yur Moni Makir!
This morning I stumbled across the Middle Eastern Eye, a website based in London which has some excellent articles (in English and French) about life in the Arabic speaking world.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/music
Here’s an informative article about mahraganat music from Egypt, a subject of which I knew nothing. To quote The Clash: Sharif don’t like it! The Sharif definitely doesn’t like it.
The authorities have banned mahraganat as best they can.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/how-i-learned-accept-my-egyptianess-through-vulgarity-mahraganat
“Locally, mahraganat shattered class barriers. The music has been ubiquitous, blaring from tuk-tuks and luxurious wedding parties alike. Music by Shaker and his cohorts, who never received international attention during their lengthy careers, are nowhere to be heard in public or private venues; the mahraganat, by comparison, is everywhere.
Make no mistake, mahraganat contains its fair share of misogyny (it is no different to hip-hop in that regard), while some of the music can be as derivative and languid as their mainstream counterparts. But these infirmities are by-products of the musicians’ environment – one governed by disorder, apathy towards education, and inherited rotten masculinity.
But even with its questionable themes, there was more authenticity, more truth in mahraganat than anything in the mainstream. The reality of the slums it has conveyed has been forbidden by the government to be shown in any popular art-form, especially in film and TV.
The world of the mahraganat is that of unemployment, unrequited love, financial struggles, abrupt arrests, violence, and, most incensing to the syndicate, drugs and alcohol.
The Egypt it portrays is one closer to the stories of Naguib Mahfouz than anything on film and TV.”
I really like Mahraganat. Blasting out of car speakers as I sat in the front passenger seat of a taxi at midnight going from conference to hotel in Sharm El Sheikh, it was SUCH an auto tuned, beat-driven, raspy-voiced, head rushing adrenaline kick. I’m intending to post some on the alternative Arabic page when I find something suitable.
What a wonderful description of hearing an exciting new genre of music. It made me want to jump on a plane to Egypt and then hail a taxi at midnight.
Would you believe it? There’s a sampler album called Cairo Taxi
A quick practical question @Salwarpe. Is the modern Egyptian taxi driver playing music on Spotify or YouTube? Or some other kind of streaming service? CDs and tapes must be a thing of the past.
With a population of 20 million, Cairo is an enormous market. But how are the artists and record labels making money?
Certainly not from gigs if they play mahraganat! Not in Egypt at least! Other Arabic speaking countries don’t seem to have a problem with them.
I forgot to say, the taxis are not the most modern and unbattered, the windows remain rolled down the whole time, and the attention to road safety and speed restrictions play second and third fiddle to a confidence built on many hours riding the same roads that nothing will interfere with a speedy delivery, be it other taxis, buses or large container lorries backing slowly onto the road…
I think it’s Spotify or some other playlist – when I could tear my eyes off the road, it seemed to be some sort of flat screen that was playing a list of songs.
Yikes @salwarpe! The combination of this rather exciting music played at considerable volume with high speed and a complete disregard for road safety resulted in an extremely intoxicating cocktail. If I ever go to Sharm El Sheikh, I will be checking out the local camel hire office. A great deal more vicious farting but a some what higher life expectancy.
Definitely go for a camel ride, KFD. It was one of the highlights of my trip. I wanted to go out into the Sinai desert to see the stars at night (no light pollution, so should be a good display, I thought). To get to the destination, we had to get a minibus to the edge of the city, then trek by camel for 40 minutes to the Bedouin settlement where we would see the stars and have campfire entertainment.
I was expecting a lot from the stars, but when we finally got there, after a short burst through pitch blackness in a mini caged sand buggy (no windows, no roof), dodging quad bikes and chains of camels coming out of the gloom in front of us, it was a disappointment. The glare of Sharm was close enough to haze the sky, we were instructed to queue up at two telescopes to see Jupiter and Saturn (small images with red dot and rings), and no time to lie on the ground, let eyes acclimatise to the darkness and be wowed by the display of jeweled heavens.
But the camel ride! I was expecting a grumpy, stubborn beast offering a slow uncomfortable, bumpy ride through the dust. Anything but. From the moment of rising up onto 4 legs, it was amazing, Others complained that is wasn’t some sort of Lawrence of Arabia fantasy. But I loved the bare sandstone hills rising around us, the hordes of quad bikes with scarf-clad heads roaring past us, the sight of fires blazing on either side and big diggers excavating pits. It was like being in a Mad Max set. Pretty soon the guide handed me the rope he was pulling my camel with and I was off, the camel striding powerfully along what must have been a well-familiar path, oblivious to the bikers riding a hands breadth away from him, climbing inclines, navigating deep sand. After a while I adjusted my hips to sway in unison with his mighty back legs and it was like we were one, rocking our way across the vista.
I could have stayed on the beast for hours. A wonderful experience.
Wow! You made my evening with your description of that camel ride. I am very envious!
Oddly enough, the street lights came on a few minutes late in Bagarmossen this evening and I was very powerfully reminded of how over-illuminated our hood is. Don’t get me wrong! I understand that effective illumination is a deterrent against crime.
But it can all be a bit much.
Here is a photo of how Bagarmossen looked before the lights came on.
Somehow I can see this thread ending with all the contributors mounting their camels and riding off into the sunset together to the sounds of chaabi and mahraganat from a ghettoblaster.
It suddenly struck me that some of the music we’ve been been listening to is very urban, and some, like this clip, very rural.
My best man and I rode a camel and a horse from Giza to the pyramids. I rode the camel there and it was the most uncomfortable thing I’d ever ridden – bareback, with a spine which seemed to dig into my arse with every step. I was very pleased to ride the horse back to Giza, but still couldn’t walk properly for days.
We took a public bus from the central bus station off Tahir Square to Giza at school run time, so the bus was full of young kids. They’d never seen a Ginger before and all wanted to run their fingers through my hair.
Amazing story @fentonsteve. It reads like page out of the memoirs of a great Victorian explorer. I won’t even ask why you and your best man were visiting the pyramids.
But I will post a track from the album Egyptian Wedding Hits…
BM had spent a 1989 in an Israeli Kibbutz, and a week snorkelling at Sharm.
We went for three weeks backpacking round Egypt in the mid-90s. Trouble was, we’d spend two days of every three with dodgy guts. It isn’t the Tourist Trail, but the random encounters we remember best. We’re still in touch with the Dutch (her) / Moroccan (him) married couple we met on the overnight train from Cairo to Aswan. Or ‘Jimi Hendrix’ the hotelier in Aswan, or the white robe seller in Luxor (a long story for another day), or the Cairo taxi driver who crashed his cab on our early-morning trip to the airport.
Sadly, we had to cut our visit short after two weeks, as I got too ill by the time we got across the desert to Hurghada, and we had a long and uncomfortable bus ride back to Cairo with enough Immodium to stun a camel. I wasn’t diagnosed with Crohn’s for another 20 years.
Wonderful place, but I can’t imagine how I could go back now.
It will be of little consolation to you @fentonsteve, but when I was in Cairo I also had an attack of dodgy guts. We were on our way to a coach trip out to the pyramid, and there was a street food guy selling some pies that smelt delicious. Foolishly I bought one and scoffed it on the spot.
20 minutes later my bottom exploded. Mercifully we were on a luxury bus with a toilet on board. I was in and out half the morning. I have a far more vivid memory of that loo than the wonders of Ancient Egypt.
On to pleasanter things. Let’s go back to the 1970s and meet Marocko’s answer to James Brown: Fadoul. In his day, he was the toast of Casablanca.
Here’s looking at you kids!
And a little biographical info:
https://www.okayafrica.com/arabic-funk-fadoul-morocco-james-brown/
It sounds rather good in Arabic.
An interview with Jannis Sturtz of Habibi Records in Berlin. A true enthusiast.
Is there any westerner who has visited Egypt and not suffered “Delhi belly”?
I remember my BM having to ‘go’ off the back of a Falucca as we sailed down the Nile, while someone on the riverbank was brushing their teeth.
“bareback, with a spine which seemed to dig into my arse…”
Some things are a pleasure done that way, others not. My camel came with a filter tip, in the form of multiple rugs and a firm wooden pommel to grasp.
Here is something that I think will tick KFD’s boxes, and may appeal to others. The Nile Project.
Bringing together various artists from various African countries such as Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda and combining music and education, it addresses the cultural and environmental challenges that are at the root of conflicts along the banks of the Nile. It is not a simple musical group, but a real active collective for the safeguarding and the human and cultural development of the interested populations which, according to the group’s words, “inspires, educates and exhorts Nile citizens to work together to promote the sustainability of their river’s ecosystem. ”
On their website there is more information about the project’s goals and the results achieved as well as all the details about the music group.
I try normally to post short clips, not to disturb AWers’ attention span too much, but this performance for KEXP is just so wonderful because it shows off the musicians exuberance, positivity and friendship. I think the Nile Project is a beautiful thing, even if it may not be exclusively Arabic.
Total bullseye! The Nile Project are right up my street. Thanks a lot!
Look forward to listening to that KEXP session!
I am running low on my supply of Arabic musicians who I have not yet posted about by now (though there are a few alternative/electronic artists who I may still put on the other thread.
One of the few remaining who I would want to introduce to you to is Bachar Mar-Khalifé, a French-Lebanese singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, whose main instrument seems to be the piano, with which he guides you through his songs. It’s an exhilarating, percussive experience, but harmonious and gentle at the same time.
This second video makes me smile – as a jigsaw fan I felt for the protagonist for whom a puzzle turns into an enigma, turns into something frantic and then silly.
He comes from a very musical family, with his brother, mother and father also being musicians, his father famous throughout the Arab world.
Tee hee! That Jnoun Puzzle Edit gave me a bit smile!
Wonderful stuff!
I went shopping in town today, as per usual. Couldn’t help myself, when I saw the world music box at the CD/DVD street stand, could I?
You did very well there! That Khaled was produced by Don Was and was my introduction to Rai. Great party music.
Here’s an interview prior to his first US gig.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-05-ca-1743-story.html
Back to 1985!
10 years later he had changed his band considerably. He must have been the first Rai artist to have a real horn section. They sound magnificent.
Apologies if nobody thinks this belongs here: I’m clearly not an expert in the field – but having an actual Egyptian orchestra playing makes all the difference!
I don’t think there are any rules as to what can or can’t be posted on threads, and I think there’s enough breadth within the term ‘Arabic music’ to cover music that edges on Arabic in some form. Certainly with Egyptian musicians you are on to a good thing.
Posting Plant-based material makes me think about the Festival in the Desert and the quandary as to where Malian musicians fit into the genre map – African or Arabic, or a bit of the two. One who has been claimed for Arabic music is Mariem Hassan, Sahrawi singer extraordinaire.
Sadly she is another singer who died from cancer in her 50s, like Rim Banna. But like Banna, she left a wonderful legacy behind her.
Bit more orchestra, this time The National Orchestra of Morocco and Dissidenten.
Nice work @fitterstoke. That clip certainly belongs here and you have reminded me that those lush string arrangements are a big part of Arabic music.
That’s very apparent on the Oum Kalsoum clip I posted previously.
Youssou N’Dour also travelled to Cairo to make full use of those strings. He recorded the award-winning album, Egypt, with the Fathy Salama Orchestra.
“N’Dour grew up listening to Egyptian styles (his father was a fan of Oum Kalsoum) and here he mixes Senegalese influences with a full Egyptian orchestra. The aim is to praise Islam, the religion the two countries share, though the emphasis is on Senegal’s local Sufi brotherhoods”(Robin Denselow, Guardian).
Live in Liverpool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8NwopGOk8I
Here’s a little background to Fathy Salama (a new name for me)
https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/312043.aspx
And here’s Fathy and his band, Sharkiat, on a visit to Norway.
Let’s go back to Umm Kalsoum for a moment. Her fame spread far beyond Egypt and avid listeners, like Youssou’s dad, were glued to their radios throughout the Arabic speaking world.
You thought Jerry Garcia and his band were popular? Oumheads made Deadheads seem like casual listeners.
https://www.rfi.fr/en/visiting-france/20100801-ghalia-benali-guards-flame-oum-kalsoum
Here’s an invaluable document. A US Academic Decathlon Resource Guide to the Music of Africa. On page 63 there is a fine description of her life and career, plus some lyrics translated.
https://www.cusd80.com/cms/lib/AZ01001175/Centricity/Domain/7769/Small-Music-Resource-Guide.pdf
Next the song they translated:
And now a modern version of the same song by the National Arab Orchestra feat Mai Farouk.
I’m a sucker for those strings!
My comment about Oum and radio broadcasts made me curious to know more.
I hit gold with a site called fanack.com.
“Egypt’s monarchy was overthrown by the Free Officers Movement in 1952 and in 1956 President Gamal Abdel Nasser came to power. Nasser, who ruled from 1956 until 1970, initially made extensive use of transistor radio technology to spread his pan-Arab ideology across Egypt and promote his charismatic image. Cheap transistor radios were distributed among the Egyptian population in the early 1950s and Nasser regularly gave lengthy speeches to announce political developments throughout the decade.”
So Nasser was distributing cheap trannies to the population! No chance of that in the UK!
An overview of Egyptian culture
https://fanack.com/egypt/culture-of-egypt/
And here’s an article about experimental music which should appeal to you @Salwarpe.
https://fanack.com/culture-en/mena-experimental-music-a-force-to-be-reckoned-with~243560/
I’ll be returning to Fanack!
Music lovers, I hit gold today. I discovered that the great Egyptian diva, Oum Kalsoum, had on one occasion alone, performed outside the Arabic-speaking world: at the Olympia in Paris in 1967.
And what’s more: she gave her first ever TV interview. Fascinating.
She’s interviewed in Arabic and the young interviewer is (quite rightly) in awe of this megastar. Oum is very restrained and very modest. She’d never fit in on the Graham Norton show.