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 … Continue reading Arabic music – a beginner’s view