Middle East Music

[l.b.]

not Muslimgauze...but music actually made in the Middle East. I have a big boner for this part of the world, their culture and politics especially. Constantly looking for new music from any Middle Eastern countries which is hard because a) it doesn't really get exposure around the world and b) i don't speak any arabic. Anyway here's a little collection of songs from all over the Middle East that I think are excellent and hopefully you'll get a kick out of them. Please contribute anything you might know!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHR9tyODJB0
from the now-famous Saleel Sawarim video of ISIS members tooling around Iraq in SUVs and blowing people all to fuck. In fundamentalist Sunni islam, musical instruments are haram, forbidden, so ISIS has to make all its music with solely vocal parts + autotune and sound effects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYzi0i_-ky4
From the other side of the political spectrum, this is a song from the Lebanese Forces, an extreme right-wing Christian militia that supports/is supported by Israel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chJsY1fryKM
non-political, goofy ass pop music from Iraq. I have no idea what this song is about or what's going on in this video but you can totally bump this one at a club or a party

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-u-SG6c75E
Mah Ensemble from Iran playing a very old Persian folk song about working in a field (I think). this one is not sung in arabic, but farsi. Crazy instrumentation and extremely impressive vocal lines

If anyone likes this stuff I can post more; I would also love to get recommendations from others

[Andrew McIntosh]

This has been a personal favourite since I first heard it over ten years ago now. A full power flight.

And I fell in love with the voice of Fadia Al Haj on the cd "Sacred Women - Women As Composers And Performers Of Medieval Chant" (on the Dorian label), particularly on the excellent track "Inna Moussa", which alas I can't find on YouTube. Other material of hers I did find has a much more contemporary style.

[ironfistofthesun]

Two good mix's... well worth downloading. Odd hearing other cultures trying to emulate western pop, resulting in crazy surreal results.
https://soundcloud.com/finderskeepersrecords/sounds-of-wunder-mixed-grill
https://soundcloud.com/finderskeepersrecords/sounds-of-wunder-mixed-platter

[tiny_tove]

excellent thread.
I am no expert of middle eastern music, but I am quite fixated with speicifc instruments (especially percussions) from northern africa, middle east and Turkey.

[tiny_tove]

did plenty of recordings with obscure Sufi material recorded first-hand by a researcher I know... plan to use it in the next foresta di ferro.
sufi has quite an interesting philosophy that is quite different from average Islamism.

[Bob]

I like the Mah Ensemble it sounds like it could be a really ancient or old type of music.
This guy died earlier this year I think he was well known in Iran Mohammad Reza Lotfi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bS3hn1ogzo

[tiny_tove]

I am using something similar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5goISKPSH8

[l.b.]

I have a particular fondness for the sunni nasheeds that are vocals-only. maybe not so good that I keep going on youtube channels called things like "Islamic Taliban Media" and such but oh well. I particularly like the first one in this video, called 'Habbat al Reeh' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZiV6bmPLfw very cool and interesting rhthyms created out of interlocking vocal parts with heavy delay and auto-tune

[TS]

Two good mix's... well worth downloading. Odd hearing other cultures trying to emulate western pop, resulting in crazy surreal results.
https://soundcloud.com/finderskeepersrecords/sounds-of-wunder-mixed-grill
https://soundcloud.com/finderskeepersrecords/sounds-of-wunder-mixed-platter

Haha, I have become hooked on the first one. Makes for a jolly good time. Thanks.

[13]

I've been enjoying some sunni Nasheed. Got into it via Ahmed Bukhatir, but I'm mainly listening to the pro-Islamic State stuff these days. It has pathos in spades.

Bukhatir:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Whcmn0skWY

IS Nasheed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmV1w60TKgw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fa9lLm_9ak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4EVPp7KUU4

[Zoladingoing]

since I am from the region. then I hope this is going to be a useful stuff for you guys

this is part of a series recorded in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, Qatar and many more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68BQfyk3mwk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DvRgAWY0I0


this is a little more modern from the Kuwaiti singer nabeel shuail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yJ6cmMGiPE


I don't know if this true or fake but in the middle east lot of people believed that Michael Jackson was killed because he converted to islam you know your typical conspiracy theories. something similar to princess Diana death conspiracy stuff. which again lot of people from the middle east also believe she was killed for the same reason. anyways regarding MJ song some said it was another guy but not him. "whoever did it"  he praises Allah both in English and Arabic. personally I think MJ was a talented artist but also an "original lunatic" and to tell you the truth I don't even know if this is a bad thing specially in arts. you know something like the Spanish artist Francisco Goya. the chaos and horror of the Napoleonic wars in Spain had a drastic effect upon him, as can be seen in his later artistic life. by the way MJ brother is actually Muslim who lives in Bahrain   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GiDPWqo7Ko

a black metal band from Saudi Arabia called alnamrood. of course playing such music in such place is nothing but a suicide. in this country anything related to music is done in secret. no rights of whatever sorts. while feminism flourish all over the world women in this country owns rights that is similar to dogs. however what I think is good about the band is the use of eastern instruments is little dirty. unlike melechesh (which I happened to like them too)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWqttlEbq8o

[Zoladingoing]

Not sure if some of you guys aware of it but I just remembered this one. Little information about dr. Syed kamran the man behind the creation of Harappian Night Recordings, this is something you don't hear everyday not even every 10 years. The Glorious Gongs of Hainuwele album. I don't know if this is a true field recordings or this man is a studio wizard! Not only middle eastern sounds but some South american too. 40 minutes of magic. (Not that it matters) but this album was praised by the wire magazine when it was released.

[l.b.]

Thanks Zoladingoing! Great stuff there. Bumping up my old thread to post the Iranian band Rastak, who do some kind of admixture of folk/traditional music (incl. persian, azeri, kurdish, etc.) with more 'modern' and extensive arrangements. This video is a medley of those type of songs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Nj5kIDajc This one always gets stuck in my head

[NBCHDZR-XI]

Alan Bishop of the Sun City Girls (who spent a lot of time in the Middle East and recorded a ton of Middle Eastern-inspired experimental work) has a project/label called Sublime Frequencies.  Most releases are radio collages, each dedicated to a specific country.

Radio Morocco, Radio Palestine, and Radio Algeria are personal favourites.  The only problem is it can be virtually impossible to find out who some of the actual artists are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqlNpDC4ac8
Radio Morocco

[eyestrain]

Thanks Zoladingoing! Great stuff there. Bumping up my old thread to post the Iranian band Rastak, who do some kind of admixture of folk/traditional music (incl. persian, azeri, kurdish, etc.) with more 'modern' and extensive arrangements. This video is a medley of those type of songs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Nj5kIDajc This one always gets stuck in my head

Watched this so many times now. Boggles the mind! Have to grab some CDs of theirs.