The Art, Beauty and Culture of the Arabic World
Zekeriyah | Chicago, IL | 10/02/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It seems unfortunate that most westerners have a negative view of the Arabic world these days, bolstered by ignorance and the increasingly violent (and blatantly racist) propaganda of the news media. As this box shows, Arabic culture is anything but monolithic. With Arabic spoken in over 25 countries across the Middle East and North Africa, there is a huge amount of diversity to the Arabic world. Once, cities like Mecca, Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut, Cairo and Fes were renowned as great cultural and literary centers. Indeed, even today Cairo produces more music, movies, television and media than Hollywood! And, as this CD shows, there is still a great deal of creativity in the Arabic-speaking world, from Algerian rai singers in Oran to the classical traditions of Andalusia, from the cutting edge electronica of the Maghreb to Egyptian cabaret raks sharki.
This boxed set is actually a compilation of four other World Music Network CDS; the Rough Guide to Arabesque, the Rough Guide to Rai, the Rough Guide to Bellydance, and the Rough Guide to Sufi Music. Of course, not all are actually Arabic (there are artists from other Middle Eastern or Muslim countries too, like Pakistan, Turkey and so forth), but the majority of the music is Arabic, or at least Arabic influenced. All four CDs are available seperately, along with other CDs that may be of interested (like Oxfam Arabia, Rough Guide to the Music of Egypt, Rough Guide to Morocco, Rough Guide to Turkey, etc), but this boxed set makes a great introduction. It's also a great gift for any lovers of Arabic music, or a gift to yourself if your willing to splurge on it. So what to make of the individual CDS?
Rough Guide to Arabesque: Arabesque, Ethno-Techno, Dar, Halal. Whatever you want to call it, this is great stuff. On this CD, Arabic instruments and music sensibilities meet with cutting edge electronica. Many of the great names in Middle Eastern dance music are included on this CD. Gnawa Impulse remixes Moroccan Sufi music, Lebanon's Clotaire K and Mafia Maghrebine create Arabic rap (in French), Oojami from Turkey creates electronic bellydance, DuOuD take the Arabic 'oud (the center of almost all Arabic and Middle Eastern music) in new musical directions, and Soap Kills (also from Lebanon), U-Cef and Nikodemus provide funky Middle Eastern lounge music. There are remixes of Ali Slimani and Bled Runner on this CD, alongside a track by Aisha Kandisha's Jarring Effects (who have been doing this type of music longer than anyone else). This is an essential CD if you love Middle Eastern electronica, and want to hear the REAL thing instead of a bunch of Euro-American guys remixing things to make them sound "exotic" or "ethnic". Definately worth buying.
Rough Guide to Rai: Few things are as quintessentially Maghrebi as Rai music. This compilation showcases the incredible variety of the modern Algerian sound, stretching back to the earliest pioneers of Rai music like Cheikha Remitti and going up to modern day legends like Khaled, Cheb Mami and the late Cheb Hasni (who was a hit across North Africa, despite not being as well known in the west as Khaled or Cheb Mami). All the big names are featured here. Theres the driving rhythms of Fadela and Sahraoui on "La Verite". The cross dressing pop star Abdou contributes a track, "Ana Aachki Bahloul". And even "Shab el Baroud," a song by Cheba Zahouania praising the Algerian mujahideen freedom fighters. This CD is an essential guide for understanding Rai music, the very heart and soul of Algeria. Anyone interested in Arabic music should definately go out and buy this CD. It's definately a different side of Algeria than that frequently featured on the news.
Rough Guide to Bellydance: For those of you looking for a good bellydance compilation CD, this is a great place to start. All the music on this CD is instrumental, drawing on traditional Middle Eastern instruments and musical sensibilities, and theres a very good mix of stuff here. Omar Faruk Tekbilek provides a wonderful Turkish/Caucasian/Gypsy dance song, Reda Darwish contributes a fiery drum solo, Mohamed Matar shows some virtuoso bouzuk playing, and Jalilah contributes several songs from the "Jalilah's Raks Sharki" series. Everything from Turkish Gypsy music (Kemani Cemal Cinarli) to Lebanese jazz (Rabih Abou-Khalil). But perhaps the highlight of the CD is a 12 minute dance piece by Egypt's Mahmoud Fadl. Other highlights include Ahmed Mneimneh on qanoun, classical Arabic orchestral music from Ahmad Fouad Hasan, and a lively contemporary fusion piece from Armando El Mafufo. Drawing on traditional and cabaret music from Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Armenia and beyond, this is a great place to start if you want to get some good bellydance music.
Rough Guide to Sufi Music: In recent years, Sufism (the mystical practices of Islam) has become a popular subject in the West. No small part of this is due to the passionate and powerful singing of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the undisputed master of Pakistani Qawwali music. Naturally, he is included on this CD, but Sufism exerts a pull across the Muslim world, and this CD shows other forms of Sufi music as well. Hassan Hakmoun shows the African-tinged music of Morocco's Gnawa brotherhood, Orchestra al-Kindi (led by Hamza Shakkur) and Sheikh Yasin al-Tuhami demonstrate classical Arabic music traditions, Ostad Elahi performs the music of Iran's Kurdish dervishes, and Boubacar Diagne shows the ceremonial music of the Quadiriya brotherhood of West Africa. Fans of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan are in for a treat, since there are also incredibly moving performances of Qawwali by the Sabri Brothers and Abdia Parween, as well as music from Turkey's Mevlana mystics (the famous 'whirling dervishes'). Drawing upon music from Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco, Iran, Senegal and Syria, this CD is an incredible journey across the Muslim world, showing many different forms of devotion to God through music. Anyone interested in the musical heart of the Islamic faith should check this CD out, as it's cheap, easy to find, and very enlightening.
So yeah, four CDs, totalling to over four and a half hours of play time. Thats more than enough time to satisfy any lovers of Arabic music, but it's just scratching the surface. If you like the music in this vertible treasure chest of Middle Eastern sounds, then some of the other CDs from World Music network might also be of interest to you. They've got compilations covering various countries (Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Iran, Sudan), regions (Central Asia, the Sahara, North Africa, OXFAM: Arabia) and even individual artists (Ali Hassan Kuban), all of which are well worth picking up to expand your music collection. Think of this boxed set as a doorway to an exciting new world that will vastly expand your musical horizons. All in all, well worth the forty bucks it costs to purchase this set (and usually much cheaper if you get it used)."
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1