• Music

    Mohammad Syfkhan – I Am Kurdish

    February 12, 2024 - By 

    A very pleasant release from Mohammad Syfkhan, a Kurdish musician currently based in Ireland.  From the Nyaah Records Bandcamp site: “Mohammad’s own brand of ecstatic music takes elements from Middle Eastern and North African music to create an atmosphere of joy, love and happiness. The songs on ‘I am Kurdish’ have been recorded and mixed with the view to make them to suitable for listening to at a small get together or to be played on a big rig at night clubs. Either way, it is a record that will make people dance.”

  • Music

    Syriana – H​ā​rim

    October 21, 2023 - By 

    Syriana are an interesting project released by Real World Records.  Here’s the back story, courtesy of the label’s Bandcamp site: “In 2010 Syriana’s album The Road to Damascus presented a musical reflection by Nick Page & Bernard O’Neill of their take on the geopolitical landscape surrounding Syria at the time. Sadly their assertions that a third cold war was being initiated in that region were proved to be true and the conflict and upheaval that followed destroyed much of the rich cultural heritage of the region and dispersed millions of its people. Now in 2023 the new Syriana album 1325…

  • Music

    Various Artists – Les Disques Bongo Joe: Solidarity With February 2023 Earthquake Victims

    February 23, 2023 - By 

    The earthquake which has ravaged Turkey and Syria should not be forgotten about despite the blindingly fast news barrage we’re living through. The Swiss label Bongo Joe have offered this pay-what-you-like compilation featuring Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, Oldu O Zaman and Altın Gün, who have graciously given tracks to help this noble cause. Personally, if you would like to send more funds to Syria as well, consider using International Orthodox Christian Charities who have boots on the ground in the area.

  • Music

    Adjin Asllan, Tarik Bulut, The Garabed Brothers, et al. – In An Egyptian Garden

    March 19, 2022 - By 

    From the legendary Canary Records Bandcamp site: From the 1910s through the 1950s, immigrants released 78rpm discs marketed to their own language / ethnic groups, and that practice survived for a century well into the era of the 33rpm, 45rpm, cassette, and CD era. But from the mid-50s though the mid-70s some Greek, Armenian, and Lebanese-Syrians capitalized on the bellydance fad by issuing their recordings to a broader American public. While many of those recordings drew straight from the repertoire of pre-existing bands, some of the resulting LPs represented ad hoc groupings of performers that were unique and, in retrospect,…