Sharayet El Disco: Egyptian 80s Disco & Boogie Cassette Tracks

Anyone who travelled in the Arabic world from the 1970s through to earlier this century will recall how cassettes were the most prominent format for transmitting music, available everywhere and very cheap. On this nine-track LP, Egyptian DJ Disco Arabesquo selects from his vast collection of cassettes, a selection of 1980s-era cassette-only recordings that obviously still do their job of filling dance floors four decades on.

I’m unfamiliar with any of the artists featured – unsurprising really as most are attempting to make disco or soft rock-flavoured pop of the kind very popular in the West in the late-70s and, while singing in Arabic, the arrangements are very Western oriented. Which isn’t a bad thing – another culture’s take on your own pop culture can offer everything from bemusement to entertainment to, occasionally, revelation. ‘Eklib El Sheriet’ has a stronger Arabic flavour than most of the nine, while other tunes often vary towards easy listening pop – ‘Youm wi Lilah’ is a direct copy of ‘The Girl from Ipanema’. Everything is very slick with the female singers often employing breathless, high voices to suggest sensuality. Occasionally entertaining, this compilation is pretty slight compared to many of the reissues of Arabic music currently being made available.