Reviews

Anadolu Ejderi

Gaye Su Akyol

Whereas earlier albums had more to do with retro-futurism, on Anadolu Ejderi (Anatolian Dragons) past and present collide beguilingly as...

Reviewed in issue January/February/2023

The Music of Mohamed Abdel Wahab

Simon Shaheen

Mohamed Abdel Wahab was a titanic figure within Middle Eastern music. Composing for legends such as Egyptian singers Oum Kalthoum,...

Reviewed in issue December/2022

Aligned

Itzhak Ventura

Itzhak Ventura is a ney specialist, mastering the Persian, Arabic and Turkish variants of this end-blown reed flute. He also...

Reviewed in issue December/2022

Fragments

Yoni Avi Battat

American multi-instrumentalist Yoni Avi Battat has undergone a journey of discovery to reconnect with his Iraqi-Jewish roots through the medium...

Reviewed in issue December/2022

DOST 2

Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek

Derya Yıldırım's vocal style may not be to everyone's taste. Compared to Anatolian pop living-legend Selda Bağcan, with whom Yıldırım...

Reviewed in issue December/2022

Roya

Liraz

Persian/Israeli singer Liraz was a Songlines cover star in 2020 courtesy of her sophomore album Zan, a border-busting work in...

Reviewed in issue November/2022

Fadaytak

SHIRAN

The Israeli-Yemeni singer SHIRAN clearly loves to mix things up. The list of sub-genres that have been associated with her...

Reviewed in issue November/2022

A Thousand Butterflies

Aftab Darvishi

A Thousand Butterflies resembles a sonic personal essay, narrating both the musical adventures of the composer through her life. Aftab...

Reviewed in issue November/2022

Who Are We?

Al-Qasar

Born in the largely Algerian neighbourhood of Barbès in Paris, the quintet Al-Qasar mixes hypnotic North African trance grooves and...

Reviewed in issue November/2022

Mi Voz

Elif Sanchez

Turkish singer Elif Sanchez’s 2021 debut featured jazzy settings of Turkish and Azerbaijani folk songs, with one song in Spanish...

Reviewed in issue October/2022