Reviews | Songlines

Reviews

Review of Migrant Birds

Migrant Birds

TootArd

Glitterbeat Records

Rating: ★★★★

Hasan and Rami Nakhleh are two brothers who live in a village in the Golan Heights, the plateau that was...

Reviewed in issue July/2020

Review of Betrayal of a Sacred Sunflower

Betrayal of a Sacred Sunflower

Joseph Tawadros

Top of the World

JT Records

Rating: ★★★★

The oud player and composer Joseph Tawadros has worked tirelessly over the last decade to move his instrument into new...

Reviewed in issue July/2020

Review of Wired and Layered

Wired and Layered

Sinan Cem Eroğlu

Ahenk Müzik

Rating: ★★★

Sinan Cem Eroğlu is considered somewhat of a veteran – despite only being in his 30s – with several albums...

Reviewed in issue May/2020

Review of Uzelli Elektro Saz (1976-1984)

Uzelli Elektro Saz (1976-1984)

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Top of the World

Uzelli Stereo

Rating: ★★★★

Following on the heels of its Psychedelic Anadolu selection from 2017, legendary Turkish label Uzelli has come out with a...

Reviewed in issue May/2020

Review of Oud Classics from Armenia, the Balkans & Middle East

Oud Classics from Armenia, the Balkans & Middle East

Alan Shavarsh Bardezbanian

ARC Music

Rating: ★★★★

If you are someone who is slightly unsure about Middle Eastern music but would like to dip your toe into...

Reviewed in issue May/2020

Review of Songs of Exile Vol 1-3

Songs of Exile Vol 1-3

Naghash Ensemble

Naregatsi Art Institute

Rating: ★★★

The Naghash Ensemble take their name from Mkrtich Naghash, a 15th-century Armenian poet, priest and painter. Living in the Armenian...

Reviewed in issue May/2020

Review of The Wolf of Baghdad Memoir of a Lost Homeland

The Wolf of Baghdad Memoir of a Lost Homeland

3yin

Ethnomusic Records

Rating: ★★★★

The Wolf of Baghdad is an ambitious and beautifully executed motion-comic that tells the story of Carol Isaacs’ Iraqi-Jewish family...

Reviewed in issue May/2020

Review of Mouasalat Ila Jacad el Ard

Mouasalat Ila Jacad el Ard

Issam Hajali

Habibi Funk Records

Rating: ★★★★

Largely unknown outside a small group of Arabic record collectors, Lebanese artist Issam Hajali's debut is finally getting the release...

Reviewed in issue March/2020

Review of Chants des Trois Cours

Chants des Trois Cours

Lamia Yared & Invités

Top of the World

Lamia Yared

Rating: ★★★★★

Lebanese-Canadian singer Lamia Yared's album explores three of the traditions that created the Ottoman musical world: Turkic, Arabic and Persian,...

Reviewed in issue March/2020

Review of Sand Enigma

Sand Enigma

Land of Kush

Constellation

Rating: ★★★★

Sun Ra Arkestra colliding with Arabic tropes and urban Cairo grit, Land of Kush almost literally smashes itself onto the...

Reviewed in issue March/2020

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