Reviews

Blue Fields

Marjan Vahdat

Sister vocalists Marjan and Mahsa Vahdat have made a name for themselves in recent years with a number of joint...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

Iran: Classical Singing

Mohammad Motamedi

While the voice of singer Mohammad Motamedi makes up an integral element of this release, the album also highlights the...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

Jalilah's Raks Sharki: Stage Cuts

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Raqs sharki - literally ‘Eastern dance’ but more commonly known as bellydance - is a thriving international scene. There's probably...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

The Rough Guide to the Music of Palestine

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Less than 20 years ago, a representative of the Palestinian National Authority in London warned me that “there wasn't much...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

Faran

Faran Ensemble

Faran is an Israeli instrumental group playing their own compositions on traditional Middle Eastern instruments, including oud (lute), kamancheh (spike...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

Hevra (Together)

Aynur

After the controversy stirred by her debut, Ke‡e Kurdan, in 2004, the title of this album might refer to a...

Reviewed in issue October/2014

Ancient Sufi Invocations & Forgotten Songs From Aleppo

Nawa

When Jason Hamacher, a punk drummer in Washington DC, read William Dalrymple's From the Holy Mountain, he contacted the author...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

Kurdistan

Nishtiman

The seven-piece group Nishtiman, meaning ‘Homeland’, brings together five Kurdish musicians from the three main territories where the Kurds are...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

Erguvan

DEM Ensemble

This album consists mostly of folk repertoire from the Aegean region of Turkey, collected in the field by musicologist Ali...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014

Rumi Symphony Project Cycle 1: Untold

Hafez Nazeri

Hafez Nazeri is the son of the renowned Iranian-Kurdish singer and instrumentalist Sharam Nazeri. He has set up an ambitious...

Reviewed in issue Aug/Sep/2014