Music that's popular in the Middle East

Buick6

too punk to drunk
Here's an interesting one. I'm curious to know how the effects of evil American/English/European capitalism have infiltrated that outpost of civilisation that is the middle East. I'm curious to know how their social/physical environment affects the type of sounds they respond to. So far I can only report on Israel and Iraq (via a documentary) on what the kids listen to (and also the fact that most of these places are police/religious states where the 'pleasure' of 'western' musics are banned). Well not Israel, but they are still a religious state by and LARGE.

1. Israel : when I was there in the late 80s U2 were very popular. As you'd expect their tastes are somewhat more euro-centric than the cliche 53rd State of America that Israel is supposed to be according to opines of some posters here. The Army incredibly have an 'alternative' station, and I gleefully remember hearing them play Jesus and Mary Chain! There was an 'arty/alterntive' store in Tel Aviv ('Ozen Shlishi/3rd ear) that had tapes by bands that had heavy JAMC/Birthday Party influences, and ads for bands looking for guitarists that were influenced by Rowland S Howard!#$!!). On the alternative front, Israelies tend to get into that really sorta 'ancient' gothic/angst stuff, starting with Leonard Cohen, and going through to the Birthday Party/Nick Cave/Swans/dirty Three type dig. Nick Cave is very big there these days. Then on the tech front they have no taste: Goa Earthcore/Hippy/Trunce is the form. The glitch scene is sorta popular as is bad politco hiphop. john zorn also gets some kudos for his obvious born-again Jewish-righteous shtick dreck.

2. Iraq: with the invasion and new 'democraticratisation/americanisation' I saw an interesting Australian docco about the 'sounds of war' or some crap. Of course the working class US soldiers listen to the stock hiphop and nu-metal as to be expected. Rock music is of course BANNED in Mid-East countires, pretty much as its a sin to listen to, but there was an interesting thing on some Iraqi kids/dudes who were into METAL. Especially Metallica and darker Euro-metal, and an Iraqi dude who spoke in a bizarre Lars Ulrich american-type accent about how the music reflects the 'horror/destruction' of their enviornment/lives.

I know there are some vehement arm-chair Marxists out there who would be appaled at this post, and the fact that rock music/techno/hiphop whatever is just part of some wider 'colonialisation' of the world. If thats the case, then forums like this are for hypocrites there and then. Also the argument that rock music ignores the spiritual and advanced polyrhythms of indig. mid-east music for its retardo 4/4 thud has some sway as well. Fair enough, but then you could argue about rock music's erosion of classical music/opera/etc in Western socieites for that matter...

The point of this post is just an idea of how particular cultures repond to 'new musics' based on their societal/environmental climates, and leave it at that.

England and America are *boring* coz we all know how THEY live, don't we?
 
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you know, I've always wanted to take a turntable sound system to bombed out baghdad, set it up on a street corner and blast out what is now dubstep...

...then film the peoples faces, the kids, the women, the men, the soldiers and maybe have a guy graffing out the background

it'd make a great music video and if the tune had that mid eastern vibe with some prayer chants going on in it...

...I wonder if I'd get shot, kidnapped, blown up, stabbed or taken home for dinner and married off to somone ???
 

Gido

night tripper
yeah those israeli clubbers, horrible distaste..

last week i was doing a massive search on soulseek for this kinda stuff. i found one person who shared a folder with the underground music of iran, but is never online. from what i got from the titles, its either both, or a combination of, hiphop and doomy metal/goth.

i'll report back to this thread if i ever get to listen to it.

G
 

mms

sometimes
i heard some palestinian hip hop once - a demo mp3 it wasn't very good musically but lyrically - it was in a sort of english - it was one of the most depressing miserable and angry things i'd ever heard in my life. utter unrelentingly passionatley grim.
 
Buick6 said:
I know there are some vehement arm-chair Marxists out there who would be appaled at this post, and the fact that rock music/techno/hiphop whatever is just part of some wider 'colonialisation' of the world.

Erm, I think you'll find that cultural anti-Imperialists might have a problem with that. Marxists would probably follow what er, Marx and Engels actually say, e.g. in the, er, Communist Manifesto, i.e. 'the need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere'.

...which would arguably include and incorporate music/art/cultural forms of all descriptions, otherwise you end up with some lopsided culturalist argument that e.g. George Michael and Bach are ok for us, 'cos we can take the variety, but Turkmenistan should stick to the two-string dutar.

Anyway, based on my two visits to Iran, given the ban on clubs/bar-type things/dancing, private parties are the MOST insanely hardcore drugs and illegal techno-filled things you'll ever find - ecstasy turned up in the country at some point in the early 90s (I was informed), and the lack of public spaces to take it meant that apartment parties (mostly in N Tehran) became the main place to indulge (cars are the only other private place, good for sex, but not so great for having all yr friends round...) - opium and heroin are relatively easy to get hold of (tho penalties can be major harsh for the latter), but the E thing meant the music gets f-ing loud in the flats.

Was in an apartment block on a Friday and the whole place was shaking with the bass. 'It's like this every weekend,' our host informed us (just before she sat down to play a piano concerto, but that's another story...)

Saw some teenage goth-types on the streets and some grafitti for nu-metal bands (phonetically spelled) liek 'deftons' and 'limp biskit'...obv boys don't have the same restriction on dress as girls, so you could tell if they were trying to look vaguely goth-like. Am told you do tend to get in trouble with the vigilantes/cops for having longish hair tho if you're a boy, so it's a real mark of rebellion. There are some bands who play in garages too, tho imagine that doesn't always go down well.

Oddly, some gay and other 'western' acts are sold legally (or at least were a couple of years ago) Queen (mostly cos of Mercury's Iranian ancestory), Elton John, Julio Iglesias and The Gypsy Kings. (Horrah!)

The weirdest musical import probably comes from satellite TV - officially banned, but owned by lots of middle-class Iranians (hiding the satellite dishes behind pot plants or whathaveyou) - lots of exiled Iranians in LA beam in pretty explicit trashy pop music along with anti-regime propaganda...not to mention really brutal gay porn (with no state restrictions on an illegal medium pretty much anything can be shown).

Also - the internet restrictions don't seem too hard to get round (i.e. if a site is blocked thro google, you can just clicked on the cached version and it's not blocked).

Bootlegs of music and films are pretty widespread. An Iranian friend of mine was disappointed upon arrival to Europe because of how hard it was to get hold of arthouse cinema DVDs - it was so much easier in Tehran...
 
D

droid

Guest
Buick6 said:
1. Israel : when I was there in the late 80s U2 were very popular. As you'd expect their tastes are somewhat more euro-centric that the cliche 53rd State of America that Israel is, according to opines of some posters here.

:confused: Well duh! Cultural influences are very different to Political and Economic ones... and they certainly do not preclude one another. Turkey, Columbia and Egypt are also huge recipients of US military aid, and I'd no more expect them to find them rocking out to Bruce Springsteen as I would the Israelis simply because of this fact...

And dont you think that "in the late 80s U2 were very popular" maybe dovetails just a teensy bit with mainstream US tastes at the time?

Back on topic - I have an ok LP by an Israeli MC/DJ.. cant remember his name, but he sounds a little like Damien Marely...
 

Buick6

too punk to drunk
Infinite thought: Thank you for yr insighful observations from Teheran. Iran is such a paradox of a place, and I guess you can see that in arty-farty films like Kiarostami's 'Ten' and the Jafar Panahi's fantasatic existential-class tract 'Crimson Gold'
 

SIZZLE

gasoline for haters
Great thread! Hopefully I'll have something meaningful and up to the time to add when my friend gets back from Iran soon. This has reminded me to pump him for info, maybe I'll just send him the thread and see if he'd like to contribute.
 

adruu

This Is It
Agree that Infinite's reply was awesome, but Iran isn't more of a paradox than anyhwere else. Maybe the western conception of Iran is a little uhh...misinformed?
 
adruu said:
Maybe the western conception of Iran is a little uhh...misinformed?

Probably...as I say, all the stuff I picked up from two visits totalling about five weeks - not a great deal of time in which to get to grips with what's really going on, obviously. Maybe I'll write to one of my Persian mates studying in London to see what he can correct/add.
 

Buick6

too punk to drunk
Most people with half-a-brain know that Iran, despite it's Islamic 'revolution' is quite an advanced, intellectual society. They also were highly influenced by the French, who happen to be their major Western allie. But I'm more interested in finding out what people dig in more uncharted region of arabia: Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Jordan... The others I would no doubt expect a reasonable Western influence: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE etc..
 

shudder

Well-known member
pretty neat article in the New Yorker about youth, (outlawed and persecuted) bloggers, and last year's election in Iran: http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?051121fa_fact4

It talks a bunch about some kid who's all about top 40 US hip hop, and sees america as the land of opportunity, etc. not *too* much in there about music, but interesting portrayal of what Iran is like.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
Buick6 said:
Geez I didn't realise Vice were so with it

you being funny?

here are 2 more:

http://www.viceland.com/issues/v12n10/htdocs/pretty.php
http://www.viceland.com/issues/v13n2/htdocs/surprise.php

back to the topic: I downloaded a Super C-60 unknown cassette (I think from Railton) and just listened to it now - pretty amazing. pretty AND amazing. a stripped down Ethio-jazz... and the fuzz on the recording sounds good too!

the funk/jazz influence on this type of thing feels so right. so natural.

whats the story behind that one Sufi?
 
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arcaNa

Snakes + Ladders
there's a Lebanese(?) singer called Fairuz who's done some great recordings, her voice seems to be everywhere down there, she's got a v. lush, beautifully rich voice, with those irresistible classical arabesque voice phrasings which must take ages to learn... :cool:

we drove all the way through Spain with her on the car cassette deck once... :D
 
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