3/14/13

Mehrpouya- Soul Raga


There was that brief window in post-WWII Iran where things got sort of loose, the Shah was losing his grip, foreign influences (other than coups to overthrow democratically elected governments) were seeping in and militant Islam was not yet taking over. Some fantastic music was made, and Mehrpouya's contributions were among it's best. Here is 'Soul Raga'- heavy sitar funk, but played by a seriously skilled classical musician- hearing this played in it's time and place must have been a wild ride. For now however, check this out and there's a very excellent 3LP compilation titled 'Soul Raga- Best Of Mehrpouya' just released by Pharaway Sounds that I can't recommend highly enough.

3/2/13

Arab Music






Sadly I have very little information to share on this music- Lyrichord put out some exceptional recordings with slightly useless liner notes. I can tell you the first side is folk songs from Upper Egypt (and fantastic they are too) while the second side is more formal instrumentals, but as to who the artists are or when it was recorded- no idea. Well worth a listen though, get it here.