“Like the sugar in the tea”. I think some sort of romantic idiom in Arabic? Heard it in one Syrian song. Where was I? Ah right, so the other day my huzbin goes on and on about how we don’t have anything fun to listen to? Like overdriven pre-revolutionary 1970s Middle Eastern femme-disco realness extended into eternity… But without the tedium of YouTube algorithm. So I obliged and hereby sharing. And sharing is caring!
In the end the thing is around 90 mins, but with attention spans of the TikTok era it’s practically an unfathomable abyss. And it’s an all-women deal. Why? I felt like it. Expect lotta swelling strings, fiery microtonally-adjusted synths, berserk percs and endless melismas on “habibi”. Tunes as dulce as the sweetest rose-water pakhlava. I’m inclined to call it māqāmat disco (in the honour of the region’s modal system). What’s the region? From Turkey to Azerbaijan. Out of Egypt and onto Iran. Not to exclude mesmeric Sirens of Levant. Should be groovy for summery plane rides.

Incl. Fairouz, Umm Kulthum, Googoosh, Leila Forouhar, Shohreh Solati, Mahasti, Azita, Pooran, Belkis Hanim, Zohra, Douaa, Vagif Mustafa Zadeh and more more more ...

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HJ#45: Like The Sugar In The Tea • Sirens Of Disco-Māqāmat

Transmissions to the aether • des bruits colorés
https://snowsovgethen.com/

HJ#45: Like The Sugar In The Tea • Sirens Of Disco-Māqāmat

Snows ov Gethen