«No One Knows About Persian Cats is a film from Iran that blurs the line between documentary and drama. Briefly put, the film follows Negar and Ashkan, indie pop musicians trying to put together a band to play danceable pop/rock in an '80s American new wave style. Since Western music is outlawed in Iran, the actors, musicians, and filmmakers put themselves at considerable risk while making the

«Bollywood music has been loved in the West for the way it Cuisinarts different styles together, mixing and matching like crazy in the same song. This extensive collection places a great emphasis on that side of the music, which makes for an easy introduction to the myriad styles that have made up Bollywood over the last 50 years. There’s plenty of music from the’70s (one whole disc is devoted to

«The UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music of the World included more than a hundred pioneering audio recordings of the world’s traditional music published from 1961 to 2003 on a number of different recording labels. The series was launched in 1961 in collaborariginal context. Each recording was accompanied by scholarly annotations and photographs. Together, these disks are a reflection of the

«The ancient music of the Middle East has been given a modern twist by Iraq-born and Paris-based oud (lute) and oboe player and vocalist Fawzy Al-Aiedy. Affectionately known as the "Sultan of swing," Al-Aiedy continues to bridge the traditional music of the East and the improvised sensibility of the West. Hailing from the Iraqi harbor city of Bassorah, Al-Aiedy studied violin and singing at the

«Yengi Yol means “new way”, in Turkish as well as in Uzbek. The “Yengi Yol” Ensemble was born a few years ago when European musician E.H. During went to meet young musicians his age in Uzbekistan. Back then, when his flamenca guitar met their traditional Uzbek music, the result was convincing straight away. The band was born and several concerts and recordings were rapidly done, so that a new

«Another Trilok triumph. Once again, the Indian percussionist and composer Trilok Gurtu proves himself to be among the world’s most adventurous, skilled and intelligent fusionists, on this spectacular marriage between East and West, in collaboration with Italy’s Arkè String Quartet. Many of the best fusions are sound collisions, their very success based on a thrilling clashing of cultures.

«A world class, virtuoso percussionist, now in his mid fifties, Trilok has attracted a world class set of collaborators over a long career; these started with John McLaughlin in whose trio, Trilok flourished as the featured soloist for 4 years, other jazz greats continued this path – Joe Zawinul, Jan Garbarek, Don Cherry, Bill Evans, Pharoah Sanders, Dave Holland were all attracted to Trilok’s

«The Western image of bellydancing is associated with Greek or Middle Eastern restaurants, or some form of low-cost home seduction. The truth, of course, is something different. It's an ancient form of dance, requiring extremely complex body control to execute properly — and it's original name, baladi, has nothing to do with the belly, translating instead as "country dance." But whichever way you

«Malkit Singh was born in the village Husainpur near Jalandhar. He is the oldest child of five. He started singing at the age of four and attended a local school in his village where is talent was recognised. He then carried his talent through to college where he participated in competitions and won many awards. And now has taken his music from the Punjabi vernacular to cross-cultural experiments

«Born and educated in Beirut, Fayrouz (alternative spellings: Fairuz, Fairouz, Feyrouz, Feiruz) began her musical career as a chorus member at the Lebanese Radio Station. In the late 1950s her talent as a singer became fully acknowledged. Met with unprecedented enthusiasm, Fayrouz's early songs featured the singer's distinct vocal timbre and lyrics expressing romantic love and nostalgia for

«The Sundanese are Indonesia's second largest ethnic group. They live in the province of West Java (also called “Sunda” by many foreigners), encompassing the interior highlands, the coastal areas, and Cirebon, a culturally distinct region. The boundary between West and Central Java lies at the eastern foothills of the Priangan Highlands, and a wide band of west-central Java from north to south

«The North Indian drums know as the tabla were said to have been invented in the 13th century by Amir Khusrau, a disciple of the Sufi saint Hazrat Nizemuddin Aluya. At the time, Khusrau sawed a pakhawaj (a single two-headed wooden drum) in two. Though no one may never know exactly why Khusrau felt it necessary it to saw a pakhawaj in half, his act gave birth to the tabla. Since that time, the

«The word ‘Kutumba’ holds a special meaning in the Nepali language. It stands for a unique bond amongst community members. As their name, Kutumba is all about bringing together traditional folk tunes and instruments with new and improvised sounds and ideas. Kutumba is a folk instrumental ensemble, group of seven professionals from Kathmandu. Having come together for the preservation of their

«Experience is the debut project of the St. Petersburg-based duo Dudubeat. Its members, Karen Sargsyan (duduk) and Arsen Grigoryan (keyboards) brought together in it their love for the traditional melodies of Armenia and the desire to make them more modern, fully preserving the national colors, producing a tasteful blend of live instruments and electronic sounds. Combined with the electronic

«Westerners have become increasingly familiar with the classical music of India since it first became fashionable in the 60s. But the Persian tradition, without a Beatles/Ravi Shankar collaboration to promote it, has remained a mystery, although it is becoming more recognized. Ghazal creates (or rather, re-creates) a musical bridge between two of the world's most expressive and distinctive

«The Rough Guide to Bhangra marks a milestone in the history of Bhangra by bringing together, for the first time ever, most of the key artists and labels onto one CD. Every track is a classic, no padding, no 'fillers', just hit after hit. You don't need to understand the words, just get the vibe. From humble beginnings in the North Indian Punjab region, where Bhangra began as traditional folk

Pop music from Uzbekistan! Maybe not a masterpiece, but a curious piece of music indeed! «Yalla, the leading popular music group in the former Soviet central Asian republics, is from Tashkent – the capital of Uzbekistan, one of the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. The group, whose name is an Uzbek word for a song accompanied by dancing, has become a popular icon in

«Music is considered a crucial means of communication by the founder of The Armenian Navy Band, Arto Tunçboyaciyan, a percussionist and vocalist of Armenian descent. Arto claims music as his instrument of choice to express his highest aspirations: love, respect and truth. The Armenian Navy Band’s compositions are all originals of Arto Tunçboyaciyan which, he insists, “have the sound of my life”

«One of Ravi Shankar's first Western recordings – made at London's Abbey Road Studios in 1963 (a full two years before George Harrison was introduced to Shankar's music) and originally released in the U.S. on the tiny jazz-oriented indie World Pacific – India's Master Musician makes some slight concessions toward the untutored Western audience. The liner notes are almost teacherly in their dry

«Muziek uit het land van de sneeuw. Puuren zuiver. Helemaal zoals het tot veertig jaar geleden in Tibetgeklonken heeft. Zo willen Namgyal Lhamo, Kelsang Chukie Tethong enTobden Gyamtso van Gang Chenpa – ‘Mensen uit het land van de sneeuw’ – zingen. In het huidige Tibet is dat vrijwel onmogelijk. Veertig jaar Chineseoverheersing heeft haar sporen nagelaten. Daarmee is het traditioneleTibetaanse