Middle Eastern Spring

In the wake of the 2011 Arab revolutions, previously-ignored underground music scenes are receiving lots of media attention. American news weekly Time Magazine recently interviewed Tunisian rapper El General; meanwhile, here in the Czech Republic news weekly Respekt is running a series of Middle Eastern alternative music videos (you’re welcome ;)). Want the full picture? Load up Radio Wave’s Jukebox streaming service, select Friday Ripple from the programme menu, and click the show marked 15.04.2011, for a 2-hour guide to the hottest sounds coming out of the region in 2011.

In the meantime, as some added-value text stuff, here’s a guide to:

6 Middle Eastern artists to watch out for in 2011

1. Maryam & Shift Z [Egypt/Lebanon]
Egyptian singer-songwriter Maryam Saleh first appeared on the music scene as the vocalist of Cairo alt-rock band Baraka. The daughter of Egyptian dissident playwright Saleh Saad, she began a new direction in 2010 with a provocative electro single Esla7at (“Reforms”) recorded with Lebanese producer Zeid Hamdan a.k.a Shift Z - probably the single important figure in the story of modern Arabic alternative music. It was Zeid Hamdan’s early-2000s trip hop group Soap Kills which fully established that it was possible to have a distinctly Arabic form of modern electronic alternative music, and that this could also be internationally successful. Since then, Hamdan has founded the independent label Lebanese Underground Records, and produced numerous releases for Lebanese and other Middle Eastern artists as well as his own projects. Hamdan and Saleh are collaborating in 2011 on a forthcoming project – you can already hear the first demos on Lebanese Underground’s Soundcloud page.

2. Boom Box [Iran]
Ignored by Arabs and Europeans alike, the Persian underground scene continues to be one of the most innovative musical subcultures in the Middle East. Boom Box is one of the biggest bands of the past year there, and they’re a prime example of why this scene is so exciting. This is the sound of a distinct culture with its own musical traditions, and some phenomenal ways of updating those traditions for the 21st century dancefloor. At present we’re somewhat short of background information on Boom Box – for obvious reasons, artists in Iran are not publishing much biographical information these days. When Iran eventually and inevitably has a revolution, Persian electro will hopefully get the same kind of global attention that Arabic hip hop has been getting in 2011. Until then, you can find the Friday Ripple’s guide to the Persian underground here.

3. Dr Jeez [Saudi Arabia]
Fusing Arabic melodies with Jamaican and West African influences, Dr Jeez is one of the most promising reggae artists to emerge in recent years. He first found fame in Saudi Arabia with an Arabic cover of Michael Jackson’s Earth Song, but in the past year he’s ditched the pop route, choosing instead to release a series of reggae singles with remixes by Nigerian and Indonesian producers. Something special is happening here; watch out for a forthcoming album.

4. DAM [Palestine]
The original Palestinian hip hop crew are set to return with an as-yet-untitled new album in summer 2011, a follow-up to their game-changing 2006 debut Ihad’/Dedication. In a year where Arabic alternative music is getting international attention, DAM deserve some serious respect for being the originators of hip hop as a means of political expression in the Middle East, starting with their 2001 single Meen Erhabe/Who's the Terrorist. Although best known for their criticisms of Israel, DAM are equally vocal on issues ranging from corruption in Arab regimes, to women’s rights in the Muslim world. Long before rappers like El General became the de facto voice of dissident Arab youth, DAM had set out the blueprint. We look forward to their return in 2011.

5. Rayess Bek [Lebanon]
Long a major player in the Lebanese hip hop scene, rapper/producer Rayess Bek is an artist who consistently surprises and delights. In the past half decade he has consistently been one of the most inventive creators in hip hop – not just fusing Arabic and Western elements, but also bringing together modern and classical musical traditions, and mixing live instrumentation with electronic production. His latest release Thawra (Revolution) is yet another surprise, with samples of crowds from the Arab Spring uprisings over a hard electro-industrial production. Rayess Bek has a new album dropping later this year – find out more on his website.

6. Yousef Kawar [Jordan]
Producer and multi-instrumentalist Yousef Kawar is a master of downtempo guitar/electronica soundscapes. A prolific artist, Kawar is behind a wide range of projects, ranging from multimedia works to electronic duo Manam. Yousef Kawar makes chillout music par excellence, and you can find plenty of it on his blog.

All this and more is available for streaming on demand from the Radio Wave Jukebox archive, now! Select Friday Ripple from the programme menu, and click the show marked 15.04.2011. The full playlist looks like this:

Rayess Bek – Thawra [Lebanon] (Lebanese Undergound)
Maryam Saleh & Shift Z – Eslahat [Egypt/Lebanon] (Lebanese Underground)
Ramallah Underground feat. Lethal Skillz - Min Ill Kahef [Palestine/Lebanon] (Peace Revolution 2.0)
Soap Kills - Enta Fen [Lebanon] (Lebanese Underground)
Y.A.S. - Oloulou [Lebanon/France] (AZ)
Boom Box - Biya baghalam [Iran] (Boom Box)
Boom Box – Aroosi [Iran] (Boom Box)
Bikya – Betrayal [Egypt] (100 Copies)
El General - Rayes Lebled [Tunisia] (self-released)
Arabian Knightz – Prisoner [Egypt] (Arab League Records)
DAM - Mali Huriye (I Don't Have Freedom) [Palestine] (Red Circle Music)
DAM - Born Here [Palestine] (Red Circle Music)
Autostrad - E7na En7abasna [Jordan] (Jeeran)
The Incompetents - Urinal Blues [Lebanon] (Incognito)
Shift Z - Eskat el Nizam [Lebanon] (Lebanese Underground)
Mashrou3 Leila – Fasateen [Lebanon] (B-Root)
Eileen Khatchadourian - Karouna [Armenia/Lebanon] (Incognito)
Lahab Band – Kundalini [Tunisia] (Jeeran)
Dr Jeez feat. Rhyme - Ma Ahad [Saudi Arabia] (Magic Record Label)
Dr Jeez - Jarhee (House version) [Saudi Arabia] (Magic Record Label)
Manam - What We Know [Jordan] (self-released)
Yousef Kawar - Desert trip [Jordan] (self-released)
Barobax feat. Gamno - Oon Manam [Iran] (self-released)
TM Bax - Khoshkele Tehroon [Iran/Denmark] (Voodoo Records)
Khaled M feat. Lowkey - Can't Take Our Freedom [Libya/USA/Iraq/UK] (Urchin Studios)
Lumi - Banging in the Stars [Lebanon] (Lebanese Underground)