This week takes us to Afghanistan, exploring expansive soundscapes influenced by the traditional rubab and more!
Image: The Rubab in all its glory.
Tracklist
Ahmad Zahir
Az Tangnaye Mahbase TareekiQais Essar
Yaman (Alap)Badieh
Rubab IntroBadieh
Ney IntroFarhad Darya
Tarke IshqValid Delahang
Rag SohniUstad Rahim Khushnawaz
Asadullah Jan (feat. Karim Khushnawaz)Naujawanan Baidar
ZanjeerUstad Mohammad Omar
Rubab SoloZainab Herawi
Urban Band Dance Music: Logâri/ Mustafa/ Shishkebáb (feat. Anar Gol, Urak & Halimeh)Ustad Mohammad Omar
Rag PahariConscious Listening - Part 1
Born into a legendary musical family in Kabul, today Khaled Arman is one of the world’s leading rubab players, bringing this Afghan lute from folk roots to classical stages across Europe and beyond. Now based in Geneva, Khaled composes, performs, and teaches, keeping Afghan music alive and evolving through his acclaimed Ensemble Kaboul.Khaled Arman
Kabouli Bhairavi (En Dadra) (feat. Siar Hashimi)Conscious Listening - Part 2
Quraishi is a world-class Afghan-American rubab player. His father made him his first rubab, and ancient instrument belonging to the short-necked lute family, and indeed, his family lineage and earliest influences include instrument makers and musicians. Growing up in Kabul, self-taught Quraishi quickly became well-versed in the folk-styles and regional genrees of numerous ethnic groups, including Pashtun, Uzbek and Tajik. Quraishi also immersed himself in the principles of classical Hindustani music theory that constitute the foundation of Afghanistan’s traditional music. Since immigrating to the U.S., Quraishi has established a significant presence for the rich tradition of classical Afghan court music in the U.S.Quraishi
HeratiConscious Listening - Part 3
The debut recordings from Naujawanan Baidar, the latest project of artist and musician N.R. Safi. With roots in the now-endangered sounds of 1970s Afghan cassette culture, Naujawanan Baidar filters the traditional music of Safi's paternal heritage through a labyrinth of buzzing drones, tape manipulation, and fuzz-drenched percussion. Traditional folk instruments (both acoustic and home-amplified) like the rubab, armonia, sorna, and tabla, twist and melt into blown-out electrical storms, proving that one does not necessarily need guitars or any other standard western instrumentation to channel the trance-like energy of rock and roll. Had the dusty backstreets of pre-war Kabul birthed an experimental music scene paralleling German's krautrock movement, one can imagine that the results might have sounded a little something like this. These tracks were cut over the course of 2017 as a sort of sonic notebook, documenting the evolution of the project as it first took shape. Though the majority were originally conceived of as nothing more than demos or impressionistic sketches, the spontaneous and ramshackle approach of the tapes was eventually deemed more than befitting the spirit of the project.Naujawanan Baidar
Aftab Zadagi/Signal DisintegrationQais Essar
Basking In Morning Light Pt 1Qais Essar
Devotion At DuskQais Essar
Bhairavi Dhun (feat. Neelamjit Dhillon & Sandeep Singh)Qais Essar
Bhairavi: Aochar AlapQais Essar
Pahadi: Dhun (feat. Absolute Focus, Kamajeet Alhuwalia & Jas Alhuwalia)Homayun Sakhi
KataghaniZoland
Afsaneh Eshgh