Sahara
Lounge
Putumayo presents Sahara
Lounge, a mesmerizing album of laid-back fusions
of traditional Middle Eastern melodies, rhythms and
instrumentation with cutting edge electronica, hip-hop
beats and remixes. Algerian rai, Berber music,
Sufi chants, and Egyptian al-jeel meet dub, trip
hop, break beats and funk resulting in a hypnotic and
captivating vibe.
Sahara Lounge includes six
rare and previously unreleased tracks. The work of the
innovative Lebanese electronica duo Soap Kills
has been available almost exclusively on their
self-produced, unreleased demo recordings. Ramin
Sakurai’s collaboration with Iranian artist Shiraz
has never before been widely released. Nabiha
Yazbeck’s “Astahel” has never been available
outside of the Middle East until now. The Jasmon
and Mohammed Mounir track “Hanina (Jasmon
Mix)” is hot off the presses in Germany. Bahia El
Idrissi’s “Arhil” has been heard only by the
lucky few who managed to get a hold of the his rare
Dutch release. Sahara Lounge also features a
previously unreleased remix of the Nickodemus and
Carol C. favorite “Cleopatra in NewYork.”
The exotic rhythms and melodies
of the Middle East have long served as a muse for
musical adventurers. Haunting desert blues of North
Africa, soaring violins that buoy Egyptian song poems,
trance-inducing Sufi chants, uplifting percussion of
raks sharki (aka bellydance) and soulful strains of the
Arabic oud are a few of the many different sounds
flowing forth from the dunes, bazaars, streets,
nightclubs and radios of the Middle East.
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