hamid zahir lile a sidi 3mara remix حـمـيـد الـزهـيـر

I do plan on articulating the theme of this blog a bit more down the road. For now you are going to continue to get a wide blend of world music, political music, chillwave (dilla, flying lotus type beats), a bit of hip hop and music that I think has pushed or is pushing change in the (music) world. I have decided to incorporate American Folk music into a separate blog, more on that soon. World music is always influencing neighboring countries and continents and eventually new music is formed (often in melting pots or political turmoil, i.e. hip hop) which incorporates styles and influences from various regions and cultures into the new form which may sound nothing like anything it is influenced by. This is why I pay attention to beats, melodies and trends from different areas of the world. It isn't always an easy task to listen to music from another culture or in another language but if you force yourself to listen, through the discomfort you may have, your music filter will expand and intensify greatly. Middle Eastern music is something we in the west don't often listen to or bother with (other than Indian music, for some reason we seem to embrace it) and that is a real shame because there is a wealth of beautiful music there steeped in many cultures, histories and religions. I doubt I will ever understand much of of it but my ears can now, through listening to enough of it, appreciate these sounds and begin to decipher what I enjoy and what I don't. Most of the Middle Eastern and African "Pop" (like pop everywhere) that comes out is terrible (and has a very cheesy, light sound to it, one exception is the autotune stuff that comes out of it which can be quite appealing at times) in my opinion but certain classic, timeless middle eastern music is often mesmerizing (especially when performed live). This performance by Moroccan Hamid Zahir and company is one of those timeless pieces of music. From the call and response to the rhythmic clapping to his skills on the strings, it doesn't let up throughout. Earth music.