npr’s 50 great voices series featured our beloved umm kulthum last week.

suheir hammad claims her oeuvre somehow derives its power to affect from islamic roots. there’s no doubting her style draws influences from koranic recitations (see vids below) but her music when amorous and political is decidedly worldly. i like the comparisons to sam cooke. the arab world is so steeped in the sights and sounds of islam that its cultural output draws on it regardless of its religiosity.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

npr has a short inta omri video clip.

some beautiful quranic recitations.


and some sam cooke why not.

Browse Timeline

• « pledge profane @kickstarter @UsamaAlshaibi
• » iannis xenakis’ persepolis polytope. [alex ross]