Lebanese singer Melhem Barakat

Inspired to start a thread for him since I was just listening to some of his tapes, and I've never managed to generate much, if any interest in his music. And now I have just discovered he died last October. There is 2016 concert footage of him looking pretty spry.

Here is a classic to get things started while I do more digging. Not sure this is actually live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv1d5BRds3g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix1ilBA2hOU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuEtBC8MlqI

I like the frequently amazing rhythms and the slinky, engaging melodies. Many of his song that I like follow a structure in which a verse is sung a couple times (sometimes more); then the next verse, with a completely different melody, is sung a couple times; and it goes on like that. I think that's actually a very traditional way of doing things, but his overall style is his own.

Another banger:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSE1xK-JCQQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGBKYotcXgc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VLFLt5aJKc

Possibly my favorite Melhem Barakat songs. The slow beginning, the skipping rhythms, but also the completely gripping melodies and vocal delivery. Bittersweet perfection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fbSam4WKo0

Seriously, how anyone can not love those rhythms is not possible for me to understand.

I may be wrong, but I think this is basically a "set me free" song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riEz40i2bW4

So good. *heart .gif*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zWEHmITYAI

psycha-psycha

All these crying emoticons in the comments are make me feel a little bleary eyed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCGhhpMseyQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAF0eyjuQiw

good thread

There's more to come!

I've avoided saying it so far, but that girl in the blue top in the last video is destroying me. I think that's the same setting I've seen in a Sabah Fakhri video. I wonder if it's some sort of televised private party show.

Another favorite from my tapes (I basically don't know titles). Too bad the audio quality is even worse than my cassettes, because you can hardly hear some of the best details:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLW94RUgLXI

And this one is great too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9icdd6LPUr0

(What is there to say? You have the music.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g6cxlDDFFE

When music critics admit they need a "way in" that generally consists of some narrative or theory, they are admitting they are less immediately responsive to music than the average person. But after all, they can't actually translate music into words, so they have to find something ultimately peripheral to write about.

Where is the love for dad tarab?

I like this version of this song:

https://open.spotify.com/track/3RSw9b7c40KWlZLFr2yyw6

Difficult not to move during parts of this.

Will continue to think people are crazy for not loving Syrian and Lebanese rhythms.

Oh wait, but they have the labels wrong. The song I want is this, but I guess the real title is Erjaeily (but basically they are making up this transliterations on the fly):

https://open.spotify.com/track/7MBAEXoEJTzT8dE05iqIDQ

good thread

― bamcquern, Thursday, 28 December 2017 01:26