Rashid Sales is back in the CD distribution business!

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This is very good news, for me anyway. They used to have the best selection of Arabic music of any distributor I was familiar with. I will have to take a look at what their current catalog is like.

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 16 November 2003 00:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Disappointing (only a hanful of Farid CDs?), but maybe they are just getting started again as a general distributor for this type of music.

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 16 November 2003 01:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Fun to browse anyway. They have an odd combination of stuff, including their own series or archival recordings.

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 16 November 2003 02:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Do they mostly cover older stuff or is a lot of it current?

― Keith Harris (kharris1128), Sunday, 16 November 2003 03:07 (twenty-two years ago)

It's a mixture. The catalog is very jumbled though (no real separation by category or artist), if you just browse through it, so it helps if you know the names of artists and use the index. Probably a little heavier on older material, but they definitely do have contemporary things as well.

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 16 November 2003 03:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I get lost pretty quick when I get outside of rai, and even there I mostly know the big names/tracks. Any recommendations?

― Keith Harris (kharris1128), Sunday, 16 November 2003 03:27 (twenty-two years ago)

If you're interested in contemporary things (other than older artists still working in genres that aren't as popular, or anyway dominant, anymore), then I don't have anyone much to recommend. I have some semi-recent songs that I like, on tape, but don't know the performers. (I also don't have a very functional tape-player/recorder.)

You might possibly like the Egyptian singer Ahmed Adaweia (aka Adaweyah), whose songs don't sound too much like rai, but are similar in spirit and have strong dance rhythms. But the CD they carry (which seems to be the only CD widely available by him) uses traditional instruments. I can't seem to find him on the artist list, but I saw that CD listed while I was browsing.

Hannan is pretty good, as Egyptian "New Sound" goes, but I can't give her an enthusiastic recommendation.

Maybe H. has some suggestions, if he's around. (Also, see the thread: "Arabic music not elsehwere classified," or something like that.

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 16 November 2003 04:06 (twenty-two years ago)

(There's a little weird electric organ or synthesizer on at least one song on the Adaweia album, so it may not be entirely trad. instruments, but it's still not very electronic or even electric.) Some really good songs. I've heard most of these in more modern versions that still sounded good.

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 16 November 2003 04:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll have to check that out, thanks.

― Keith Harris (kharris1128), Sunday, 16 November 2003 04:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I've developed kind of "purist" taste in Arabic music. What I hear of current Arabic pop (I'm not really thinking of North Africa, though) just seems to get worse and worse, so I haven't made any effort to keep up with it, even though there are bound to be at least some songs I would like. But my tastes in music, in general, tend to be pre-80's, aside from Afro-Latin music and some marginal stuff mostly outside the commercial realm, plus a million other exceptions, but still. . .

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 16 November 2003 05:28 (twenty-two years ago)

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