There are essentially two kinds of Arabic music; one is the type you hear on soundtracks to movies like The Hurt Locker which remind you of hot and sweaty days in a dusty desert, and the other is funky electronic stuff that reminds you of hot and sweaty nights in dusty nightclubs. This one is the latter, with some fun, funky and infectious beats, romantically nasal voices and exotic string melodies.
With this type of material from various artists from parts of the world like Algeria, Morocco, Syria and Spain, the instrument that is synthesized varies. For instance, vocalist Samira Saed’s voice features synthesized percussion, while Ahmed Soultan sounds like his own voice has gone through some electronic device. A synthesizer that sounds like a duduk (or is it vice versa?) is featured on “Sidi H’bibi” and the whole rhythm section sounds like a some electronic funk you might hear in a disc on Santorini on “”Narbat.” Lovely melodies on the oud are abundant particularly on “Lirah,” but this music is more for cruising the road or sitting back in a corner of a club and watching the world go by.