Why is it when we are faced with different music, different instruments, different styles and lyrics in a language unfamiliar to one’s own, it is easy to dismiss it as ‘ holiday music’ or ‘music from the middle east’. Why don’t our ears and minds open up to the differences? Is it because it’s incomparable to most things we listen to? Is it a lack of [our] education? Is it because we can’t compare therefore we don’t know whether it’s any good? We can appreciate the beauty of a different language or sights of a country far away. But, listening to middle-eastern music when we are surrounded everyday by western music, makes it difficult to take in and appreciate.
I can’t tell you whether this is ‘any good’ although if you want a sample you must listen to Side 2 Track 1, ‘Dari E Yeounik’ – it is brilliant. I suspect, overall, it is and you can certainly see how someone like Robert Plant can explore and discover ‘new music’ and then bring it back to Western audiences. There is enough variation, colour, intensity and buoyancy within these tracks to appreciate the final results. But it is an eclectic mix so if you can open your mind, have the time to enjoy and perhaps partake in a ‘coffee’ or two you may well easily appreciate music from a different time and world.
