Talk Islam » music

Saudi Arabia - land of Death (Metal)

aziz — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:29:27 +0000

Saudi Arabia - land of Death (Metal)

also, the Religious Police like to go bowling once in a while.

Ramadan mubarak! If you have kids, they …

shahed — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:59:07 +0000

Ramadan mubarak! If you have kids, they might like this little Ramadan song I put together for my kids (tune shamelessly cribbed from an old 80’s song). My kids love it; hope yours do too.

MMW Weekly Rundown

Fatemeh — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:34:19 +0000

This week on MMW, we reported on a new collection of Egypt’s first feminist writings, the sexism in Nawal el Zoghbi’s newest music video, played the Devil’s advocate in arguing about news coverage of Muslim women, and presented another incomparable link list.

Here’s a bit of Sunday levity: a song …

shahed — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:30:19 +0000

Here’s a bit of Sunday levity: a song called “If I Wasn’t Muslim” by Damir Niksic.

Scott MacLeod recalls 100 years of Umm K …

aziz — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:20:26 +0000

Scott MacLeod recalls 100 years of Umm Khalsoum, the famous Egyptian singer.

thabet — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:42:02 +0000

“Heavy Metal Islam”.

We’re half-awake, in a fake empire

thabet — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:26:31 +0000

We’re half-awake, in a fake empire

Question: in your opinion, how important …

willow — Fri, 30 May 2008 18:57:13 +0000

Question: in your opinion, how important are the musical scales in which the Qur’an is typically recited? (They’re quite ancient, and like most Middle Eastern music use a lot of quarter notes not found in modern Western music. My musical scholar husband thinks some of them may have originally been Coptic, an in turn ancient Egyptian.) I’ve been experimenting with reciting Quran in scales used for Irish and Benedictine chants, which feel less culturally alien to me. (I’ve also noticed that when I recite Fatiha in a Benedictine scale, the rhyme ‘pops’ more in my ears.)

What think you? Halal? Haram? Shall we consult Sheikh ul Nice Cars of the Unbelievers?

Per the request of the music director of …

shahed — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:08:30 +0000

Per the request of the music director of SXSW (that’s “South by Southwest” for the acronymically-challenged - it’s one of the largest music-related events in the USA), I’m organizing a lineup of Muslim bands of all genres for next year’s SXSW, to be held in Austin in March 2009.

The audience will be mostly non-Muslim indie music fans (and possibly more than a few record label folks), so the artists we select need to have the talent and the crossover appeal to pull it off (i.e., I think we’ll have to pass on bubblegum pop like the 786 Boys). Would prefer unsigned artists to give them a shot at visibility.

Any suggestions for artists we should court? I’d like to see Kareem Salama, Liza Garza, and Tyson, for starters.

I think they want to call it “Allahpalooza”. Not sure if that will fly.