Various Artists - Desert Roses & Arabian Rhythms II

As on the first Desert Roses & Arabian Rhythms, the ambiance here is dance-oriented and club-friendly, which is at once unsurprising and perfectly authentic. Modern Middle Eastern pop is youth-oriented and notoriously open to intercultural experimentation, but some novelties work better than others. Rachid Taha's percussive, bass-driven "En Retard" is one pick hit, and Cheb Mami's string-driven "Baida" is another. Khaled's "Trigue Lycee," Sabu and Arabian Fantasy's festive "Yala Habibi," and "Albi Htar"--a live track by Ragheb Alama and Faudel--are also worth the price of admission. Oojami's "Instanboogie," which is simply annoying in the living room at high noon, sounds fabulous at 2 a.m. after a few drinks. However, Shani's "Call of the Wild" is trite and cliché-ridden, and "Take Me, I'm Yours" reduces the queenly Tunisian diva Latifa to fatuous rhapsodizing about desert trysts and camels. Ultimately, though, this mixed bag will delight worldbeat techno fans. --Christina Roden Amazon.com

More Arabian Music to Dance To

A continuation of the wonderful "Desert Roses & Arabian Rhythms" CD, this one continues with even more Arabic pop music. Many of the favorites from the first CD return, like Rai legends Khaled, Cheb Mami and Faudel, Tunisian pop star Amina, and the legendary Hakim. Theres also plenty of new names.... pop singer Shani, techno masters Oojami and Zohar, Lebanese pop singer Nawal al Zoughbi, and Sabu & Arabian Fantasy. If you liked the first CD, then you'll love this one.

Once again, the focus is on crossovers between Middle Eastern and Western music. It opens with a rap duet done by Hakim and Olga Tanon, the resulting fusion of Egyptian al-jeel and Latino hip hop is incredibly fun. The following track, a pop song by Europop winner Amina, features the use of Tunisian bagpipes (ghaita). There's Rai from Algerian stars Khaled and Cheb Nasro, techno dance beats from Oojami, and Arabic pop from Nawal al Zoughbi. For English speakers, there are two English songs here "Call of the Wild" and a version of Squeeze's song "Take Me I'm Yours", with guest vocals by Latifa and Arabic musical sounds thrown in. Others highlights include a duet between Ragheb Alama and Faudel, Mediterranean ambient techno sounds from Zohar, wild Algerian rock from Rachid Taha, and the almost Celtic sounding Rai song "Baida" from Cheb Mami.

All in all, this is a great CD if you like Arabic music, particularly crossovers between Arabic pop and western music. If you don't have the first CD, go out and buy that one too (and probably the third for that matter). You'll want to after you hear this CD. Sure, there are plenty of great Arabic artists left off of these CDs, but its a good starting place if nothing else. Trust me, you'll love it. September 2, 2006

Musical delight

This CD provides for a unique exprience in the merging of music worlds. It introduces new musicians to research and expand one's music repertoire. Glad I got it. July 3, 2006

Lots of Middle Eastern Fun

If you like the sort of Arabic style pop music, this is the album for you. It's fast-paced and catchy, as well as diverse. Almost each song is dance-worthy.
A strong recommendation toward this album, and the Desert Roses 2 is great too. August 19, 2005

Just the 1st song is worth the price!

I like this CD. It is not as good as the first version, but the first song (Olga Tanon/Hakim) is incredible! I can't get it out of my head.. I listen to it constantly. Perhaps that's because my Arabic fiance and I met while living in Spain and I find the blend of Arabic and Spanish irresistible...

I would definitely recommend this CD - but if you're new to this style, buy the first version and Arabic Beats. And if you're into world music, I highly recommend Buddha Bar III. It has some great Arabic music (Amr Diab!), some Hindi, Spanish and various other world styles. December 20, 2002

Awesome!

I caught about 2 minutes worth of this CD on an NPR music program, and liked it well enough to order the CD immediately!

I have never really been exposed to music like this, and love it. It is high energy, other worldly music, and very complex - and absolutely perfect for dancing around the house by oneself!

If everyone in the Middle East listened to and enjoyed this music, there couldn't possibly be any problems.

Am now ordering the Volume I version... June 7, 2002

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