Just copying and pasting a few recommendations I recently posted on another forum:
Egschiglen - "Gereg":
This is the current album of a band from Mongolia (who now resides in Germany). Their music is played on traditional instruments and they often practise the traditional overtone/throat singing. They also have a female singer who sings with a "normal" female voice (i.e. she doesn't practise throat singing). To read more about them, go to
this page. Unfortunately, there is currently only one song for downloading available in the mp3-section. It's from their previous album "Zazal" and might sound like "ethnic BnB". But you also find some clips on youtube.
Ghalia Benali & Timnaa - "Wild Harissa":
Ghalia Benali is a singer/dancer from Tunisia. In spite of the English title of this album, she sings all songs in Arabian. As for the music itself, I'll just cite a bit from the CD-booklet which contains background information as well as translations of the lyrics in French, English and German: "Timnaa's music has many roots - classical Arab music from Jordania, Iran and, above all, Tunisia;...Andalusian guitar sounds and jubilant fiddling that transports the listener to another world...Virtuoso violins, Flamenco guitars and Arab percussion array her expressive, profoundly emotive and smokey voice from Tunisia to Andalusia, with excursions to the Balkans, Brazil and back to the Middle East." As this description already suggests, the music is mostly very lively.
Unfortunately, it seems Ghalia Benali doesn't have an official website and the clips of her you find on youtube aren't songs from "Wild Harissa".
Divahn - "Divahn":
Instead of trying to define their music on my own, I'll just quote from their
official website which sums it up pretty well:
Divahn infuses traditional songs with sophisticated harmonies and arrangements using tabla, cello, rabel, doumbek, violin and other acoustic instruments, plus vocals in Hebrew, Judeo-Spanish, Persian, Arabic, Aramaic and Turkish.
Their beautiful lyricism flows through an intense rhythmic drive. The group distinguishes itself as the only all-female ensemble performing Mizrakhi-influenced music (Jewish music from
the Middle East and North Africa) in the US, and has performed with some of the worlds most renowned master musicians, including Glen Velez and Anindo Chatterjee.
Divahn, a word common to Hebrew, Persian, and Arabic, means a collection of songs or poetry. Through its music, Divahn seeks to underscore common ground shared between diverse Middle Eastern cultures and religions. The group captures the breadth and diversity of Mizrakhi and Sephardi music throughout the centuries, while simultaneously creating and redefining innovative directions for the music in the present.
You can listen to their songs and buy their CD
here. There are also a few clips on youtube.
Maybe I'll add some more recommendations soon - if I should find the time.
