Baligh Hamdi

★★★★ Modal Instrumental Pop Of 1970s Egypt

SUBLIME FREQUENCIES. CD/DL/LP

Respected Egyptian composer takes a trip on the wild side.

Having made his name as a songwriter for the biggest names in Egyptian music, in the late 1960s, Hamdi broadened his palette significantly by importing contemporary sounds from abroad and adding them to classical Middle Eastern orchestrations. If you ever thought rock bands experimenting with the East was the very vertex of exotica, this is a whole other level. His musicians – The Diamond Orchestra – were employed in search of a new modern hybrid just as other African nations were developing a new authenticity. On Ennai, he mixes hand drums with sitar and flute; zithers duet with electric guitars, sax and keyboards over majestic violin arrangements throughout Bambah; tempo change at whiplash speed; electric keyboards replicate the smells and sounds of the souq. If you’ve never heard of Hamdi before, you’ll wonder why Morricone and Barry got to be cult heroes first.