Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Najwa Karam - Rouh Rouhi

Rouh Rouhi is one of the songs that instantly come to mind when thinking of Najwa Karam's lengthy repertoire. The album opens with Atshaneh, which in the vein of Pascale Machaalani's Albi and Samira Said's Al Bal, has the distinct Indian flavor which was popular at the time. The remainder of the album is made up of more Lebanese-style dabke songs and ballads. Imad Shamseddine dominates most of the album, and composed the hit title song too. Wissam El Amir composed In Raddayt Alayk and Joseph Joha composed El Wafiyeh and Areftou Albi La Min, another heartfelt and unforgettable song. Like most of Najwa's late-1990s albums, Tarek Aakef arranged all of the songs.

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1. Atshaneh
2. Areftou Albi La Min
3. Rouh Rouhi
4. Kif Bdawik
5. Ma Berda Ghairak
6. El Wafiyeh
7. In Raddayt Alayk

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Thursday, February 4, 2010

Mayada El Hennawi - Habbeina

Baligh Hamdi once said that Mayada El Hennawi's was "...an angelic voice that demands your attention." The great composer only wrote the lyrics to two songs in his musical career, and they both went to Mayada El Hennawi. She became a muse of sorts, and his last work, Andi Kalam, went to her also. After Mohamed Abdel Wahab's jealous wife had her barred from Egypt, Baligh traveled with his orchestra to Greece to record her songs, as did many of the top composers. Two of the greatest works Baligh Hamdi composed for Mayada are Habbeina (also known as Habbeina Wethabbeina), which is written by Abdel Rehim Mansour and Fatet Sana, written by Sayed Morsi. Habbeina (I've Fallen in Love) is a hopelessly romantic and upbeat tribute to newfound love, while Fatet Sana (A Year Has Passed) is a melancholic song about losing touch with a lover who is far away. The music is characteristic of ever-evolving 1970s-1980s Egyptian music, with a traditional oriental orchestra accompanied by a keyboardist, bassist, and guitarist.

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1. Habbeina
2. Fatet Sana

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