Sumud

Niyaz – Sumud
Reviewed by Sadie O., 5/31/12
Middle Eastern songs and instruments with some modern upgrades and subtle electronics – and Azam Ali’s amazing voice. Always a joy to get a new Niyaz CD, although sometimes it’s so pretty I get choked up. Not usually a problem with the sorts of things I tend to listen to, ha ha!
No FCCs, fer sher. All in Iranian, Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic, etc.
1. 3:56 ***swingy swinging groove with pretty hand percussion, sort of an Eastern dance groove. Traditional folk song from Iran.
2. 3:36 ****downbeat but with nice percussion and electronics. I think they hit the butter zone in this mix. Kurdish folk love song.
3. 4:41 **slow, sweet echo-laden electronics, bits of instruments, lovely vocals. Iranian love song, trance-y.
4. 5;41 ***very pretty vocal warbles, echoes and stringed instrument. Song about a holy city and the need for peace and rebuilding. Slow, rather sad, with soaring male vocals as well as Azam Ali’s ethereal singing. Picks up, and gets some cool electronics in the mix.
5. 5:40 ***drones, slow, swingy and traditional sounding music. Ancient mystical poetry made into song.
6. 4:18 ****midtempo, downbeat, traditional instrumentation with just a bit of floaty electronics. Old Turkish mystic philosophical poem set to music. So lovely.
7. 4:06 ***midtempo lopsided swingy groove, traditional Iranian folk song. Seems like something to sing to make work easier, somehow. Both male and female vocals.
8. 3:22 ****rather uptempo and upbeat, swingy syncopation, danceable. Palestinian, rearranged by Niyaz.
9. 4:36 **complex loping beat, downbeat, echo-laden. Another ancient mystical Iranian poem.
10. 6:25 **mysterious floating chords, pretty dulcimer-like instrument. Very slow, mystical song of divine love.