Dunya

Traditional African/Arabic/Berber songs that meld strong fem. vox with traditional Middle-eastern style and a clear western influence. Malouma’s singing is cool and understated, and the songs here range from Moorish desert ballads to driving R&B. Good stuff.

Track 1: Fem. choir + Malouma wailing, textured by traditional as well as modern strings and a steady, slow-to-mid tempo beat.

Track 2: Mid-to-up tempo. Happy dance song with Malouma’s raspy, passionate vox and fem. choir

Track 3: Slow tempo, repetitive chanting by Malouma plus fem. + male choir

Track 4: Pleasant guitar and keyboards, more sexy sounding (almost like lounge music)

Track 6: Starts with traditional Arabic wailing echoed by a pipe-like organ, then turns strangely modern at ~00:50. Great guitar interludes amidst trad. drumming

Track 7: Similar to #4

Track 9: Pleasant romantic ballad with fem. choir in background

Track 10: More African sounding, dance song with
lots of cool drumming

Track 11: Short, vocal-only track. Malouma sings with a male + female chorus humming in the background. Typical desert blues.

Track 12:Very Short and minimalistic. Vox. plus traditional stringed instrument.

My picks: 4, 10