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Eastern Sounds Go West

Yasmine Hamdan gained an underground following in Beirut with the electronic duo Soapkills. Her solo debut is infused with sounds from Paris, where she moved several years ago.
Nadim Asfar
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Courtesy of the artist
Yasmine Hamdan gained an underground following in Beirut with the electronic duo Soapkills. Her solo debut is infused with sounds from Paris, where she moved several years ago.

World music DJ Betto Arcos is a frequent guest for weekends on All Things Considered, and he's noticed a curious trend recently — something he likes to call "musical encounters."

"You have musicians who are originally based in the Middle East, or come from the Middle East — specifically Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia — and they're coming together with musicians from the western part of the world, specifically from Europe," Arcos says.

Host Arun Rath sat down with Arcos to talk about a few musicians who have twisted strands of Middle Eastern music together with influences from France, Spain, Sweden and more. Hear their conversation at the audio link, and listen to some of his picks below.

Musical Encounters

Jordi Savall

"Samai Maqam Bayati" From 'Orient-Occident II, "A Tribute to Syria"'

Dhafer Youssef

"Fuga Hirundinum "Birds Requiem" Suite" From 'Birds Requiem'

Yasmine Hamdan

"Bala Tantanat" From 'Ya Nass'

Ibrahim Maalouf

"Nomade Slang"

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