The Rough Guide To The Music Of Afghanistan [2CD Special Edition with a Bonus CD by Ahmad Sham Sufi Qawwali Group]

Editor's info:
Compiled by world music editor and film maker Simon Broughton, this unique album brings together the traditions of a country that suffered under a radical ban on music imposed by the Taliban between 1996 and 2001. Although he died in 1979 aged just 33, Ahmad Zahir is still the most popular musician in Afghanistan. Known as the 'Afghan Elvis', 'Leili-Jan' is a love song and one of his greatest hits. A hugely popular Pashtun singer in the 1980s, Naghma left Afghanistan once the mujahideen came to power and when the Taliban fell it was her music, recorded in Pakistan, which was the biggest seller. Her song 'Meena Dakhklo Sanga Kaygi' is about a young girl asking for advice. Mahwash is the most respected female Afghan singer around and this album features her Sufi track 'Gar Konad Saheb-E-Man', as well as 'Mola Mamad Djan', one of the country's best-loved songs. Ahmad Sham Sufi Qawwali Group is one of the most highly regarded qawwali groups and their music can be explored further on the bonus CD.

Since the overthrow of the Taliban, commercial radio and television have transformed the music scene and documentary shows, such as Afghan Star (a sort of American Idol contest), have had a massive impact. Setara Hussainzada is one of the most interesting characters from the Afghan Star phenomenon and even received death threats after her headscarf slipped slightly when on stage. Her song 'Zim Zim Zim' was composed by Nainawaz and is massively popular. Winner of the third contest in 2008, Rafi Naabzada, an Uzbek from Mazar-i Sharif, sings a duet with his fellow contestant, Hameed Sakhizada, an ethnic Hazara, on 'Sabza Ba Naaz Mea Ayad'. The country's most famous contemporary pop star, Farhad Darya left the country in 1990 and now lives in the USA. This album features two of his songs: 'Salaamalek', recorded in 2006 with bestselling German rock musician Peter Maffay, and 'Salaam Afghanistan', his big hit in 2004 when he returned to Afghanistan for the first time in thirteen years.

Afghanistan's national instrument is the rubab, a chunky plucked lute with three main strings and this album features three rubab players of different generations: Ghulam Hussain, the best player currently living in Kabul, Ustad Rahim Khushnawaz, a veteran living in Herat, and Homayun Sakhi, who now lives in California. The dambura, a traditional Afghan short-necked lute, is also performed on this album by Mehri Maftun and Safdar Tawakuli.

This album showcases some of the different regional and ethnic styles of Afghanistan, and whether it is sung in Pashtu, Dari, Uzbek or Hazaragi, music is seen as a unifying force and for that reason alone, it deserves to be better known.
Bonus Artist Album by Ahmad Sham Sufi Qawwali Group

The Ahmad Sham Sufi Qawwali Group has been performing for more than thirty years and is one of the most highly regarded qawwali groups in Afghanistan. Featuring an array of instruments rarely heard outside their homeland, the Ahmad Sham Qawwali Sufi group are part of a vibrant musical tradition that stretches back more than 700 years. Banned from performing under the Taliban reign, these musicians now publicly reunite to present the healing and spiritual power of qawwali music to Afghanistan and the world.