Full Trunk, a new Israeli blues-rock super group, has presented itself as one of the most talented bands in the Israeli rock scene. Their second album, “Time for Us to Move“, is a truly kickass performance, an explosion of music talent that gives Full Trunk a stamp of approval declaring them ready for the international market.

Their first single, also titled “Time for Us to Move”, is a funk blues rock song. But if you dig into the lyrics, you’ll eventually find yourself sucked unknowingly into the Israeli-Palestine conflict. It’s actually a sad story of all those people who live close to the border with the Gaza strip and have been suffering for more than 15 years from continued attacks on their homes.

This album – available on Bandcamp – will definitely captivate ears and hearts because of the superb combination of rhythms that you don’t find in most common blues rock records. “Time for us to move” perfectly mixes the genre’s sound with local Israeli/Mediterranean music influences.

In 2014, the Israel Blues Society selected Full Trunk debut album as the Best Blues Album for 2014, and chose it to represent Israel in the most prestigious blues event, the International Blues Challenge held in Memphis (Tennessee), USA, the blues capital of the world. This nomination becomes more significant as many top Israeli blues artists also released great albums that year.

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Full Trunk on Bandcamp, YouTube, Facebook, www.

One of, if not the most acclaimed alternative band from Jordan currently, Autostrad was born in 2007 out of a long-lasting friendship. Since then, the Amman-based group have recorded three albums and are currently working on a new full-length.

Recently they released a new single, “Habeetak Bel Turki”. We asked them about the song, their upcoming fourth album, as well as about the music scene in Jordan.

On “Habeetak Bel Turki”:

“‘Habeetak Bel Turki means’ literally ‘I love you in Turkish’. The idea of the song started quite a long time ago and didn’t take its current form until recently. It’s one of those projects that you keep in the archive but are always on your mind and just waiting for the right moment to put it out there.”

“The story behind the song started during the first years when the Turkish soap operas invaded the Arab world and were the symbol of romance for many youth. The song was a reaction to this development in our society and a way to say we have our own romance ‘landmarks’ in music, poetry, literature and cinema and more importantly in our daily life and our own language, we just need to look closer to what defines us and try to and try to avoid being a victim to Turkish soap operas.”

About the guest appearance of Kamal Musallam:

“Kamal Musallam is one of the musicians that we really appreciate, his work goes beyond the typical music making into actually modifying and building the instrument itself. He has worked with Ibanez to produce the first oriental guitar, and once that was out we were contacted by producer Mr. Khaled Al Jabasini who invited us to perform ‘Habeetak Bel Turki’ alongside Kamal Musallam at SweetSpot studio in Amman. The song ended up being a unique piece in our repertoire.”

On the upcoming album:

“Our current album is in the works, we take advantage of the long Ramadan nights to work on it in our rehearsal space and things are shaping up quite nicely.”

“This would be our 4th album release, and it’s quite different than the rest of our albums when it comes to the music as well as the themes discussed in the lyrics. As we always focus on the music, and on producing something unique and eclectic, we are trying to merge many styles together and still have that unique Autostrad touch in it.”

And the record’s main themes:

“The themes of this album are quite diverse but do converge at a certain point, after all everything is linked. The current situation in the Middle East is the main influence on our writing process, the Palestinian cause, the everyday life of the Arab/human being and this situation in the world where humans have less and less control over their lives and fates while everything seems to be more of a trend and where tragedy became a usual scene on our TV screens.”

About Autostrad’s origin – and its members’ music tastes:

“We are friends before being a band, we know each other for at least 16 or 17 years, and we have played in other bands together before as well as studied music together which created this real human bond between us and made us who we are today.”

“As stated before, we try not to constrain ourselves with a certain music style and you can notice that in our songs, some have a Reggae beat some have some Funky tunes and others could be classified as Rock. So we do listen to everything, as long as the music is good and inspiring.”

On the music scene in Jordan:

“A lot has happened in Jordan during the last decade music wise. A lot of bands formed, different genres, different ideas, many talented musicians and this is a very good thing for the music scene in Jordan and the Arab world in general.”

“We live in a time where we have been a bit disconnected with our heritage and mass media is throwing all kind of content at everybody’s face for the sake of money making. We think this is the time to create something local, something that Jordanians, Middle Easterners, Arabs can relate to, something that speaks to people the way they are without faking or seeking new identities.”

And about their favourite Jordanian song ever:

“There is one song very dear to us, a folklore song from Aqaba – south the country – that we made a cover of and will be released soon as a single:”

Autostrad on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, www.

Egyptian electronic band, Soopar Lox released their synth-laced debut album, “Semsesizer”, this month with rhythm, textures, and Arabic/English vocals that evoke a sun kissed beach somewhere in the Red Sea.

After attending many of their invigorating shows live, it’s exciting to see the band recording and releasing their work (and for free!) while finding a unique identity within the wide spectrum of electronic music from the region.

Check out the track “Sunrise”, and if you ever get the opportunity to hear them live: Go, dance, enjoy!

Soopar Lox on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, www.

Formed in 2012, Alif is an ensemble comprised of five musicians coming from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine. After an extensive period of touring, the group started working on “Aynama-Rtama”, their debut album to be released in early September.

“Holako (Hulagu)” is the first single off the album. It’s an upbeat song led by oud and buzuq, with a strong vocal melody, backed by ambient keys and groovy rhythms. The words are taken from a poem by an Iraqi-Assyrian poet and writer, Sargon Boulus.

The band members are: Khyam Allami (oud), Tamer Abu Ghazaleh (vocals/buzuq), Bashar Farran (bass), Maurice Louca (keys/electronics) and Khaled Yassine (drums/percussion).

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Alif on Facebook, Soundcloud, Twitter, YouTube.

Mina (مينا) means “port” in Arabic, and it’s the name of a unique new band whose members actually could have met in one of many ports of the Mediterranean Sea – somewhere in the middle between Portugal and Palestine, their home countries.

Mina’s two marvellous singers, Sophia Portugal (naturally from Portugal) and Terez Sliman (from Palestine), are accompanied by three Portugese musicians: Rui Ferreira, Helder Costa and Ricardo Coehlo.

Together they not only enhance each other’s cultures and music influences – from traditional music to modern jazz – but also life experiences, emotions and dreams. Just like in their beautiful song “Betti Sahrana”, a story about lovers from Tunisia, one with no happy ending:

Mina on Soundcloud, YouTube, Facebook.

Tuna (טונה) is a key figure in the Israeli music scene, well known and very respected. He’s been involved in multiple music projects for more than a decade now, but no one expected 2015 to be the year of Tuna in Israel.

A story of a broken heart, “Gam Ze Ya’avor” (“This Too Shall Pass”) captured the hearts of many. Throughout the video, Tuna argues that heartbreak will pass with time just like Netscape, Crocs, Walkman, “Macarena”, Tamagotchi, Samantha Fox and techno.

The song – which comes off Tuna’s new album “גם זה יעבור” available in its entirety on Bandcamp – is accompanied by a killer retro video brilliantly directed and edited by Naor Suki:

So while everybody’s trying to help, all scars will heal with time. Just stay cool.

Like the rest of the world, Israel is in the midst of a huge 90’s tidal wave. This nostalgic trip with Tuna is just what mainstream radio needed to put him on the throne as King Tuna of 2015.

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Tuna on YouTube, Facebook.

Rotterdam-based singer Sevdaliza made this utterly beautiful new track “Marilyn Monroe” with her go-to producer Mucky. We’ve never heard the Iranian-born artist this vulnerable before. The hazy and minimal production reminds us of the likes of FKA twigs and BANKS.

The song deals with the contradiction of fragility and strength: “Marilyn channels her fragility because it makes her strong,” Sevdaliza explains. “When she sings, she breaks and there’s nothing left to hide.”

Sevdaliza recently signed to Warp, so expect big things from her in the future.

Sevdaliza on Soundcloud, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube.

One, if not the most distinct YouTube phenomenon to have come out from Saudi Arabia this year is the video called “Kafil” (كفيل), or “Sponsor”. In its own special way, it raises the issue of labor exploitation in this country – especially of Pakistani immigrants.

The video was produced by the initially comedy channel El Jesr (الجسر), or Bridge, a slogan coming from the fact that they blend music and comedy in their work.

In “Kafil”, their videography is impressing. And the lyrics – a Pakistani enumerating, in a bad Saudi dialect, who builds houses, sewers and bridges for ungrateful locals – are hilarious.

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El Jesr on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

Daughter of actors and an acclaimed Israeli actress herself, Dana Ivgy (דאנה איבגי) has been also involved in directing and – now officially – music after the recent release of her debut album, “ID”.

The 33 years old songwriter started working on this release way back in her twenties. As she openly admits – sometimes it was a struggle. But the result as in one of the most diverse, sophisticated and simply charming collection of songs you’ll hear this year not only in Israel.

In the 11 tracks making up the 35-minute record – available in its entirety on Bandcamp – you’ll hear lyrics in English, Hebrew, and even some French verses. And the mostly acoustic/rock arrangments are pleasingly decorated with strings and brass.

If being a great actor or actress is about capturing and keeping attention of those in front of you, then Dana Ivgy has smoothly translated this talent into music.

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Dana Ivgy on Bandcamp, YouTube, Facebook.

The south of Iran has its own culture influenced both by African and Arabic culture, a distinct dialect and its own strong musical traditions especially based on rhythms.

Damahi formed in Brazil, during a trip of a dozen of young Iranian musicians to support the Iranian national soccer team in the 2014 World Cup and perform there, in collaboration with Dara Daraee, a professional sideman and session bass player who has the experience of contributing to different bands and projects in diverse styles.

The Idea of southern music of Iran and its connection to Afro music was with Dara for a couple of years. After traveling to the southern city of Bandar Abbas and Hormoz island and meeting Reza Koolaghani (vocal) and Ebrahim Alavi (acoustic guitar & oud) the Idea of this music took shape.

Hamzeh Yeganeh, as well, an experienced jazz and rock keyboad and piano player along with Shayan Fathi, a talented drummer and percussionist with a reputation as a jazz musician then joined the project.

World fusion music of Damahi is a blend of southern rhythms and melodies of Hormozgan province on the coast of Persian Gulf, groovy bass lines and jazzy electric piano smoothed with gloomy oud melodies and words in Bandari dialect. They translate the southern folk songs to the contemporary form which is familiar and new at the same time.

In the southern Iranian mythology, there was a giant deep-fish that inhabited the seas and local people called it “Damahi”. It was the provider of homeless people on the coasts and savior of fishermen stuck in the storm and companion of lovers. Damahi the symbol of Utopia filled with happiness and music-blessing.

Damahi’s debut self-titled album was just released on September 5th. “Mahalleye Khamooshan” (محله خاموشان), or “Neighborhood of Sleepers”, was released as the group’s first single ten months ago.

It is based on a folk song by Nasrok, an old wandering lyricist from more than half century ago who was putting people’s life into folk songs. This well-arranged song gets its soul from oud riffs and melodies played by Ebrahim and the deep and warm voice of Reza.

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Damahi on Soundcloud, Facebook, Instagram, www.

To a random Israeli listener Daniel Sapir’s self-titled debut album might seem as one of many – there are so many singer-songwriters of similar manners that it’s easy to take Sapir’s music for granted.

It takes a second and third careful listening to truly understand the great amount of talent invested in this record. Daniel Sapir (דניאל ספיר), whose main instrument is the contrabass, has carefully crafted a unique and inconspicuous album that puts emphasis on the smallest details.

It is also a very accurate representation of the current Israeli folk/soft rock music, and a well produced peace (Hila Roach co produced with Sapir) led by a very skillful writer and musician.

Sapir has collaborated with some of Israel’s finest young musicians who helped turn his soft singing and honest writing to one of this year’s most beautiful albums – which you can stream in its entirety here.

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Daniel Sapir on Facebook, Bandcamp, YouTube.

Collaborating with an exciting range of Arab contemporary musicians, the Jordanian collective ZA-ED NA+ES continue to release a series of riveting tracks on their SoundClound.

Their sound is expansive, dynamic and lacks limitations as each track is created alongside a featured artist. Be it indie pop numbers like “Shatteit” or the more folktronica sound of Alexandria-based Maii Waleed.

Maii lend her voice to Zaed Naes’ latest track, “The System” (السيستم). “How do you walk. How do you think. How to breathe,” that’s the only introduction the band gives us about this song. The interpretation is all yours.

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Zaed Naes on Soundcloud, Facebook, YouTube, www.

Egyptian musician Youssef Abouzeid has released his third EP under the PanSTARRS (بان ستارز) moniker with a dark, droned out alt-rock soundscape that is both eerie and captivating.

The post-rock, ambient undertones of the “Ghaby Ghaby Ghaby” (غبي غبي غبي) EP give the overall PanSTARRS sounds a more sophisticated direction, while still maintaining the sonic identity of Abouzeid’s preceding body of work.

While you can stream the album in its entirety on Soundcloud, here’s the opening track, “Khally Balak Hatmoot”, or “Be Careful You’ll Die”:

There is also something to be said for the EP’s artwork created by Egyptian artist Hashem El Kelesh, although I think it best for the listener and viewer to determine their own conclusions on the risky cover art.

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PanSTARRS on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook.

“We wrote ‘Olive Oil Soul’ in the summer of 2014. The music and lyrics explore what it means to be home. As youth, we are in this questioning phase, looking for our identity, our comfort zone, exploring new territories,” the Beirut duo Safar tell us about one of the songs from their debut EP, “23 Kilograms“.

“We are melancholic but also hopeful,” add Mayssa Jallad (the singer) and Elie Abdelnour (the guitarist). “You might find home in a grand gesture but also in the small things.”

“We recorded this track in November 2014 at Tunefork Studios in Beirut, with the input of our friends: our producer Fadi Tabbal on the guitar, Salim Naffah on Bass and Pascal Semerdjian on drums. Its video was shot by Farid Saleme, a good friend of ours.”

“We started making music together in 2013, so the music of ’23 Kilograms’ was written over a year and a half of experimenting with sounds and arrangements. We started out as a guitar-voice duo but have been collaborating with Lebanese musicians.”

“We usually write the song as a couple and test it in public either with a full band or acoustically. We later approach friends and mainly Fadi for the arrangements and recording.”

“As we are trilingual, we often think in different languages depending on the situation. We don’t really feel the need to limit ourselves with language choice. In our latest release, a follow-up EP called ‘Carry-On’, we released our first Arabic song called ‘Wa Namshi’, which translates to ‘And We Walk’. It is a more political song dealing with refugees and denial, and it naturally came out in Arabic, which is the language of the streets of Beirut.”

“The Lebanese scene is quite diverse, but mostly artists choose to sing in the language they are most comfortable with musically. We like to mix it up, throw in a wild card once in a while. Our identity includes both of these languages, so why not?”

“In general, when you sing in Arabic, you cater to the Regional crowd and the Diaspora. If you perform in English you will appeal to a more international or European audience. But it’s not black-and-white at all… Music constantly crosses the barrier of language. People really responded positively when we played ‘Wa Namshi’ in Europem where we went on a small tour last May.”

“We both learned classical piano since we were very young. We rebelled against it though and tried different instruments closer to the music we listened to. The guitar and bass meant freedom! We met through a mutual friend in 2009 and started playing covers together in pubs around Beirut.”

“It wasn’t until February 2013 that we wrote our first song ‘Sheets’ together after winning a competition for a music video. Since then our taste has evolved a lot, since meeting other musicians, especially Fadi, who’s influenced us tremendously. We used to listen to The Beatles and Norah Jones, but now we’re into Sufjan Stevens and Feist.”

“The music scene in Beirut is one of the most vibrant in the region, with a very diverse array of bands… Look out for them all! From our close friends Postcards and Loopstache to Who Killed Bruce Lee, Youmna Saba, Charlie Rain, Mashrou’ Leila, the Wanton Bishops, Fareeq El Atrash, Tanjaret Daghet, Kid Fourteen and also the classics such as Soap Kills, the Scrambled Eggs, the Incompetents…”

“All these bands are wonderful in their own unique way and Beirut it so small. We’re just a big family. A lot of these bands are now touring in Europe and the US, so who knows you might be able to catch a show of theirs around you!”

“The local music scene has been enriched by wonderful Syrian musicians such as Chyno, Tanjaret Daghet and Khebez Dawleh. Their music comes from such an honest and painful place that we can only respect their craft. The refugee crisis is definitely taking its toll on the regional morale and many musicians are addressing these issues.”

“Our ‘Wa Namshi’ is just one example of many musicians wanting to question important local issues such as the refugee crisis, the trash crisis, government violence and injustice… Music is always a reflection of society and although some bands don’t address these subject directly, you know they affect their daily struggles and could push them to want to try their luck elsewhere: to look for a new home for their music.”

“We’ve come full circle with ‘Olive Oil Soul’ here! Maybe because we are called ‘Safar’, which means ‘travel’ in Arabic, we are quite sensible to this concept.”

Check out Safar’s selection of their favourite Lebanese music here.

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Safar on Soundcloud, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, www.

Heartfelt sound of the Name band is quietly catchy from the beginning. With their minimal arrangement they try to reflect their personal universe in their songs. As they said, they are “searching for influential and colorful sounds.”

Name is an experimental electronic duo. Maryam and Milad, a couple from Rasht, the capital of the green northern province of Gilan. The band formed in 2010, and works with the Spanish label Oído Records. Now they are in the final stage of production of their debut album that includes this single.

Although their electronic style suggests different inspirations, they are influenced by baroque music and contemporary musicians like Arvo Pärt, David Lang and Aziza Mustafa Zadeh. Milad, an elecronic engineer, is more into electronic musical devices, but Maryam plays flute and is interested in singing in classical way.

Their ideal music is combination of electronic and acoustic instruments. But because of the limitations they have to work completely electronic. They do all the musical process including recordings, mixings and masterings by themselves at their home studio, that’s why Milad calls their works “more as demos”.

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Name on Soundcloud, Facebook.

With her Algerian-Tunisian-French roots, the unpredictable Israeli singer-songwriter Riff Cohen brings back all of her musical heritage into our post modern world.

Her deservedly viral video “Helas” (meaning “Too Bad”), released a few months ago, is a song about one of the basic characteristics of us humans – we want what we can’t have.

“I put on my glittery dress”, “put my sister’s high hills on”, “tatoos on my arms,” Riff sings in French (she also performs in Hebrew and Arabic). “But,” she adds, “you dont see me.”

Eventually, he actually does notice her. Too bad it’s too late. She’s already got her courage – after getting crazy about him – packed her sleeping bag, and left for Himalayas.

You can also check out Riff’s latest video, “Marrakech“.

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Photo by  Basile Tournier

Riff Cohen on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, www.

“The story behind the video is that it is a traditional Saudi song, which was originally written by Soliman bin Shuraim – a very well known poet, the studio 8iess tell us about their spectacular recent work, “Samry King”.

While the singer’s name is Misfer, the video was conceived and edited by Majed Alesa (ماجد العيسى), a Saudi director and editor deeply inspired by music.

“Majed wanted to bring the old music theme to actually create something more modern. He made it catchy by speeding the rhythm and westernizing the melody,” add 8iess.

“The edit made the poet and the song listenable for different types of people, and this is actually what our studio is all about to spread our ideas and reach as diversed people as possible.”

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Majed Alesa on Soundcloud, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube.

A new sound has arrived. They call it SHAMSTEP. A sample-ised and electrified mijwiz paves the way for the unique band called 47SOUL. They came from Jordan, Palestine, Syria and the US to work together in UK.

With a huge support from their fans – including me – they recorded their first album in London, calling it “Shamstep”, and opening the record with an amazing “Intro” to their new style:

The roots of their music lie in Arabic dabke, a celebration dance music that 47SOUL take to the present with synthesizres, drum machines, guitars, and great lyrics and singing.

These guys came to break borders and bring forth a new generation of Middle-Eastern Arabic music. Lucky us.

You can stream “Shamstep” on Bandcamp or buy it here.

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47SOUL on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, www.

Blues music with an Egyptian flavor is what you’ll find on “Bab Ellouq”, a new album from singer and composer Mostafa Rizk (مصطفى رزق), who recently presented his new material at Cairo’s venerated club Darb 1718.

While musically Mostafa constantly mixes blues with local influences and international pop, lyrically he gravitates to love ballads. And it’s no different with “Elkhir”, the latest track to surface on his music channels.

While it mind remind you of a more bluesy Cairokee or Abu Shabab, it’s a truly unique mixture of wide inspirations, clear style, and above all Mostafa Rizk’s charisma.

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Mostafa Rizk on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.

With over 50 gigs booked in Europe this year alone, keyboardist Islam Chipsy and his band EEK are pioneering an entirely new genre of music known as Electro-Shaabi.

Using a YAMAHA PSR A200 keyboard that is modified to express the Arabic mirco-tone scale gives Chipsy a wildly original sound that is amplified with his sinuous pitch-bending technique and his two drummers.

Catch him live if you can, but good luck trying to keep an eye on his rapid firing hands amidst all the dancing he induces.

Photo credit: Lars Ospad

Islam Chipsy on Facebook, Instagram.