For many of us, Iraq doesn't bring much to mind except fugitive Ba'athists, Saddam Hussein, continuous (senseless) warfare and daily suicide bombings.
Choubi Choubi! Folk & Pop Sounds From Iraq hopes to change our limited perception. Culled from various cassettes and LPs released between 1970 and 2002, this collection of vintage Iraqi pop and folk tunes explores a small subset of the land's musical culture.
Several styles feature in these 16 tracks, with the heavily rhythmic and traditional choubi being the most prominent. Along with its driving rhythm, choubi regularly features violins, oud and double-reeded instruments, providing for many variations without altering the style's easily recognizable beat. Unfortunately, as is often the case with Sublime Frequencies' compilations, credits for these songs were limited and the artists who performed them weren't identifiable, including those who recorded "Choubi Choubi" and "Mawal / Choubi". The former's furious fiddle playing is complemented by a sultry female singer, creating a sexy, exotic, engaging listen. The latter is slower, with a heavy chorus and breathtaking exchange between instruments. Bawin's "Ya Binaya Goumi" begins peacefully, but the speedy, incredibly precise playing eventually wrests control of the song from its female vocalist.
Other styles featured on Choubi Choubi! include bezikh, basta (an urban Baghdadi style) and the hecha. While each style has its own traits, the khishba, a nomadic hand drum, is a common instrumental thread. "Segue Bezikh" exploits the drum's rapid-fire progressions, while reed instruments seem to sway along with the rhythms. The hecha style, featured on the unnamed "Track 6", features a throbbing tempo accented by the drum's rat-a-tat-tat rhythm. On "Oh Mother, The Handsome Man Tortures Me", the khishba is played so quickly that it sounds like an industrial drum machine -- complete with a heavy layer of distortion. The three featured cuts from 1970s Iraqi Socialist Party mouthpiece Ja'afar Hassan are eccentric, psychedelic-laced folk. "They Taught Me" and "Palestinian" are an interesting mixture of Western and Arabic sounds, with a touch of '60s garage rock, heavily strummed stringed instruments and funky keyboard riffs. Hassan's powerful and emotive vocals glide gracefully over the beats, presumably expressing his left-wing beliefs.
Unfortunately, if you want to hear more from these musicians, you're probably out of luck: most of the original tapes (and possibly some of the artists) are now lost among the wreckage and baseless destruction of Iraq's cities and countryside. Consequently, Choubi Choubi! isn't just a wonderful introduction to Iraq's worldly sounds -- it's also a timely historical document that has saved some of Iraq's unique musical culture from extinction.
