VA - Oriental Rocking Beats: Exotic Club & Chillout Grooves (2012)

Artist: Various Performers
Title Of Album: Oriental Rocking Beats: Exotic Club & Chillout Grooves
Year Of Release: 2012
Label: EMI
Genre: World, Chill Out, Lounge, Downtempo, Electronic
Quality: mp3
Total Length: 02:25:28
Bitrate: 320kbps
Total Size: 427 Mb

Tracklist:

CD1
01. Gorillaz feat. Bashy, Kano & The Ntional Orchestra For Arabic Music - White Flag (3:44)
02. The Chemical Brothers - Galvanize (6:33)
03. Malik Adouane - Shaft (3:17)
04. Amr Diabfeat. Cheb Khaled - Albey (4:23)
05. Cheb Rayan feat. Jalel Hamdaoui - Golou l'mama (4:01)
06. Natacha Atlas - Yallah Chant (Edit) (3:05)
07. David Bowie - Let's Dance (Club Bolly Extended Mix) (7:57)
08. The R.E.G Project - Harem (3:24)
09. Thievery Corporation - Illumination (4:30)
10. Prem Joshua - Shiva Moon (Moon Nectar Remix) (6:38)
11. Angela Dimitriou - Magarites (Said Mrad Club Edit) (4:01)
12. Eastenders - Sex And Cookies (3:33)
13. Elie Attieh - Inta Omri (Electro Mix) (4:29)
14. Said Mrad - One Thousand & One Nights (alf Leyla Wlayla) (Remix) (5:44)
15. Beirut Biloma - I Wanna Dance In Beirut (Said Mrad Remix) (4:32)

CD2
01. Prem Joshua - Darbari NYC (6:56)
02. Natash Atlas - Duden (Original Mix) (6:40)
03. Dania - Leily (Transglobal Underground Mix) (4:45)
04. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Mustt Mustt (Massive Attack Remix) (3:36)
05. David Bowie - Abdulmajid (3:31)
06. PJ Harvey - England (3:07)
07. Bliss - A Quiet Conversation (6:08)
08. Rabaz - Majestic Maksoum (5:04)
09. Nitin Sawhney feat. Ojos De Brujo - Shadowland (3:31)
10. Ilham Al Madfai - Chal Chal Alayea El Rumman (Chill Chill Remix) (6:16)
11. Kadim Al Sahir - Baghdad (Kathora Al Hadeeth) (Trancglobal Underground Main Mix) (5:07)
12. Spiritual Brothers feat. Darwish - Surrender (Ejazeh) (4:58)
13. Malik Adouane - Raissa (4:50)
14. Omar Bashir - Ambiуnt Oud (3:59)
15. Prem Joshua - Tangerine Thumri (7:08)

Dubai-based record labels don’t have huge resources to plough into local acts. But the local branches of big internationals do have access to huge stockpiles of recordings – something EMI Arabia has exploited well with this big summer release. The mission statement is encapsulated by the second track, The Chemical Brothers’ ‘Galvanize’, which pits a Moroccan string sample against the duo’s pounding beats. From Mumbai to Muscat, and Islamabad to Isfahan, Oriental Rocking Beats (a nod to The Chemicals, no?) collects 29 more danceable tracks injected with the flair of Arabia or the Indian subcontinent.
It’s a mixed bag. Subtitled ‘Exotic Club & Chillout Grooves’, the two discs are split neatly in half according to those two themes. Despite some standouts – Amr Diab’s ‘Albey’, Prem Joshua’s ‘Shiva Moon’ – the clubby disc isn’t consistent enough to put on at a party. The lounge grooves side is a grower, though. Tellingly, it’s Western remixes of Arabic tunes – the very concept of the set – that hold the flow together: Massive Attack offer a respectful reworking of Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s ‘Mustt Mustt’, while Iraqi guitarist Ilham al-Madfai’s wistful improvisations on ‘Chal Chal Alayea El Rumman’ are tastefully transported on this Chill Chill remix. Two odd tracks stand out – PJ Harvey’s Mercury-winning, acoustic lament ‘England’, and David Bowie’s ambient instrumental ‘Abdulmajid’, an outtake from the late-’70s Berlin Trilogy, which makes up for the bafflingly ugly Club Bolly Extended Mix of his ‘Let’s Dance’ on the first disc.
It’s a far from seamless set, but there are interesting fusions to be found, which can’t fail to teach both an Eastern and Western audience plenty about the other. We rather think that’s the point.