Music of the Moment: Rahim Al Haj - Friendship
It’s been pissing rain for hours and I’m still at work, yet I’m in a good mood. Three albums of new music will do that for a person. Not only have I listened to three albums of new music so far today, I’ve listened to three albums of good music today.
I’ve listened to Rahim Al Haj’s Friendship, Round Mountain’s Truth and Darkness, and Terremoto’s Shadows From the Jungle.
I am a little surprised but the album that has impacted me most immediately is Friendship. I wouldn’t have bought the album if I didn’t expect to like it, but I assumed it would take some time and repeated listens for traditional Iraqi compositions for oud backed by an American string quartet to sink in for me. Maybe the time I spent listening to Al Haj’s Home Again prepared me for this better than I anticipated because the opening notes of “Friendship” captivated me. The music is beautiful and this is an album I’ll make time for many more times.
Terremoto and Round Mountain have left favorable impressions upon first listen but will require a few more listens to go beyond that.
Filed under: Tags: Music of the Moment
