E IS FOR EGYPT
Umm Kulthum (or Oum Kalsoum/Oum Kaltsoum, which, I gather, depends on the accent in which it pronounced, or the difference between anglophone and francophone dubbing) is the definite Egyptian, North African and Arabic singer, and exactly what one would imagine Arabic music to sound like: sensual, throaty, a lover’s lament becoming a minaret call. This is just a random anthology I found on Spotify to become acquainted with Kulthum’s singing so I can’t attest to how representative it is, or how good in comparison to others. But it’s great and bone chilling, sometimes reminds me of tunes in Soviet films that I grew up with, and sometimes seems absolutely foreign but painfully beautiful. So what’s not to like?
