“Gaza Corner” has been a long-running segment on Tangents with Dore Stein, and with Palestine on his mind now more than ever, he’s leaning towards songs that can focus his attention there. For this episode of On Repeat, Dore brought songs by Middle Eastern artists plus a detour in Nigeria to evoke a little Fela Kuti. Listen now through the play button above.
“At the heart of it is music that is either some sort of cross-cultural or genre-defying kind of sound.”
Intro: Adnan Joubran - “Signs of Madness”
Song 1: Wajdi Riahi - “Akahaw”/”Hymn to Stambeli”
“You'll hear a transition into his piano playing and into the music of Stambeli, which is a religious music kind of associated with Sufism as well.”
Song 2: Lagos Thugs - “Kalakuta President”
“I think the vocals particularly are just so in the spirit of Fela that I found this incredibly compelling.”
Song 3: Naissam Jalal - “Ya Roh”
“This song, the vocal is so plaintive that it makes me focus in a way where I'm really thinking about the suffering [in Gaza].”
Catch Dore Stein’s Tangents Saturdays at 9 p.m. on KALW 91.7 FM and kalw.org.