Central Asian Music

When it comes to music I am as anti-hip as they come. Being hip is a burden that Arivaca Man has no desire to bear. I much prefer to be uncool and not have to worry about keeping up on the latest trends. I rarely purchase music and when I do it is never the cool new stuff that all the kids are listening to today. No, instead it is usually some eclectic collection of folk and pop tunes from some country in the Greater Middle East.

I got a new CD while I was in London. It follows in the tradition I described above. I purchased the Rough Guide to the Music of Central Asia at the Borders on Charing Cross Road. I figured I should have some Central Asian music to accompany my writing. I really like the Rough Guide World Music Network series of CDs. Out of eight CDs in my collection three of them are Rough Guide collections from the Islamic world. I have the Turkey and the Rai collections as well. Often I listen to the Turkish one when writing about Meskhetian Turks.

The Central Asian CD is interesting. Alot of the stuff, particularly from Kazakhstan is rougher than I usually like, however. On the other hand I like it alot better than anything I have heard on the "cool alternative" radio station out of Tucson. For some reason most of that music just sounds like noise to me.