The blend of Western guitar music and Iraqi traditionals has made Ilham al-Madfai one of the most popular Iraqi musicians with a platinum record and a live album from the Hard Rock Cafe.
Born in Baghdad, young al-Madfai began to play music early on and started playing the guitar with twelve, forming the first Iraqi Rock’n Roll band with 18 and then – surprisingly – moved to England to graduate as an Engineer.
Although one hardly hears about it, the metal scene in Iraq is not nearly as dry and forlorn as one might think, in fact, there is quite a handful of bands that stretch from black to thrash metal.
On many occasions throughout history music has proven to be an outlet for silenced masses, an outcry even for all the emotional, physical and intellectual pain of society.
The most famous musical instrument of Iraq is the oud. It is widely spread over the Arabic world and the north of Africa. Its sound vibrates within the hollow body and is the typical soundtrack of the near and middle east.
The Oud - Instrument © Flickr / captain.orange
In its Arabian origin the oud is known as the king of instruments. It is considered to be the oldest musical instrument in its region of use and the name derives from the Arabian term for “wood”. It is central to tradition in eastern music. Its shape is very peculiar. A large and round soundbox is connected to a short neck.
Al Jazeera is an international news network. Its headquarter is situated in Doha, Qatar. It was launched in 1996 and has been pushed back against state-owned media all over the middle east and the Arabic world since then.
Al Jazeera © thaigov
Before Al Jazeera was introduced, regional broadcasting in most Arabic countries was poor. State owned news channels which were in general loyal to the government in charge, would not dare to criticize and ask questions to the ruling authority. Al Jazeera changed the landscape of journalism in the middle east and gave hope to a consideranle amount of oppositions in many countries.