Every so often you chance upon an artist full of talent and promise you can’t wait to hear what’s next to come from them. One becomes more appreciative when recognising the myriad difficulties musicians face in the region. One such musician is Alexandrian native Abdelrahman Abou Shelou, known as The Chikatura. We first came across Shelou…
A lot of music we listen to because it induces a certain relatable mood, one of a myriad of reasons why people like the music they do. Seeing as at Dandin we do what we want when we want (until our mother says otherwise), we’ve come up with a playlist of what we find to be mood…
By Abdel-Rahman Hussein: Sometime in mid-2011 I was, uncharacteristically, in my kitchen, doing the dishes or some other menial chore. I had the television on outside in the living room, tuned into one of the political talk shows that were de rigueur viewing at the time. Despite it being a time of upheaval punctuated by…
Last week Dandin was invited by the good folk at Mada Masr to regale attendees of Vent with four hours of music spanning the globe and decades of output. Nestled within this long list were some representatives of the Middle East’s contemporary music scene, and it seemed fitting that a Dandin playlist be created specifically for them. Admittedly the…
بالرغم من انتشار موسيقى المهرجان أو الإليكترو-شعبي على الإنترنت هذه الأيام إلا إنها لم تكن موجودة قبل ذك إلا في بعض منتديات موقع ياهوو وعلى موقع يديره شاب معروف باسم ’محمود مطبعة‘. هذا الموقع كان ولا يزال أرشيف شامل لهذا النوع من الموسيقى موسيقى المهرجان هي فرع من موسيقى الإليكترو-شعبي، وهي نوع من الموسيقى الخاصة بمصر خرجت…
One of the things we found most striking about Dina El Wedidi is her age. We’ve heard of her for quite some time naturally, whether as a solo artist or with the Nile Project or sharing the stage with the legendary Gilberto Gil. And yet she’s only 27. In such a short time she’s managed to win…
Make way for yet another end of year list, but it’s yours, the listeners, not ours. Here’s the top ten artists you listened to on Dandin in 2014: 1- Zig Zag: Dreadlocked crooner Zig Zag was the most popular artist on Dandin this year. He also scored a double whammy with the most popular track. 2- 100Copies Music: …
It’s all over the internet now, but for a time the music now known as Mahragan or Electro-Shaabi existed only on certain Yahoo user groups and a website run by a young man with the monikor ‘Mahmoud Matb33a’. Matb33a, a spin off from the Arabic word “Matba’a” means printing press, but the name was given…
This coming Saturday sees a music festival Dandin is very much looking forward to, boasting a lineup that includes some of the best live acts you would ever hope to see in Egypt. The Artivism Festival is the brainchild of a collective that aims to “use different art forms as tools to create social and cultural change.”…
By Sarah Carr: The turmoil of the past year has produced its own mawkish soundtrack, a genre of music rather grandiosely called “operettas” that has been the go-to format for lionizing the state. As initially exemplified by the Nasser era “El Watan El Akbar” (The Great Homeland), the operetta has travelled onwards past the corruption…
The Student DJ Program set up by Electrum Records is currently in full swing for the third year running. A battle royale of up and coming DJs, with two squaring off against each other every week, the competition has developed into a fully fledged series of events, starting with a bootcamp for the contestants and…
We often speak of hidden gems in Cairo, places, nooks and crannies that are tucked away within the immensity of the city. It isn’t often you have a walking, talking hidden gem, but Cairo does sport such a thing in Alan Bishop, of Sun City Girls fame. The Sun City Girls were an American experimental rock band…
Dandin 