We’re pleased to be rolling out a new iteration of our website. Chief amongst the changes is that Dandin can now also be perused in English, and you can navigate the site in the language of your choice. This is to ensure that the music and other audio formats we host can be accessible to as wide…
A terrific artist who has recently appeared on our radar is Palestinian indie singer Terez Sliman. An exceptional voice and talent which she puts to use in a variety of ways, through her solo work or in plays, or with accomplished Portuguese musicians as part of the project Mina WorldMusic. Qasida Fi Zujaja (Poem in a Bottle)…
Following on from the artists of the year list, it’s time for the top ten albums of the year, as decided by our users. One important caveat before proceeding though; the albums need not have been released in 2015. This is a list of – through a combination of actions on the Dandin website – the most popular…
It’s been a fruitful year for independent and quasi-independent music in the Middle East. It has seen a spurt in budding genres making headway across the region, such as Hip Hop and Electronic music. But when it comes to what listeners on Dandin are checking out, Tarab, Pop and Arabic Rock still rule the roost. Here are the ten…
Do you fancy your fuzz a little pickled? A question no one would have thought to ask before but when Egyptian musicians Youssef Abouzeid, Ismail Seleit and Farid El-Sehrawy decided to create and build their own brand of pedals, with the first off the conveyor belt a fuzz/oscillator number called the Distorshy (a pun on the Arabic…
يوجد لدى الإسكندريّة ما يمكن أن أصفه بسلاح ذو حدّين، و هو نوع من الإنقطاع الزمني عن العاصمة، ففي حين أجد -و في رأيي الشخصي- أن الإسكندرية تعاني من شكل من التأخر في الحقبة الزمنيّة، مما يعطي لها ملمساً في المزج بين عناصر تتواجد في زمنين مختلفين، و ليس كأن الفنّان يعيد إحياء تراث مثلاً،…
Today we launch the very first Dandin Weekly Chart, which will be coming out every Friday from here on in. Every week on our Facebook page we will list the top 5 most listened to tracks, albums and artists on Dandin as picked by our listeners. We will also be including two separate playlists, one that lists the…
This is the first part of a series of articles that will take a look at up and coming musicians from the Middle East in various genres. As such if you’re familiar with the more established artists of the region’s independent music scene you most likely will not find them here. Rather, the featured artists…
We’ve been going a little crazy running through the new site and a byproduct of this has been a set of new and updated playlists by genre (though of course we use the term quite loosely). So whatever your poison may be, may you find it on this list. Tarab Playlist: Sonorous voices, searing violins. Hip…
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…
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: …
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