Syriana - The Road To Damascus (2010)

In a place where imagination and reality overlap, Syriana conjures up a soundscape of the busy Damascus streets, jewel-like houses and desert suns with a touch of spy movie menace in the mix. There is an otherworldly mix of Arabic and Western instruments: the qanun, the ancient 81-string Arabic dulcimer; double bass; electric guitar that symbol of Western popular music everywhere from Beirut to Texas; oud; viola; accordion; Arabic percussion; violins, courtesy of the Pan Arab Strings of Damascus. The Road to Damascus begins in London, when Nick "Dubulah" Page (Trans Global Underground and Temple of Sound), and Syrian Qanun player, Abdullah Chhadeh start a collaborative project discussed some years earlier. Nick and Abdullah were soon augmented by the Irish double bass player, composer and MD Bernard O`Neill, who had worked with Abdullah prior to Syriana. A project destined to develop and travel: The Road To Damascus will be reinterpreted live by members of the original cast where possible, along with new artists chosen to compliment the Syriana aesthetic and a striking visual backdrop of especially commissioned film and animation. Syriana is where imagination and reality overlap, where questions are asked, evidence is considered and stereotypes are demolished.

Review

".. a beautiful, suprising album..." -- Songlines ****

"The songs range from moody atmospheric pieces such as The Road to Damascus to the more gutsy Black Zil - which would both make great film music - and the adventurous The Great Game, in which a vocal chorus and drifting qanun solos are matched against thunderous guitar lines."
-- **** The Guardian

Tracklist:
01-01 Syriana - The Road To Damascus [5:35]
01-02 Syriana - Syriana [5:45]
01-03 Syriana - Gharibb [4:21]
01-04 Syriana - Black Zil [5:32]
01-05 Syriana - Galatian Bridge at Dawn [4:30]
01-06 Syriana - Al Mazzeh [3:31]
01-07 Syriana - Al Araby [5:57]
01-08 Syriana - The Great Game [5:04]
01-09 Syriana - Jannat al Dunia [1:09]
01-10 Syriana - The Templehof File [6:35]
01-11 Syriana - Al Ya Zain [2:53]
01-12 Syriana - Checkpoint Charlie [7:18]
01-13 Syriana - Love in a Time of Chaos [4:10]