Omar Souleyman, Syrian street folk-pop

October 23, 2010 9:08 AM

Omar Souleyman, is the Dabke Demon. Dabke is that wild line dancing thing they start doing 30 seconds in. Mahmoud Harbi (at 0:47) is the man who follows Omar around on stage, whispering lyrics in his ear.
posted by nickyskye (18 comments total)

How wild was it? I dunno, they never showed anybody's feet!
posted by charlesminus at 9:36 AM on October 23, 2010

Omar Souleyman played in Amsterdam on my birthday last year while I was there.
posted by gman at 9:45 AM on October 23, 2010 [2 favorites]

A friend sent me the first link a couple of months ago, that synth is crazy. The girls are gorgeous!
posted by Max Power at 9:56 AM on October 23, 2010

The thing I remember most about seeing him was the incredible chest-bashing bass, but none of that comes across in any of these clips.
posted by bonaldi at 10:03 AM on October 23, 2010

And anybody who thinks that Sublime Frequencies are making millions off the back of people like Omar Souleyman is a fool who doesn’t know the realities of that independent and passionate basement floor of the music industry which the label inhabits. I’d be surprised if they make enough to run an office, pay a few peo- ple a living wage and keep releasing the music they love.

Thank you Andy.
posted by iamck at 10:05 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

This is good stuff - thanks for posting it!
posted by jquinby at 10:12 AM on October 23, 2010

HOORAY! A new dance style to learn! Like Pokemons, I must Catch Them All.
posted by gusandrews at 11:01 AM on October 23, 2010

<whisper>drink your ovaltine</whisper>
posted by zippy at 11:14 AM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

That's hot!
posted by puny human at 12:21 PM on October 23, 2010

Less Omar, more dabke!
posted by Faze at 1:03 PM on October 23, 2010

The whisperer is cute, must be the moustaches! I like this
posted by The Lady is a designer at 1:40 PM on October 23, 2010

Dabke, previously.
posted by jquinby at 1:57 PM on October 23, 2010 [1 favorite]

It looks less like they're dancing, than as if their clothes are.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:46 PM on October 23, 2010

Cool post, nickyskye. I just heard of Omar for the first time a couple weeks ago, when a friend from Holland (seems he's somewhat well known there) sent me some of his music. Great stuff.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:05 AM on October 24, 2010

Mahmoud Harbi stands next to him on stage and sort of chain-smokes. And then he will whisper in the ear poetry that he's writing at the moment on the top of his head, and Omar will sing it immediately in the microphone what he heard.

From this article
posted by empatterson at 1:14 AM on October 24, 2010

Now, singer and composer Bjork. That's evidently how you should pronounce the name spelled B-J-O-R-K.

I'm going to call my local NPR station and cancel my pledge after that lead.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 3:55 AM on October 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

My friends' virtuosic Hasidic punk band is going to open for him at Johnny Brenda's in Philly soon. I am REALLY excited for the show!
posted by nosila at 6:36 AM on October 24, 2010

This is so good :) And the Syrian women are absolutely beautiful! No wonder they make them wear veils.
posted by puny human at 4:39 PM on October 25, 2010 [1 favorite]