Rupturing the lines between Heaven and Hell

As a follow-up to the Filistine post, here's the kick-ass DJ Rupture's Gold Teeth Thief mix -- a free mix that was so good, I bought the CD. This was my introduction to Rupture's music, music that's deep and rich, that's about cultures and the blurring of lines between them, even as his mixes underline the importance of those cultures' rich heritages. His work is about far, far more than adding a drum machine to some old Egyptian tune, and his blog, Mudd Up!, is not just about cool native music, but about the politics and cultural implications of using that music.
There's a cool new post over at Glided Serpent that's a mostly ol' skool dancer roundtable*, and they start of with the question, for me, at the core of Rupture's music, asking "How has music contributed to the phenomenon of fusion in Middle Eastern Dance?".
Having such rich and complex music at hand makes it easier for me to approach that Middle Way. For me, it's the creative tension between tearing away from raqs sharqi and hewing to it's traditions. I think there's a rich energy in that space that's yet to be explored -- what happens when you bring sagats ("zills") into a high-BPM music? How does layering hip-hop onto a slow Oud-driven tune change your dance? What, indeed, is the line between "real" middle eastern music, suitable for raqs sharqi, and something flat out outside of it?

Listen to Rupture, and tell me what you think...


* I'll be coming back to this; there's a wealth of ideas in that roundtable to admire and despair over.