(Le) Poisson Rouge 

Hailing from Syria and living now in Turkey, Omar Souleyman’s music is rooted in Dabke, a modern Levantine Arab folk circle dance of possible Canaanite or Phoenician origin. Called an “unexpected preacher of love,” Souleyman has become a worldwide sensation in modern world and electronic music circles, though he began his career as a wedding singer in Syria.

Not many could have foreseen that a wedding singer from Ras al-Ayn, Syria with over 500 albums under his belt would become a cult hero amongst world and electronic music connoisseurs. But there is an undeniable bond between the legacy the 50-year-old delves in—a synthesized version of Dabke—and so-called acid house. Artists like Björk, Four Tet (who produced his breakthrough album Wenu Wenu), Modeselektor and Gilles Peterson are honored to have worked with Souleyman. With so much strife in the modern world, Souleyman continues to sing about the theme of love. 

Souleyman's music was first brought to Western audiences through releases on the Sublime Frequencies record label, whose co-founder Alan Bishop performed on the Counterpoint series earlier this year.