With Love

Egyptian-born Omar Khorshid was one of the finest guitarists in the Arab world, accompanying the likes of Oum Kalthoum at a young age, before striking out to work in Lebanon and Syria. Widely celebrated in his time, a fatal motorcycle accident in 1981 prematurely ended the life of the 36-year-old musician. Now a reissue of his 1978 album, With Love, appears to have garnered a cult following over recent decades among those with a passion for ‘outernational’ sounds (supposedly Brian Eno is a fan).

At first listen this is understandable; With Love is a spacey blend of Arabic scales (as one might expect to hear them played on an oud) on twangy electric guitar. Khorshid is experimenting here – using distortion and synthesizers to create soundscapes that are both beautiful and harsh. Perhaps he was wondering what Jimi Hendrix might have done if he was an Arab? Khorshid had obviously listened to a lot of contemporary Western music – ‘Rahbaniyat’ is akin to The Shadows (if someone had spiked their drinks) – but he never just copies, instead infusing the music with strong Arabic flavours and his own wry imagination.