Elias Rahbani - "Dance Of Maria" & "Smile For Me" (Mosaic Of The Orient) Arabesque Records, 1974/2012

The folks over at Arabesque Records have recently reissued this excellent gem, Elias Rahbani's Mosaic Of The Orient; a tripped out mix of Eastern and Western sounds originally released in two volumes in the 1970s, the best of which are compiled here. The Rahbani Brothers are often thought as being the first to bring Western sounds into Lebanon. In fact, younger brother Elias Bahbani is considered to be "the godfather of modern Lebanese music," since he wrote music for pretty much every Lebanese artist singing in English or French in the 1960s. Music Of The Orient is filled to the brim with sick beats, electric organs, and a variety of tripped out Eastern sounds. Check out "Dance Of Maria" and "Smile For Me" below.