Pakistan, 2019, khyal
Ustad Saami – God Is Not a Terrorist: First off, what’s khyal? According to RYM, it’s “a style of north-Indian classical music, derived from a vocal form, and is the predominant style in today’s classical Hindustani music.” The constant (not annoying) droning on this album creates a sense of mystery and space, and that space is filled with male choral singing and chanting. The protracted vocalization evokes a sense of timelessness, like when the sun is at is zenith in an unclouded sky. Though it’s rather easy to track the movement of our fiery orb when it lies on the horizon, when it travels above us, its movement is pretty much undetectable. It hangs there, burning and unmoving, like this music.
Museum Musica 