Yas Khedr (1938-2023) | Two Cassettes

 Admonitions & Mawawil (Date Unknown)

We woke early this morning to the news that Iraqi singer Yas Khedr passed away in mid-August. Blessed with powerful and expressive voice, Khedr began as a reciter of the Koran and in the 60s released a string of hit 45s, including "Al-Hadal," "Abu Zarka," and "Al-Mukair." Dubbed the Voice of the Earth, Khedr's career spanned six decades, with his last recording released in 2022.

We've got two cassettes by this remarkable artist; first up is something from the 1990s or aughts, "Admonitions & Mawawil." An incredible recording, with minimal instrumentation including percussion, oud, a single string instrument, a very suppressed keyboard of some kind, and Khedr's mind-blowing voice up front in the mix.

(Listen to "Forgive Me سامحيني")

Download the whole cassette here

Azaz (1988)

In addition to "Admonitions," we'd like to share this 1988 live cassette, "Azaz."

It was not entirely clear where each of the tracks began, so rather than cut up the recording and risk mislabeling anything, we kept each side a whole. Both sides are 30 minutes long and well worth a full immersion.

Download the whole cassette here