Listening to Afaq Art Production's new single "Bejamalen (With Beauty)" performed by Ziad Kamal feels a bit like stepping out of a chaotic, sun-baked street into the sudden, vaulted vastness of an ancient sanctuary. https://open.spotify.com/album/7GbecQZE3yVH6enRaALvLk?si=seoOwwjgS_SE3MsuPg-rxw Kamal is only twenty-four. He manages the rather fascinating trick of balancing his daily life as a Mechatronics engineer with a profound, academic mastery of Eastern Maqams, violin, and oud. Here,...

Shrouded Day, the brainchild of Omaha-based flutist and keyboardist Dan M., returns with the 15th Anniversary Edition of "Legend of the Shadow-Touched." An album, and a hefty one at that, boasting 17 instrumental tracks that promise—and largely deliver—a journey into the slightly peculiar intersection of Tangerine Dream and...Jethro Tull? https://open.spotify.com/album/2NcQYI1T9FolykjnzQ8fh2?si=vluXdPMlQf-tuRO6WCw63g The core of "Legend of the Shadow-Touched" revolves around themes of alienation and personal growth. But...