I've been recently enjoying the "desert blues" of Saharan Africa. When you think about the harsh climate and political history that peoples of this region have faced, it seems only natural that powerful and soulful music would emerge similarly to American blues.
This music combines guitars with traditional African instruments such as flutes and harps and finds structure around percussive rhythms that stay with you long after you shut off the stereo. Although you probably won't understand a word of the lyrics, you get the strange sense that you know what they're singing about purely through their emotive tones.
