We’re happy to say that since last week it’s been available as an iPhone application as well, which you can download here. Screenshots below:

- Completely revamped web application
- Better navigation
- Ability to easily view, share, add and explore bands
- New player
- Ability to create your own personal collection of favorite tracks
- Ability to receive suggestions for other bands based on your favorite tracks
- An iPhone application that syncs with your collection
… And more!

We think the site speaks for itself – so please head over there and check it out! http://mideastunes.com

Our mission is to bridge barriers of faith and geography to unite young people committed to fostering constructive discourse in the Middle East through music. The core of the project manifested from our desire to promote bands and musicians that would otherwise never be given a second glance in the international scene. We feel that is because most people would never think to look to regions like the Middle East and North Africa for highly thought provoking music. The need to change this is our driving force. We believe music can change the world and that the musicians of the Middle East and North Africa will lead the way.

Founded in 2010, the site has expanded to serve as a primary resource for discovering up and coming Middle Eastern talents. We’re proud of our quick progress and awaiting to unveil amazing new parternships ahead!

In the meantime, enjoy the tunes and discover the very best of the underground music scene brimming from our region: http://mideastunes.com

Please watch and share this video widely. Special thanks to Farah Salka from the Migrant Workers Task Force for her assistance.

To understand the severity of the situation, you can follow @MigrantRights on Twitter, which contains constant updates of migrant rights abuses in the region as well as this page on CrowdVoice:

Don’t forget to connect with us on Facebook:

The protesters demanded the closing of the private broadcaster Nessma TV, which broadcast the film. Hundreds of attackers later attacked the house of Nabil Karoui station manager and set it on fire.

The film Persepolis from 2007 is based on a comic who lives in France. Iranian author Marjane Satrapi talks about her childhood and youth in Iran. She was nominated for an Oscar and won the Cannes Film Festival with a special price. Iranian filmmakers are becoming in internationally acclaimed works deal with the political and social reality of their country. Including Jafar Panahi.

In 2006 he received for his film Offside, the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in February that he would even sit on the jury of the Berlinale – but was allowed because he was under house arrest for not leaving Iran. Now he must go to prison for six years. As state media reported on Saturday, Panahi failed on appeal, his sentence was confirmed in this instance. The 20-year career and travel ban on Panahi has also been maintained.

If you saw the film you will understand it is a classic piece of art that needed to be shown all over schools in the Mideast ,many youth will find them connected with the tale of freedom against tyranny of radical mind ,the protester leaders may win points in the election but had lost for them self and the new tunisa points in respect ,open minded and the hope to build a model state to lead the Arabic future as they did when the lead the Arabic revolutionary movements , I believe they went out to stop the warning message of the movie against radical domination  of power in name of Islam ,and they used the God image as excuses.

This idea has drawn my attention, through it’s ease, simplicity and in the same time creativity in which it gives each person the space to be creative in his own way, that is; you choose the theme, idea and place of your video, and when and what to comment, and after that, a documentary will be made, featuring videos collected about this day from all countries of the world.

One Day On Earth is a 3 years old idea, being first thought of and planned in early 2008, and executed for the first time in 10.10.10, and it was a total success; videos from all countries of the globe (192 countries, just imagine) were collected and viewed, including videos from war-torn countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, and the famine-savaged Africa.

This year, everyone is looking forward to this day to implement the idea he/she is thinking of, and to show the whole world how his/her country is on this day, making this day of 11.11.11, truly, one of a kind.

Registering for this event can done through the following link:  www.onedayonearth.org

Heading a WebZine like Blood or Love and a site like Mideast Tunes tends to make the act of self-evaluation a frequent voluntary and welcome exercise.  The reason for this is simply because the “payoff” from what I do is almost immediate.  Both projects’ core revolve around the desire to promote bands and musicians that would otherwise never be given a second glance in the international arena due to the plethora of extremely obscure projects that crop-up out of nowhere everyday.  That, and, the fact that most people from the West would never think to look to regions like the Middle East for new and interesting music.  I felt the need to remedy this because I truly believe that the unique sociopolitical and culturally oppressive environments of these regions will eventually give rise to a musical revolution as powerful, and as widespread, as that of metal and hardcore punk.  No, it won’t come in the form of a new genre or attitude toward music.  It will, in its unapologetic candor, remind the world of just how powerful music can be.  It is our life-line in the sea of copyright lawsuits and dieing corporate labels that is engulfing us all; people will start to remember that music is an entity independent from race, culture, social class, gender, religion, and political leanings.  It is, much like most of the creative arts, a constant tangible reminder of our shared humanity.

Every time I get a reaction along the lines of, “WOAH!! AND THEY’RE FROM WHERE?!?!”, whenever I introduce someone from the US or Europe to bands like Al-Namrood, Thamud, Qafas, and Odious, the phrase “mission accomplished” may as well be tattooed across my forehead in bright red ink.  The ability to connect people from different regions, mentally and physically, via music that has personally moved me brings fulfillment like that of which I have not experienced in a long time.  So sit back, relax and always remember to keep your mind open when listening to something unfamiliar.  You never know, it just might be something that will change your whole life around.

I kinda lucked out with this one. A friend happened to get me into personal contact with Busac of Smouldering In Forgotten for an interview via email. As people know, I’m very fond of conversational interviews any way I can get it other than verbal. This was an interesting one that spanned a total of two weeks with a week of inactivity due to hurricane Irene interrupting my trip back home from a much needed two day vacation spent in Michigan. How the world works in the Mideast is opening up, if not ever so slowly, to those in the US and it’s a very positive thing. So many here hardly know anything about people living there and music helps bridge that gap. Interviews help even more in that vein and this one was excellent in that respect (and in every other way I might add). As always, enjoy the read and getting to know Busac!

What made each of you choose metal as the primary medium in which to express yourselves?

I suppose it just came naturally. We were all friends before starting the band and all had this common attitude and were interested in mostly the same music because we enjoyed all the chaotic aggression found in more extreme sides of metal.

How did you guys come to get into metal, never mind the more extreme sub-genres, in Bahrain? Consequently, how did you all meet and come to find that you had the same attitude/ideology?

Our main exposure to metal came from the Internet. A few years back, metal albums weren’t usually available in music shops around here, and if they were they’d usually be more mainstream bands. Nowadays, metal in Bahrain is growing little by little and albums are easier to come by. My personal experience and interest in this music primarily came from watching a local underground gig years ago, that atmosphere is what really encouraged me to listen to this type of music.

It’s because of small local gigs that our paths crossed and helped form a bond between people here. We all liked the dark atmosphere,and we all like the rebellious and independent nature behind the music and it inspired many of us.

Since it was so hard to find the music, I am betting that it was just as hard for you to pick up instruments when you finally decided to do so. Which instrument attracted you and how did you go about your search to acquire it? What was the learning process like? Were you able to find any teachers in Bahrain for the instrument?

Almost all metal musicians around here are self taught, which is also a reason why many get frustrated and give up. For myself, I started learning guitar almost 9 years ago on my own and then about 4 years ago started to learn drums too for the sake of the band to play live (there aren’t many drummers around here). The learning process was a bit difficult since there was no one to guide us in the right path, we relied on each other for support and encouragement. There are a few music institutes around the country but resources are very limited and are usually aimed more towards basic training only, not so much when it comes to a more advanced level.

So it seems that that made you guys come form closer relationships with each other than most people do in bands over here. I know that in Bahrain, metal is very much looked down upon by society. How do you deal with that and still stay committed to the music that you love? Is living a double life necessary?

Sometimes living a double life just happens on its own because people generally do find it odd that we play loud music such as this and they believe that it is still a phase that we will eventually grow out of. This is one of the bigger challenges we face here because not many people are willing to dedicate a lot towards their passion in music, so when society starts playing a negative role then it just kills it for them completely. The thing that really encouraged us was hearing positive reviews from our releases, usually coming from abroad through social networking sites or album reviews.

As such, what’s recording albums and playing live for you guys like? I’m pretty sure that you can’t record your stuff in professional studios over there, right? What’s the live scene like over there? Tell me about the first time that you ever played live in a band.

Things have been dead here for quite some time but have started to improve recently. We couldn’t find a proper studio at the time so we had to literally make our own out of a bedroom. We invested and took the time to learn the proper steps to make it happen, it was a real struggle. Our experiences playing live is the reward that comes from all the hard work, when we are finally able to see what our music means to people. My first live experience was in 2004, I was a guitarist in a cover band, as soon as I got on stage I knew this was where I wanted to be. Good thing is that within the last 2 years, the number of gigs is starting to increase and there is finally a professional studio opening up soon, Rabble Rouser Studios, for metal bands to record in.

That sounds great! It should also make things easier for bands looking to be signed. Being how small Bahrain is, I’m sure that that almost every metal musician knows about one another in some way. Would you say that you all help support each other despite any differences you may have in approach to music with one another? I read that Mardus played a large role in keeping musicians connected over there, in what way was he able to accomplish that?

Actually you described it perfectly. Metal fans around here form a small community, maybe even a family. I don’t think there are any two bands in the country who haven’t already played with each other in gigs at some point and remained in touch afterwords. We encourage each other, offer whatever help we can for other musicians, even provide facilities if we have any. For instance, my bedroom studio was used to record for many bands besides our own, including Narjahanam, Lunacyst, Extinction Imminent, Punks Not Patriots, Scarlet Tear, and even more solo acts that have yet to be released.

I wouldn’t say Mardus keeps musicians connected, but rather he is an inspiration to many people here, including myself, for having his own vision and actually being able to accomplish it with Smouldering In Forgotten as well as Narjahanam. I haven’t met that many vocalists over here who can growl like him, and moreover, I haven’t met many musicians in the region who can pull off Arabian styled metal as well as he did with Narjahanam.

Ah, I see. So he was one of the first successful musicians from your country, basically. Do musicians from your region tend to work with those from the surrounding countries as well, i.e., the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc? Where did you guys come up with the name “Smouldering in Forgotten” by the way? I’ve been wondering that for awhile.

We’ve had the opportunity to go do Dubai last year for a gig and are actually going there again late September to play in the “Obscura Live In Dubai” gig. Bands from Saudi, such as Sound of Ruby, have come over to Bahrain almost regularly for gigs, Nervecell once came to Bahrain too a short while ago. The only band we worked with in terms of writing music was Al Namrood from Saudi Arabia, Mardus agreed to be a session vocalist for one album and it was recorded in my bedroom studio.

“Smouldering In Forgotten” is a phrase in the song “Upon This Deathbed Of Cold Fire” by Goatwhore. This band was a big influence on us at the time we started the band and it just sounded cool.

Reading your lyrics, they’re very interesting. What inspires them and who does the lyric writing for the band? Also, you mentioned Goatwhore being a huge influence on you guys, any other bands influence your sound as much? Where did you guys get the artwork for your albums? They’re pretty damn good, especially for your 2010 release.

The lyrics were a journey of their own that took a whole year to get done. For our last album, we worked with a good friend of ours, Hammers. He has always supported us so we wanted to involve him in this release somehow. We know he’s an amazing story teller so we sat in lots of brainstorming sessions before deciding to tell a whole story throughout the album, with each track representing a certain event leading to the next. We won’t reveal the details of the story though, you need to do that on your own through the lyrics. All I can say is that it revolves around many themes like revenge, insanity, myths, war… etc.

Goatwhore was definitely a big influence when we first started the band and it really shows in our album “Legions Into Black Flames” in terms of music. By the next release we decided to add a little more variety from other genres, making it more atmospheric, a bit of death metal here and there, some thrash, classical, and even gothic at one point. So it’s a little difficult to name the influences there, it was just a whole lot of experimentation.

The artwork of “I, Devourer” was done by Killustrations, really amazing artist with a twisted taste, definitely a wonderful opportunity to have worked with him. The artwork of the previous releases were designed by us.

For you personally, what keeps you motivated to do what you do, i.e. creating music and helping musicians around you?

For me, it’s just seeing how people react and respond to my music that motivates me. I’m not saying I’m an amazing musician or composer, but I’ve been getting positive reviews so far so that lets me know that I’m on the right track. This is also what makes me want to help people because I know that not everyone has the resources or the time to do everything they want to. I was fortunate enough to be able to commit enough of my time to learn how the recording process works, but others don’t always have this time. If not me, then who?

Creating music is an almost entirely different story though, I can never trigger it no matter how hard I tried. Sometimes it just hits me and I already have a full vision of a song and sometimes I feel like I struggle for months before writing anything. It’s hard to determine what really does it for me, but I try and maintain a certain level of quality in anything I write so I end up not using and forgetting many things I come up with.

Does your interest in music extend to other styles or do you just stick to the extreme genres of metal? Do you have any long term plans for yourself in music? Is there are particular goal that you want to achieve before you are able to “retire” with satisfaction? How does Smoldering In Forgotten fit into those plans?

We occasionally write stuff besides metal, it’s usually more geared towards classical I suppose, an example of this was the ending of “Spiritus Nes Sancti,” that ending inspired the rest of the song. I personally try to explore other music styles as well, as evident in the band Scarlet Tear. Give it a listen and I hope you enjoy it.

My only goal is to go wherever my music takes me. Right now I’m planning on studying music at a well established college, but other than that, I guess we just want to leave our mark in Bahrain’s metal music history.

Seems like you’ve left a pretty nice mark so far. I would like to thank you for doing this interview with me, it’s been a great pleasure and I learned quite a bit about the music scene there. As a closing remark, please describe four our readers one of the greatest hurdles that you’ve had and how you’ve overcome it while transversing your still evolving path as a metal musician in Bahrain.

All I can say is to stay true to yourself and you’ll find your own way to get your message across. All our biggest challenges would have been easily avoided if we decided to take an easier way out, but on the other hand, it’s these challenges that make it all worthwhile in the end.

I also want to thank you for giving me the pleasure of being in this interview. It’s certainly a first time for me to take part in a 2 week interview.

Such statements only highlight the importance of grassroots campaigns that continue to speak out about the plight of minorities in Iran. The “Can You Solve This?” campaign has sent over 1,700 letters to top European leaders, including Secretary-General of the UN, Ban-Ki Moon, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay, and German Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Guido Westerwelle.  Tireless campaign activists and media attention from Mashable and more have helped bring the message of the denial of education in Iran to thousands more. “Can You Solve This?” is gearing up to launch globally, after having successfully stickered and QR coded many German cities. With the coordinated global efforts of grassroots activists around the world, Catherine Ashton won’t be the only top official to speak out against the persecution of the Baha’i community and the global problem of the denial of education that we can all help solve.

To bring the campaign to your city, or to find events happening locally, email us at hello@can-you-solve-this.org.

[Originally posted at bahairights.org]

mideastunes.com and blazetrak.com

We are pleased to announce that Mideast Tunes has officially entered a partnership with Blazetrak, a New York based company that provides direct video access to the world’s top professionals.

Bands and artists from the Middle East and Africa are invited to submit as many tracks as they want (as separate submissions) for free. Although there will not be a guaranteed video response for each submission, the creative team at Blazetrak will review and consider each song. Submissions are currently accepted here. This window of opportunity will be open for a time frame of 60 days.

A total of 5 musicians or music groups will be selected to receive guidance toward success in the world of professional music and given free Blazetrak credits. The winning credits will be used to help the chosen musicians access amazing and unique opportunities on the Blazetrak platform (including but not limited to – management, song placements, record deals, etc).

Our mission at Mideast Tunes is to help artists receive the global recognition that they deserve. We are honored to have Blazetrak’s support to this end. Through this partnership we will further promote and discover new talent rising largely unnoticed within the Mideast and North Africa. We also know that this partnership will “swing wide” the world of opportunities in the west as well.

Let’s hear your best!