THE SYRIAN CASSETTE ARCHIVE (2022): Taped and bound

Despite the conspiracy idiots, people posting photos of dinner or their dog and the usual “me living my best life” photos, Facebook is useful for some things.

A couple of years ago someone posted a link to the Syrian Cassette Archive which is a project to preserve to music of that beleaguered nation which had appeared on cassette in the years before we associated the country with bombs, refugees and death.

The site comes with essays about Syrian music of all kinds, interviews with artists and of course the music.

As they say on the site, “The growing collection features an overview of musical styles from Syria's many communities and neighbors, including Syrian Arabs, Assyrians, Kurds and Armenians, as well as Iraqi cassettes and music from Iraqis displaced by sanctions and war.

“Amongst the tapes are recordings of live concerts, studio albums, soloists, classical, childrenʼs music and more, with special focus on the regional dabke and shaabi folk-pop music, performed at weddings, parties and festivities. 

“At the heart of the site’s initial collection are hundreds of cassette tapes purchased at music shops and kiosks throughout Syria by producer and archivist Mark Gergis during multiple stays in the country between 1997-2010.

“The tapes weren’t originally collected with intentions of a comprehensive public archive. Instead, they reflect a period of personal research and curiosity, aided by connections made with local music shops, producers and musicians in Syria during the time.

“Since its inception in 2018, the SCA team of collaborators and producers has grown, with the breadth and scope of the project continuing to expand. As well, hundreds of additional cassettes and digitized cassettes have been received from contributors and collaborators.”

If you click on the Press section on their homepage you can hear interviews about it. But best of all, you can hear oceans of music of the kind you probably rarely, if ever, encounter.

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You can find this archive here, simply click on the cassette cover to hear the music.