Writing about Afghan music
Afghan music is badly served in English. The singers who defined it have a paragraph each on Wikipedia if they have anything at all, the instruments get described wrongly, and the practical questions — which stations still broadcast, where a newcomer should start, what the attan actually is — mostly go unanswered. These pieces are our attempt at answering them properly, with sources checked and disagreements left visible rather than smoothed over.
5 articles so far, and more being written.
Afghan radio after 2021 — what survived
Which Afghan radio stations still broadcast, which went silent, and why the station most people search for no longer exists. Based on testing every stream we could find.
Ahmad Zahir — the voice that defined Afghan music
Ahmad Zahir recorded for barely a decade and died at thirty-three. Nearly fifty years later he is still the most listened-to Afghan singer there has ever been.
The rubab — Afghanistan's national instrument
The short-necked lute at the centre of Afghan music. How it is built, how it sounds, and the players who defined it.
What is the attan?
Afghanistan's best-known dance — where it comes from, how it is danced, what it is played on, and why calling it the national dance is more contested than you might expect.
Where to start with Afghan music
A guide for anyone who wants to listen properly and doesn't know where to begin — by era, by language, and by what you already like.