Middle Eastern, North African music these days?

Yeah, I expect to have fun. Thank you for the suggestions. I guess, I heard none of this. I was also simply interested in other people's tastes. And in another thread I asked about exotic unusual music and got many responses.
Coincidence or not, my damn CD player broke yesterday. It's a ten year old CEC belt drive and it looks like only a belt; I hope.

Inna, the library is the best source for sampling. Get the CD's and download them to your playlist. Use your PC until you get your player back up.

Another great place for sampling is [url]http://www.grooveshark.com[/url]. They don't have everything but you'll be astonished at what is available for listening - complete songs, not just samples as on emusic or amazon. I just did a search for Cheb Khaled, whom I've never heard of, and there are three complete albums available. I'm not sure how it's legal or how long it will last so take advantage of it while you can.

I'll check this out. Thank you.

Some really fine suggestions here.

Abdel Gadir Salim and Abdel Aziz El Mubarak from Sudan are really good.

Not North African, but Gigi from Ethiopia is terrific. Her debut album from 2001 is my favorite of hers.

Check Amazon to listen to samples.

I've been listening to African music for many years and there is still so much I have not heard. Some of the first music from there I heard was Osibisa, back when I was in college...

RX8man, I really like the Cheb Khaled & Safy Boutella Kutche album. I've had it for a long time.... on vinyl!