FAIRUZ Vinyl & CDs

Review: When it comes to offering up re-mastered reissues of obscure Lebanese music, Wewantsounds has previous form. They've already delivered a new edition of Ziad Rahbani's "Abu Ali" LP and here serve up a fresh pressing of an album he produced: "Wahdon", a hard-to-find 1978 set by her mother, legendary Middle Eastern chanteuse Fairuz. It's a set of stark contrasts. While the A-side tracks indulge the more traditional side of Fairuz's output -think Lebanese vocals and instrumentation in the style of pop music from the region made in the period - the flipside cuts see her taking calculated risks. "Al Bosta" is a funk, soul and disco influenced club cut of the highest order, while "Wahdon" is a sumptuously symphonic soul slow jam straight from the top drawer.