Souleyman takes the folk music found in Hassake (his hometown near the Turkish border) and gives it a hyper-avant-tronica twist: galloping Middle Eastern melodies built from phased-out keyboards and more traditional stringed instruments like the saz and oud. The album starts with the faster stuff -- racing out of the gate with "Leh Jani" (where you learn that your beloved is engaged to another man) -- then hurtles into the breakneck "Jani," Souleyman's first hit. Eventually, Hassake dials back the pace a bit, with midtempo ballads singing tribute to everything from Syria's leaders to the beauty of a bride's ornamentation. This sort of info is gleaned from the album's substantive liner notes, which in addition to making for a more fun and insightful listen, help put a human face on a culture we could all stand to better comprehend.