wither in the light

Before they became a pawn for the western powers to play with, Iraq actually had a culture and everything. I've been listening to some Iraqi music online - everything from maqaams recorded in the 1920s to some modern stuff. It's pretty interesting to hear the similarities between this music and Spanish music, for instance... the Moorish influence on Spain is clearly visible in the music. (Errr... audible?) They've got MP3s to download, and some interesting info on their culture and music.