Panjshanbe Maftun – Made in Lyublino: Afghan Songs (Antonovka Records / Hindukush Tapes, 2026)
Recorded on 15 January 2024 at the Afghan teahouse Takhar in Moscow’s Lyublino district, Made in Lyublino: Afghan Songs captures Panjshanbe Maftun, a Tajik musician from Badakhshan, Afghanistan. Maftun, who arrived to Russia as a student, offers a compact, intimate, unvarnished repertoire dominated by ardent love songs.
On tracks 1–8, his voice is accompanied by the two-stringed lute called dambura. On tracks 9–12, an Indian-style keyboard harmonium replaces the dambura and introduces a fuller harmonic bed.
The languages of the songs are Dari (2-5, 7, 9-12) and Hazaragi (1, 6, 8).
Track list:
- Ah, You Afghan, Your Gait Is Like That of a Highlander
- I Will Die for Your Name, My Love
- Pomegranate, Pomegranate, My Fresh Pomegranate
- I Will Kiss You Under a Pretext, With Fire and Passion
- You Are Tall, Oh, You Are Tall, My Beautiful Leila
- Oh, My Only Beloved Sheikh Ali
- Pamir Falak
- Oh, My Naughty and Beautiful, These Folds on the Shoulders of Your Dress
- Two or Three Days Have Passed, Why Haven’t You Written Me a Letter?
- If I Find Love, I Will Buy It at Any Cost
- Today Our House Is Bright Because My Beloved Came to Visit Me
- You Promised to See Еach Other in the Spring — Spring Has Come, But My Heart Is Still Waiting
Buy Made in Lyublino: Afghan Songs
Author: Tyler Bennet
