Once upon a time, Omar Souleyman was one of Syria’s most in demand wedding singers, performing traditional songs and providing recordings of the performance to the newly married couple. At some point, I’m not sure how, Souleyman’s music made it to indie-label Sublime Frequencies and from there in the ears of a increasingly larger audience outside of Syria. In recent years he’s began to tour around the world, playing at major festivals (including this year’s FYF Fest in LA) and garnering acclaim from some of the world’s most respected musicians. His new found global success is apparently a bit perplexing to Souleyman, but from a quick listen of Wenu Wenu, his latest release produced by Four-Tet, you can understand exactly what grabs people about this music, even if they don’t speak Kurdish or Arabic. It is wildly infectious, upbeat party music…and the power of good party music knows no bounds.