Varèse Sarabande releases the various artists soundtrack to Rock the Kasbah. The movie is a dramatic comedy inspired by stranger-than-fiction, real-life events. Richie Lanz, dumped and stranded in war-torn Kabul by his last remaining client, discovers Salima Khan, a Pashtun teenager with a beautiful voice and the courageous dream of becoming the first woman to compete on national television in Afghanistan’s version of American Idol. Salima connects with the music of Cat Stevens due to their shared faith, and performs three of his most classic songs in the film, (all of which are included in the soundtrack). Richie partners with a savvy hooker, a pair of hard-partying war profiteers and a hair-trigger mercenary and, braving dangerous cultural prejudices, manages his new protégée into becoming the “Afghan Star...”

The various artists soundtrack to Rock the Kasbah contains 12 songs (42 min, 39 sec). Of these, 2 tracks (11 min, 07 sec) represent segments of the score by Marcelo Zarvos.

We also get four Cat Stevens songs (three of which are sung by Leem Lubany) and a rather bizarre rendition of 'Smoke on the Water' performed by Bill Murray.

Those coming to this raw without having seen the film will probably find this a bit of an odd collection of songs. However, for fans of the movie, this is the perfect musical souvenir.

Track Listing:

01 - 'Pop Star' - Cat Stevens
02 - 'Welcome to Afganistan' - Marcelo Zarvos
03 - 'Torch' - Isa Machine + LP
04 - 'Trouble' - Leem Lubany
05 - 'Pashtun Warrior' - Jalal el Allouli, Youness, and Adil Meriouch
06 - 'Jump into the Fire' - Nilsson
07 - 'Wild World' - Leem Lubany
08 - 'Bitch' - Zooey Deschanel
09 - 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' - Bob Dylan
10 - 'The 4 Sacred Bonds' - Marcelo Zarvos
11 - 'Peace Train' - Leem Lubany
12 - 'Smoke on the Water' - Bill Murray

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Darren Rea