Ask any music-lover what albums they’d bring to a deserted island and be prepared to experience an onslaught of varied sonic opinions and genres. Ask any music-lover what music they could hear in the desert and be prepared to be disappointed.

Okay, maybe “being disappointed” is a bit too harsh – lovers of Arabic and Indian music are in for a treat here in Abu Dhabi – but for an expat who grew up with fond memories of breathing in Beatles on vinyl, wearing up several dozen Walkman’s, CD players and MP3 gadgets and a brief stint in a band (I sang; don’t ask), the music scene here is hard to swallow.

There’s roughly a half-dozen English-language radio stations here – Virgin Radio, Dubai One, Dubai 92 etc. – on the dial. None of them offer any of the indie, classic or less-mainstream rock music I grew up on and subsequently, wish to continue seeking out. I don’t know if DJs truly like this or whether they’re forced to play this but instead, we are greeted to the latest Top 40 mainstream pop hits – mostly Britney/Akon-styled fluff. If there are any songs with what I call ” distorted guitars”, they’re likely to fall under the Nickelback or Daughtery. Far from what you’d classify as an enjoyable listening experience, eh?

Indeed, there are some saving graces – several bars inside hotels offer cover bands  performing “today’s hits and yesterday’s classic” but most are profoundly comical. I often joke that any cover band I see often had dreams of “making it” one day and now are relegated to playing other people’s songs for bemused expats. This is, of course, if you can find a venue that isn’t blasting inane dance-electronica beeps and bloops over a ear-bleeding obnoxiously loud volume. Find me a place here that features mashups, remixes, and new releases – while mixing in some old favourites – without relying on techno to draw the crowds and I’ll go tomorrow.

There was also the recent Womad music festival which I admit I had a great time at, largely in part to Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant headlining the event. Coldplay also performed at Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace, but being not much of a fan, I didn’t attend. The same could have been said for Bon Jovi, who played here sometime last year. I also missed the Desert Rock Festival in March, an event which hosted the likes of Motorhead and Opeth, but it felt kinda short on some audible talent. An Al Jazeera documentary on Middle Eastern metal can be found on Youtube here and here.

So, instead of being spoiled by a various cacophony of tunes literally at my Toronto doorsteps, I find myself plugging in my iPhone to my car radio to listen to downloaded tunes and letting myself become surprised whenever a a cover band plays something decent. But I still haven’t come across some indie, punk, metal or hard rock in this area – even a tinge or two would be a welcome relief.

Maybe I haven’t found it yet – there’s many rocks around here in which I have yet to look under. And therein lies an opportunity for such like-minded folks to organize and publicize the heck out of these events. The UAE shouldn’t be a place that only fosters fluffly, mindless pop music – only genres should be allowed to bloom as well.