Algérie mon amour
Raï music, How the Japanese Audiophiles are going extremes, Live performances from Liraz, Kokoroko & Delvon Lamarr and more..
Last week, Drissi El-Abbassi’s reissue on Nashazphone sent me on a day long rabbit’s hole through Algeria’s Raï music.
Raï is a form of Algerian folk music that dates back to the 1920s. Singers of Raï are called cheb (Arabic: شاب) (or shabab, i.e. young) as opposed to sheikh (Arabic: شيخ) (shaykh, i.e. old), the name given to Chaabi singers. The lyrics of Raï have concerned social issues such as disease and the policing of European colonies that affected native populations.
The liner notes by Mr. El Abbasi are oral history of the finest order detailing the 70’s scene in Oran.
I was 17 in 1978, when I joined Les Aigles Noirs as a "stage animator". Delivering lyrics to the lead singer, interacting with the audience, handling the atmosphere, etc... We played weddings and parties. And This is how I met Ahmed Zergui. Zergui and his group, 'Les Freres Zergui' were pioneers.
If you wanna go down a similar rabbit hole, start by checking out this wonderful late-80’s compilation called Algérie mon amour I found while looking for more material from the man, with a surprising amount of Cheb ones.
If you don’t wanna go deeper, wrap this up by watching this video, sent my way by eqopeqo.
I’ve watched this wonderful video of elderly Japanese Audiophiles going to extremes, which reminded me of the wonderful Japanese Listening Bars.
I’ve tested if I will be able to avoid Uncanny Valley in the future - which is a theorised reaction to humanoid objects that procure feelings of revulsion. - by listening to the new album by Korea’s Lucy Liyou, Practice. Check out the Bandcamp daily interview.
I strolled through the bardo with a cosmic collaboration by Jonny Nash and Indonesian sacred music master Teguh Permana.
With Bunny Wailer gone, the holy triumvirate of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer (The Wailers) is back together in heaven.
The three teenagers were stimulated by the fast-paced 1960s Kingston music scene, where enterprising musicians and budding entrepreneurs developed new styles like ska, rocksteady, roots reggae and dub, setting trends that became popular and eventually influenced global music. Suddenly, after years of relative obscurity, Jamaican musicians, producers and songwriters had opportunities to promote and distribute their records into the UK and then around the world. [How Bunny Wailer brought innovation and Rastology to the Jamaican music renaissance]
MENTALLY SOMEWHERE ELSE
No, we still can’t go to a concert, but we can pretend!
Iranian/Israeli singer Liraz’ new album will give Altın Gün it’s money’s worth. Wonderful album that I’ll make sure to catch/book in the coming future.
Grooviest brass section in existence, Kokoroko is a joy to behold live, watch how they transform this barren basement into a cocoon of love.
Has the guitarist gone even crazier? The debut LP by Delvon Lamarr rocks, and there’s a wonderful Careless Whisper cover in there!
Ok no offense, first off prior to seeing this video, I thought Hedvig Mollestad was male, secondly this has to be the most un-rock’n’roll trio that rocks harder than the most hair rock band since the 80s?
AROUND THE NET
Hope you’ve already in tune with the best selector gig on youtube, My Analog Journal. If not here are some mixes to get you up to speed. Italian OSTs by the man himself, Brazilian Samba Grooves by Carla (Epic Vinyls from Brazil), French Caribbean Mix with Poly-Ritmo, Psychedelic Cumbia with Krishna Vilar.
Toronto’s Badge Époque Ensemble, whom I featured on the Undomondo Discover Weekly a few weeks ago, has a wonderfully eclectic Spotify selection of their influences, incl. Farben, Tierra Whack, Donald Byrd, Amancio D’Silva and Masahiko Sato, now that’s what I call eclectic!
As always don’t forget to check and subscribe to the Undomondo Discover Weekly playlist, which I update regularly, and enjoy!