Search - Dahmane El-Harrachi, Dahmane Elharrachi, Abderrahmane :: Le Chaabi V.1

This is a fantastic pop record!

05/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, that's a bit misleading. Chaabi is indeed popular music, but this is not "world" music. That term usually implies traditional folk music watered down with synthesizers, drum machines and electric guitars. You'll find none of that here. The instrumentation is traditional and all acoustic (oud, quanun, banjo, violin, various percussion), but also very full. The production and sound quality is very good, but also rather dense (not a criticism - that's what gives this music its pop appeal). The vocals are well blended in the mix. The songs vary between minor- and major- sounding keys, but all are fairly consistent rhythmically. The tempos never get as frenetic as Rai music. One criticism is that the liner notes are somewhat lacking. Sure, you learn a bit about the history of Chaabi as a style, and that El Harrachi died in a car accident in 1980, but you don't get to know much about the actual music on this CD. When was this music recorded? Who are the other musicians? Is this a compilation? But really that's a minor criticism because the whole CD is wonderful. This CD contains the original version of the song "Ya Rayah" that was recently remixed by Sonar on the Six Degrees compilation "Arabian Travels.""