Rachid Taha

[kozmique]

I've always been fascinated by the crossover of middle/eastern music into rock and roll (pretty much the basis of psychedelic rock) and ever since I started belly dancing I've been searching for that cross-pollination in the opposite direction - Arabic artists who've been influenced by rock and roll. I caught the tail end of an interview with this guy on NPR, in which he referred to "rock and rai" and listed Mick Jones and Johnny Cash among his influences, and knew I had to hear him. When I did I was not disappointed! Any other fans here? Have you ever danced to any of his tracks?

[Wallowa]

Morocco teaches a choreography to one of his songs that is lively and fun. I purchased that CD after taking her class. He also does covers of classic BD songs that are flavored with his style and could make a nice change for a fusion piece.

I am not a Rock and Roll fan, but I do like the album of his that I have.

Marya

[Monica]

Rachid Taha fan checking in here! Go see him live if you get a chance, he puts on a good show (and tours pretty regularly). As far as dance, I have performed to his cover of Hebbina, and I use his version of Gan al Hawa and a song called Valencia in my classes sometimes. Otherwise I just listen. :)

Oh, edited to add: If you get his CD Tekitoi, it comes with DVD that documents his tour in Mexico. It is awesome footage. Viva Rachid!

[artemisia_danst]

went to see a concert last year with some of my students and had a GREAT time. totally crazee, and loved the music a lot more than i thought i would/ great musicians also.

some (political ?)talk on stage that of course we didnt understand but the crowds went wild.


i love Ya Rayah and the impact it had on the public

[beafarhana]

I love his Douce France, even though it's a deeply problematical song, and I will be dancing it at Planet Egypt next week- hooray!

Love his other work too.

[bintbeled]

Love his music! And are his concerts going better now? His substance abuse was getting the better of him there for awhile....

[Candi]

I love his music particulally his new takes on old songs. I really like his version of farid atrache's habina habina and his ganalhawa version too

[Monica]

Love his music! And are his concerts going better now? His substance abuse was getting the better of him there for awhile....

There was one time I saw him where he was so wasted he could barely sing. It was pretty terrible, but luckily his bad was great and still gave us a decent show. He tried a few times but kept leaving. But I have seen him since then and he was fine. But yeah, you might still be taking a chance...apparently the man likes to party.

[sylvie_aziyade]

I danced with my group on his cover of Ghannili Schwaya :



I also danced on his Gana el Hawa, which is my favourite version. However, I found that Egyptian people do not like these covers, they think he has a very bad voice... so it may not be the right choice when we dance for a purist audience !

[Annessa]

>There was one time I saw him where he was so wasted he could barely sing. It was pretty terrible, but luckily his bad was great and still gave us a decent show. He tried a few times but kept leaving. But I have seen him since then and he was fine. But yeah, you might still be taking a chance...apparently the man likes to party.

GAMH on 6/28/05? I knew nothing about him personally at the time but it was so obvious how smacked out he was. I could only handle 2-3 songs before I walked out.

[Monica]

GAMH on 6/28/05? I knew nothing about him personally at the time but it was so obvious how smacked out he was. I could only handle 2-3 songs before I walked out.

Ding ding ding, that was the show. I was mortified because some of my dance students went, too, on my recommendation. They wound up having a fun evening, but that was definitely a disappointing show.

He usually plays at Bimbo's when he is in SF, and I don't know if they have better handlers than the Great American or what, but if he plays there again and you are wiling to give him another chance...well, I'll likely see you there. :)

[Tourbeau]

I've always been fascinated by the crossover of middle/eastern music into rock and roll (pretty much the basis of psychedelic rock)

I've been taught psychedelic rock had two sources: The Beatles involvement with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the subsequent interest in Indian music; and musicians elsewhere simply taking a lot of drugs and attempting to recreate or enhance the experience artistically. Plenty of psychedelic records didn't have any connection to world music, much less ME music, but back to topic...

Western rock music is certainly felt in the ME, but far less than Western pop music is. Historically speaking, of whatever rock scene there would have been in the ME in the 1960s to early 1990s, little of that is going to be online today, unless a superfan is remastering his old lo-fi records and cassettes and putting them on a web site as a labor of love. While rock was evolving in the West, the same forces were transforming into their own uniquely populist styles of socio-political music in the ME. What did they need Western rock for?

Various forms of Western rock do exist as musical subcultures there, but they can be difficult to find as a dancer abroad. There isn't much of it, many vendors don't sell it, it helps to know specifically what to look for, and some of the online information may only be in Arabic. Western rock just isn't a big slice of the music industry's pie over there, and many of the indie bands who pursue it don't intend to create fusion because they're singing in English and trying to sound Western. (If you do want to go looking for those acts, you'll find them on YouTube and Facebook, not Maqam and HMC.) In that sense, you'd probably have a much easier time finding Arabic rap than rock. Rap IS a significant style of fusing Western music in a way that expresses one's ME-ness. I think Western rock fusion may be bigger in Turkey, though. I don't really know, since I don't follow the Turkish scene.

Having said that, it is not terribly uncommon to see contemporary, mainstream Arabic singers dabbling with the occasional rock arrangement in a song. Ghassan al-Rahbani (Elias' son, AKA Gassan Rahbani, غسان الرحباني) is the only artist I can think of offhand who uses the hard rock style in his music with any consistency, and even then, he does a lot of other stuff, too.

[Continued...]

[Tourbeau]

As far as Rachid Taha, he is an Algerian ex-pat living in France, and he is really not a significant presence on the larger Arabic music scene. I believe he's well known in the Maghreb, but I'm not sure how recognized he is elsewhere in the Arab World--possibly at the level he's know as a world music artist in the West (at a comparable awareness to someone like Sarah Brightman or Natacha Atlas, but considerably lower profile than Jay-Z or Britney Spears). It's not unusual to go to an online Arabic music library that has hundreds of artists and thousands of song titles where he will not even be listed. He is fairly popular among dancers, particularly his cover of "Rock the Casbah." (Personally, I don't mind his running roughshod over Farid al-Atrash--his cover of "Hebbina, Hebbina" has a certain Tom-Waits-ish charm--but I can't stand his "Rock the Casbah." I think Taha's version is a textbook study in how bad production can undermine the hook of a song--the instrument balance sounds all wrong to me.)

At any rate, like all rai music, you do have to be careful what you perform to. Some songs contain political or social themes that would render them unsuitable for stage use, and sometimes this is not completely obvious from a lyrics translation.

[badriya_al_ahmar]

Another huge fan here--I've performed to various of his songs for various occasions. I wouldn't use one of his classic cover versions for a big serious gig, but otherwise, he's perfectly fine restaurant/nightclub material. Lebanese and other ME DJs around here play him in their sets; Ya Rayah in particular gets a very emotional response from the crowd, people singing along and waving their drinks, so my experience with how much Middle Easterners like him is a bit different from Tourbeau's.

If you can find the version of Tekitoi with the bonus film, I also highly recommend that--lots about identity, politics, being Arab/North African, being a rock musician, living in France, etc. He's often compared to Joe Strummer, and it's not just for his voice!

(btw if anybody is interested in the Turkish rock scene, the movie Crossing the Bridge is a great place to start. Apparently psychedelia has a long history there.)

[kozmique]

Wow! I'm in good company here! I love his reinterpretations of the classics as well as his own stuff and I adore his voice even though objectively, it can sometimes be awful. Something about him just shines through.

Tourbeau, I see the psychedelic era as an extension of the exploration by the beat poets, who brought back visions from Morocco and Algeria. The Maharishi was the Beatles' personal guru, but at the same time other artists of every stripe were flocking to all stations east. Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones is credited as one of the first ethnomusicologists; he spent time in Tangiers and brought back recordings of the Joujouka musicians of northern Morocco.

What you have said about finding Arabic rock rings true as far as what I've encountered. I dig the Turkish psychedelic stuff from the 70's but mostly just for listening. Not so crazy about all the electronica, rap, and hip-hop. But I guess rock is old-fashioned now! Only makes me love Rachid Taha all the more.

Here he is with Brian Eno yeah the guy is so wasted he can barely stand, but he is still this amazing vehicle for something bigger to come through.

[kozmique]

Another huge fan here--I've performed to various of his songs for various occasions. I wouldn't use one of his classic cover versions for a big serious gig, but otherwise, he's perfectly fine restaurant/nightclub material. Lebanese and other ME DJs around here play him in their sets; Ya Rayah in particular gets a very emotional response from the crowd, people singing along and waving their drinks, so my experience with how much Middle Easterners like him is a bit different from Tourbeau's.

If you can find the version of Tekitoi with the bonus film, I also highly recommend that--lots about identity, politics, being Arab/North African, being a rock musician, living in France, etc. He's often compared to Joe Strummer, and it's not just for his voice!

(btw if anybody is interested in the Turkish rock scene, the movie Crossing the Bridge is a great place to start. Apparently psychedelia has a long history there.)

OOh yes! I love 70's Turkish psychedelia! I only have one CD and I want more! The movie sounds great! I will have to check that out, thanks

Psychedelia really was a worldwide phenomenon. I think of it as an outgrowth of Art Deco and Orientalism, which were more than just trends, there were styles that pervaded whole eras.

I've heard different stories about where the term hippie came from, but this is one I came across recently and which I like very much: The Beats went to Algiers and learned how to smoke hashish, which is done lying on one hip. To be hip was slang meaning that you had smoked hashish, and the hippies were the kids who read the Beats and then flocked eastward to partake of the experience.

I love this old Egyptian clip - watch right as it starts for some groovy hippie action! There's some other good stuff on there too.

[kozmique]

heh, hijacked my own thread. I just hope this guy does a US tour soon

[Tourbeau]

Another huge fan here--I've performed to various of his songs for various occasions. I wouldn't use one of his classic cover versions for a big serious gig, but otherwise, he's perfectly fine restaurant/nightclub material. Lebanese and other ME DJs around here play him in their sets; Ya Rayah in particular gets a very emotional response from the crowd, people singing along and waving their drinks, so my experience with how much Middle Easterners like him is a bit different from Tourbeau's.

Actually singers from the Maghreb don't tend to be particularly well represented in these large online Arabic music libraries, as a general statement. Once you pick off Khaled, Cheb Mami, Warda, Samira Said, Latifa, and Saber el-Robai, the crowd starts thinning out pretty quickly. I'm not able to tell how much of Rachid Taha's particular problem on these sites is prejudice (Middle Easterners revoking his "one of us" cred since he's based in Europe), versus the simple logistics of his not having good label representation in the Middle East.

Tourbeau, I see the psychedelic era as an extension of the exploration by the beat poets, who brought back visions from Morocco and Algeria.

Ah, well, we'll have to agree to disagree on that. I consider psychedelia to be more about Timothy Leary and LSD.

Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones is credited as one of the first ethnomusicologists; he spent time in Tangiers and brought back recordings of the Joujouka musicians of northern Morocco.

I guess I feel India was more dominant than the Middle East, but there certainly were musicians who followed the ME path. Jimmy Page comes to mind, as does Felix Pappalardi. Still, I worry about how much we read intention into things that may have just been coincidences. The belly dance scene was pretty big in the late 1960s-early 1970s and it percolated into lots of things, simply because it was trendy. Personally, I would be less comfortable saying that The Monkees' "Can You Dig It" in "Head" had to do with a purposeful expansion of the themes of beat poetry, than that it had to do with Bob Rafelson being friends with Jack Nicholson, and Nicholson dating a belly dancer.

[badriya_al_ahmar]

Actually singers from the Maghreb don't tend to be particularly well represented in these large online Arabic music libraries, as a general statement. Once you pick off Khaled, Cheb Mami, Warda, Samira Said, Latifa, and Saber el-Robai, the crowd starts thinning out pretty quickly. I'm not able to tell how much of Rachid Taha's particular problem on these sites is prejudice (Middle Easterners revoking his "one of us" cred since he's based in Europe), versus the simple logistics of his not having good label representation in the Middle East.

I'm not clear on what that has to do with my reporting that I have heard ME DJs in the US playing his music to an enthusiastic reception. Though perhaps the ex-pat factor is part of his appeal to Middle Easterners who are also not living in their home countries.

[kozmique]

Ah, well, we'll have to agree to disagree on that. I consider psychedelia to be more about Timothy Leary and LSD.

You are right about this ;) The one-dimensional snapshot of the 60's has been distilled into a caricature of a time and place in America that was too dangerously close to enlightenment for the authorities to handle. Timothy Leary was a polarizing figure, targeted in order to divide a population that was coming together in a way that alarmed the status quo. He also did some stupid stuff and had a lot of followers who were mean. Nevertheless, the cartoon portrait of the era that we're spoon-fed by the media targets a few key people and events, but disjoints the movement out of a global shift that had been shaping since the first decades of the 20th century. Monumental discoveries were made in art and science at the turn of the century and were sweeping the world like a wave. The psychedelic era didn't appear in a vaccuum, it was the confluence of many ideas that had been shaping since the advent of the modern age. It's a typically American conceit to shut out the rest of the world from the history books. Right now, for example, Malaysia is all in the news and Americans are picturing all these little dark women running around in hijabs. Well, that might be somewhat true now, but in the 60's, when no one in America had heard of the place, Malaysian women were wearing paisley miniskirts and listening to rock and roll.

[kozmique]

I guess I feel India was more dominant than the Middle East, but there certainly were musicians who followed the ME path. Jimmy Page comes to mind, as does Felix Pappalardi. Still, I worry about how much we read intention into things that may have just been coincidences. The belly dance scene was pretty big in the late 1960s-early 1970s and it percolated into lots of things, simply because it was trendy.

Again, I respectfully disagree. I don't see why bellydance becoming trendy in the 60's was less meaningful than it being trendy now. It's not as if the trend just rose up out of the blue, but was an outgrowth of the fashion for Orientalism colliding with the early 20th century American quest for spiritual paths, which in this case led directly back to the silk trail. In a way I think American bellydance was a purer form of expression before the bellydance police arrived in the 90's, armed with their YouTube videos and 6-week visas to Egypt to take notes and hand out citations on the correct and incorrect way to dance.

Personally, I would be less comfortable saying that The Monkees' "Can You Dig It" in "Head" had to do with a purposeful expansion of the themes of beat poetry, than that it had to do with Bob Rafelson being friends with Jack Nicholson, and Nicholson dating a belly dancer.

Just because the Monkees were portrayed as buffoons on a television show doesn't mean they weren't thoughtful, intelligent artists. Michael Nesmith in particular is extremely intelligent and educated. I think the movie Head, although silly, is an excellent example of purposeful exploration using film as a medium to expand and explore consciousness, similar to a cubist painting or a dada poem. Does being silly undermine the nature of the exploration? I think not; I think it may in fact enhance it. The greatest thinkers of the 20th century, with Picasso, Einstein, and Jung at the top of my list, all engaged in play, which led to their deepest and most enduring work. Is Head deep and enduring? That's all relative (Einstein would approve.) Compared to their weekly show, perhaps it is. To you it might be mindless drivel, but to someone else it could turn out to be a mind-blowing revelation.



Check out this video of Suheir Zaki! If you ask me, this clip could have been lifted right out of an episode of the Monkees!

[emma-bessa]

This thread has so many interesting observations that I would need a lot more coffee!

Anyway just wanted to quickly chime in and give more weight to sylvie_aziyade´s experience:This doesn´t only hold true with egyptian audiences-IME(in my experience)this is true with lebanese,syrian,jordanian,iraqi...etc

Never used his songs myself(except "rock the casbah"on a western young audience)but I´ve overheard previously mentioned audiences talking after shows on some occations,wondering if using Rachid Taha must have been a joke.

He´s not famous or known by name is these regions,but his singing voice immediatly catches attention as "bad singing"...while many "second generation"here think he rocks!Go figure:)


Except the movie "The Bridge"I would like to hint about a very special record label:Sublime Frequencies(for those who are connected to me on FB I wrote a little piece about this truly unique record label)

For those interested in MENA music outside of the"so can I use this at my gig?"-realm I recommend "Radio Morocco","I remember Syria","Guitar el Sharq"(Omar Khorshid)"Radio Palestine","Choubi Choubi-Folk&Pop from Iraq","Radio Algeria","Highway To Hassake"(Omar Suleman),"1970:s Algerian Proto-Rai"

http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/

[Monica]

Except the movie "The Bridge"I would like to hint about a very special record label:Sublime Frequencies(for those who are connected to me on FB I wrote a little piece about this truly unique record label)

Seconding Emma's Sublime Frequencies recommendation, good call girl! I have been collecting their releases for many years (and in some previous incarnations/labels of the founders, like old Sun City Girls stuff). They often do limited releases and some of their releases go out of print fast, so if you ever see anything from them in person (especially LPs), grab it.

[Tourbeau]

Just curious...to the people who have reported getting good audience response with Taha's music, how would you compare the reaction to him, relative to artists like Natacha Atlas and Ishtar/Alabina? To me, they are all in the same class--there is an undeniable element of authenticity to their music, but they seem to have greater regard in the dance community as "real" than they do in much of the larger online Arabic music world, where they are often off the radar or very low profile. (I'd say Atlas and Alabina both share some of the same Maghrebi bias in popularity that Taha does, too.) Do you think that ethnic audiences are responding to these artists themselves, or the fact that they are frequently represented by modern, up-tempo, songs in Arabic which stand in contrast to the more traditional dance instrumentals? In other words, if you subbed out "Ya Rayah" for the latest hit by Mohammed Hamaki or Nancy Ajram, would the crowd go more, less, or the same amount of crazy?

For those interested in MENA music outside of the"so can I use this at my gig?"-realm I recommend "Radio Morocco","I remember Syria","Guitar el Sharq"(Omar Khorshid)"[...]

There is a detailed fan site on Omar Khorshid here http://www.omarkhorshid.org/. (Per the usual, respect the artist's legacy and don't download for free what you can buy honestly.)

If you are still looking for rock bands, have you investigated Hoba Hoba Spirit from Casablanca? I'm not sure what it says about their demographic that Google returns less than a tenth of the number of hits for their name spelled in Arabic as it does for the same name in Roman letters, but their band site is in French. (Their lyrics are trilingual--Arabic, French, English, or various combinations of those, depending on the song.)

http://www.hobahobaspirit.com/index.html
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi.../29/feature-02

[kozmique]

Thank you Emma-Bessa and Torbeau for your insight and musical suggestions! I should probably make it clear here that although I am deeply respectful of the history of bellydance in the Middle East, I personally have no desire to perform for an ethnic audience with specific cultural expectations.