Artist : VA
Title : 1970's Algerian Proto-Rai Underground
Genre : Funk
Year : 2008
Date : 12/2008
Bitrate : VBR kbps
Tracks : 08
Label : Sublime Frequencies LPSF045
Source : CDDA
Encoder : Lame 3.97
Length : 43:16 min
Size : 50,4 MB
Tracklist:
----------
01.bellemou & benfissa - li maandouche 06:04
l'auto
02.groupe el azhar - mazal nesker mazal 04:18
03.groupe el azhar - touedar aakli 05:53
04.bellemou & benfissa - lah lah ya 06:20
s'habi
05.boutaiba sghir - dayha oulabes 05:12
06.boutaiba sghir - malgre tout 05:36
07.boutaiba sghir - el fermlia 04:59
08.cheb zergui - ana dellali 04:54
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43:16 min
This is Rai Music from Algeria as you've not heard it before. In the early 1970's, a
new group of singers and musicians were operating on the northwest coast and
what they pioneered was a sound that eventually reached worldwide status by
the end of the decade, however their names are relatively unknown to this day
outside Algeria. This crucial and defining period of the development of Rai is
criminally ignored and overlooked by Algerian music historians and Ra┤'s fans.
Due to censorship and government controlled music diffusion, this scene and
lyrical style was forced underground and banned from broadcasts yet slowly built
a small following around the seaside cabarets of Wahran (Oran). The early
1970's witnessed the rise of artists such as Groupe El Azhar ("The Flowers"
group) and Messaoud Bellemou, who can comfortably be considered the
godfather of the modern Ra┤'s sound.
His group, L'Orchestre Bellemou, rewrote a heritage of centuries by using
modern instruments and especially the trumpet which became, during the
1970's, the backbone of the Wahrani genre. Reinterpreting the gasba melodies
on trumpet, Bellemou backed singers such as Boutaiba Sghir & Sheikh Benfissa
who carried on the lyrical tradition of their forefathers singing about daily
preoccupations and problems as well as love affairs, alcohol, or simply owning
an automobile! Toward the late 1970's, Cheb Zergui brought a newer ingredient:
an electric guitar with a wah wah pedal. Thankfully, the late 1960's saw the
development of vinyl pressing in Algeria.
This new industry allowed many small artists including the Wahrani "scene" to
record and release singles documenting their repertoire. This compilation is a
selection of the Proto Ra┤'s scene's vinyl 45s. The LP is limited to a one-time
pressing of 1500 copies on 180 gram vinyl and comes in a full color gatefold
jacket with photos of the musicians & informative liner notes by the man who
compiled it, Hicham Chadly.
http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/
dly.
http://www.sublimefrequencies.com/