2009/06/10

Morrocco part 1

it's been almost an entire year since my trip to morrocco, and it is (past) time to share some of the music i bought in the dodgy little cramped and messy CD shops around Marrakesh and on route to the Sahara. what i found is that the bigger shops which are more organized is mostly all pop and rubbish, and that it is the ones with stacks of shit all over the floor, looking like it just opened that very afternoon, with employees who look like kids from the street, in which you can find real magic. i stood in a few of them for hours on end, trying to describe with gestures and a friend who could translate, the sounds i was after, and going through stacks and stacks of CDs. service was great, they happily played for me any CD i pointed to on the shop stereo. glad i spent the time and energy as i did find some real gems. here is the first, more to follow.



the music on here is even more amazing than this cover. as soon as the beat kicked in on the first track i was like "this goes in the yes pile". the guy on the left with the tie the shop attendent told me is a legendary player.

sorry there are no english names on most of these CDs and all i could do was label the mp3s in a simple way so that i can remember which is which.

much thanks to a commentor the artists on this recording has been identified as CHEB MOKHTAR EL BERKANI, featuring Hamid Bouchnak (Rai pioneer), with Hassan El Oujdi on vocals for tracks 11 and 12.

coming up: Berber reggae, classic Gnawa and fusion, more badass Rai.

thanks to Ed this has been re-upped.

23 comments:

Jason Weaver said...

Great stuff. Looking forward to going on a little musical holiday...

Anonymous said...

i enjoyed souleyman; so i will try this, despite the horrible cover :P
thanks!

zhao said...

NO NO NO!!!!

you should try it BECAUSE of the cover!!!

because music with covers like this is REAL, and not masterminded by a record label with a marketing and design team.

some of the best music in the world has the shittiest cover art.

and some of the worst music in the world have really sleek design.

Goofy said...

I agree with you, Zhao. Music with cover art like that is not made with western ears in mind. That equals usually with good music. I look forward to hearing it.

yves thibord said...

CHEB MOKHTAR EL BERKANI
that's the name of the singer,he introduce himself at the beginning of most of the songs,he also credit
Hamid Bouchnak,Bouchnak brothers have
been pionners in Rai in Morocco,
great singer and some good songs
track 11 & 12 the singer is Hassan El Oujdi
peace & love
yves.thibord at wanadoo.fr

t-ador said...

Very enjoyable. Some of the digital synthesizer instrumentations border on cheesy, but the vocal performances are top notch. Thanks, yves thibord, for some info regarding these vocalists.

Anonymous said...

I just want to say that this is one of th finest and most well researched music blog i have run into, in many years.

I am an avid follower of all your posts and back catalog. Originally stumbling here in search of Morton Feldman.

So cheers!

and if you have a sec, check out some of my production:

www.myspace.com/chrisbeatz

-Cb

lala said...

cheers zhao
x

Anonymous said...

I've been following this blog since you initially returned from Morocco. Thanks for a year of proper tunes.

Unknown said...

I agree with William.. super cheesy digi synths, but the vocals are beyond pristine


Just found your blog, BTW.
Thanks for your valuable time and effort.

Anonymous said...

this album is simply awesome. thank you!

Maurice said...

Thank you very much for making these available. It seems like a LOT of Morroccan musicians are absolute monster players--just incredible.

Lowdjo said...

Can't add much, i agree with most comments..thx for sharing mister Zhao. If i'm free in september i'll come and check your set in holland.

Anonymous said...

fantastic stuff

Ed said...

as usual, thank you so much Zhao!

Don't think it should be compared too much with Souleyman, he is Near-East/Levantine , while this Cheb is a Western Maghrebi. Beneath the layer of Arabic (which varies from region) and the oriental synthetic sounds, there are some important differences that should be accounted for. My lecturing stops here because other than noticeable rythmic difference I can't tell how different the lyrical content is. Would love to know that though!

zhao said...

of course! that comparison was just for the non-arabic music listening people... just a reference because of Suleyman's recent popularity. should take it out though. cheers!

Anonymous said...

hey i came too late. Could you re-up plese. Where else but here could i find it. Thx

Anonymous said...

me too.. please, please, please re-up

Anonymous said...

hi, can u reup please? thank you.

Anonymous said...

can anyone? it will be a true favour.

Ed said...

http://www.mediafire.com/?zijjmiwttz2#

there you go.

Respect to Zhao.

Anonymous said...

thanks! and yes respect to zhao but i think he should avoid this 10 downloads limit bullshit somehow..

zhao said...

well my premium account ran out and i forgot to renew it and now it deleted my files and now it will take 7 days to get a new one.

what i can't figure out is how to create a free "collector's account" in which the files are not deleted after 10 dls...