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Tinariwen - Assuf D Alwa (Khalil Epi remix)

https://soundcloud.com/azizkonkrite :
"This title illustrates the effect that music can have on human beings. Very early on, within my family, during weddings, baptisms, aid... I was amazed to note that only the presence of music offered me the opportunity to see my uncles, aunts, let go of their seriousness that the difficult life they led imposed on them." 

"Improvised percussion with tea glasses and small spoons, a basin, a table…. The instrument that struck me the most was the "kemenja" violin... silky and sharp at the same time, its languorous sounds attracted these big children to the dance floor, and its incisive riffs cut sharply into their ability to control their body... the violinist directed the guests like a puppeteer, letting them wondering: "Ah Meli meli, ya rabih meli" - what is happening to me, my god what is happening to me!"

Siba Sawt-System

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Aziz Konkrite - A Meli Melodie

Libyan Reggae at its peak grooves courtesy of Benghazi-born Ahmed Ben Ali. After working with Ahmed on the 12” hit “Subhana” (Habibi012), Habibi Funk is back with a full-length release focusing on Ahmed’s releases from the mid 2000’s. The tracks on the LP represent a blisteringly deep collection of heavy reggae rhythms and synthesized grooves from a singular creative force, inspired as much from Jamaican sonics as from Libyan folkloric styles, as Ahmed says, “it’s the Libyan style, not some bullshit.” 

Our first and major contact with Libyan music began five-or-so years ago, when we were invited to visit an abandoned tape factory in Tunisia. We have talked about this influential visit more at length for the Free Music release (Habibi021), if you’re interested. Anyhow, the place was astonishing. It had a room full of unused - but already printed - inlay cards for tapes and three large rooms spreading over two floors of unsold stock. A rough guess would be more than 100,000 copies already dubbed with music, many of which were produced for the Libyan market. On top of this the owner, Hechmi, also told us of another 200,000 blank tapes held in a separate unit. Much of the music we found there was clearly influenced by Jamaican music, and we soon realized how popular Reggae music had been in Libya since the 1970’s. 

Reggae in Libya has dominated the charts since its arrival in the 1970’s and flourished with some of the pioneers of Libyan reggae such as Ibrahim Hesnawi, Najib Alhoush and The White Birds Band. Composers like Ahmed Fakroun and Nasser Mizdawi also played around with the genre, although they did not dedicate their sound to it. When we started researching into more contemporary recordings, we quickly came upon Ahmed Ben Ali. Ben Ali is a Libyan singer and producer, whose YouTube channel at the time contained four songs (we later learned they had been uploaded more than ten years prior). Despite the fact that these songs seem to be pretty popular, the channel became inactive a few months after its launch. In the comment section you could read appreciative feedback, not only from Libyans but also people from all over the world who seem to share a common passion for Ben Ali’s sound. 

Generally speaking, there is not really a blueprint on how to find the musicians with whom we would like to re-release music. In this case, we did consider visiting Libya, but in the end, it turned out not to be possible for a number of reasons. We focused our efforts on online research, and eventually we were able to connect with Ahmed by phone. 

Contextualizing his own style, Ben Ali points out that, “The Libyan folkloric rhythm is very similar to the reggae rhythm. So, if Libyan people listen to reggae, it’s easy for them to relate because it sounds familiar. This is the main reason why reggae became so popular here. [...] We played the reggae Libyan style, it’s not the same as in Jamaica. We added our oriental notes to it and if you mix both it becomes something great.” With a bit of laughter, he adds that “...to me it’s still original reggae, it’s the Libyan style, not some bullshit.” 

The album was licensed from Ahmed Ben Ali. We pay 50% of the profits of this release. Only project related costs are deductible from the gross income, research and travel costs come out of our own share. Publishing rights were not included in our agreement.

Habibi Funk 022: Ahmed Ben Ali - Subhana

Electrosteen

Algeriasteen (feat. Mehdi Haddab & Walaa Sbait)

Temporary Love

EP001 - Üsküdar (preview)

Ko Shin Moon
(LP/CD/Digital)
buy here : akuphone.com/catalog/1jKrxqUR#content

Mixing digital and instrumental compositions, contemporary electronic sounds, traditional music and samples from field recordings, Ko Shin Moon blurs the boundaries. This musical project maintains some mystery, it is disconcerting - which continent does it come from? Which period of time?

Ko Shin Moon - Zaffa

Oum - Lahda (Badre Edit)

Very amusing Cumbia style remix from our dear friend Yuriy Gurzhy, enjoy the music and learn some German!

Dabke Deutschland - Yuriy Gurzhy Remix * FREE DL *

Carte De Séjour - Saàmou

On croyait le grand raï mort avec le ­déclin de Khaled, Cheb Mami et con­sorts, dans le meilleur des cas réduit à quelques performances vocodées dans les boîtes à chicha des périphéries urbaines. Et voilà qu’il renaît par la voix rauque et enfumée d’un quadragénaire parisien originaire de Sidi Bel Abbès, en Algérie. Trois ans après El Mordjane, disque déjà prometteur, Sofiane Saidi est de retour, accompagné cette fois par Mazalda, un groupe de musiciens lyonnais avec lequel il a déjà électrisé les scènes françaises. En studio, guitares rock et synthés analogiques aux tournures mélismatiques invitent à tournoyer sous les étoiles (el ndjoum en arabe), sur un groove vintage mouillé d’une réverbe intimiste et chaleureuse, qui rappelle moins le raï des années 1990 que celui de la décennie précédente. Car, au-delà de la fête, plus cosmique que stroboscopique, Sofiane Saidi renoue surtout avec l’âpreté des origines, mélangeant batterie et derboukas, flûte électronique et flûte de roseau traditionnelle. Adaptées de vieux morceaux raï, ses chansons suintent le blues, celui que les bergers noyaient autrefois dans la bouteille sous les oliviers. La reprise du Saïda de Cheikha Rimitti qui clôture le disque — un chant de l’exil lancinant — donne des frissons.

| Airfon/Carton Records/L’Autre distribution.

Anne Berthod

El Ndjoum 

05_La Classe Fi Las Vegas_

label, dj and platform for a wide range of underappreciated music from north africa and west asia

Habibi Funk 022: Ahmed Ben Ali - Subhana

habibi funk - حبيبي فنك

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