Bab L’ Bluz KEXP Session
During their North American tour in July 2024, Bab L' Bluz visited the studios of KEXP in Seattle to...
Fri, 25 October 24
5 albums that showcase the beautiful music of North Africa
Get to know the music of North Africa with these five essential albums from our catalogue, including musical styles such as Algerian Raï, Egyptian Classical and Moroccan Gnawa.
1. Mraya
Abdel Ali Slimani (Algeria)
RELEASED 08 JANUARY 1996
Mraya is an assured debut, with Abdel Ali Slimani‘s Algerian Rai roots finding solid ground in trance-like grooves. The album’s theme reflects the emigre looking back at his home to which he cannot return, the music taking Rai to new areas but retaining the spirit of its desert roots. Read more about the album
2. New Moon
Abdelli (Algeria)
RELEASED 26 JUNE 1995
Abdelli is a Berber of the Kabyle people, indigenous North Africans who have inhabited the region since pre-Arab times. New Moon is the poetic and passionate music of a man who brings his ancient culture into the modern world through collaboration with musicians from South America and the Ukraine. Read more about the album
3. Trance
Hassan Hakmoun & ZAHAR (Morocco)
RELEASED 31 AUGUST 1993
Primal Moroccan trance traditions collide with psychedelic New York rock and London dance grooves. What results is part of the on-going story of Gnawa music, which spread from West Africa, the Sudan, and the Southern Sahara through centuries of migration until it reached Morocco. Read more about the album
4. Charcoal Gypsies
Musicians of the Nile (Egypt)
RELEASED 02 SEPTEMBER 1996
From the furthest reaches of Upper-Egypt to new spaces and cultures, The Musicians of the Nile return with powerful songs deep in tradition and spontaneity. Read more about the album
5. Kalashnik Love
Speed Caravan (Algeria)
RELEASED 14 SEPTEMBER 2009
Electrified, amplified and fuelled by creative fire, the Paris-based quartet charge towards a psychedelic horizon; slaloming through rock, dance, electro, hiphop, world and other music— blazing a trail with raised fists, a hand brake turn and a sharp spray of desert sand. Read more about the album
MAILING LIST
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Further reading
The Breath announce Keep it Safe EP
The Breath, Ríoghnach Connolly (voice, shruti and flute) and Stuart McCallum (guitar, effects), ann...
Fri, 11 October 24
Track of the day: ‘AmmA’ by Bab L’ Bluz
'AmmA' draws on music from north-east Morocco and influences from Tunisia and Algeria.
Fri, 08 March 24
Track of the day: ‘IWAIWA FUNK’ by Bab L’ Bluz
French-Moroccan power quartet Bab L' Bluz, release the third track from their album Swaken.
Fri, 05 April 24