Mehdi Haddab talks about Kalashnik Love

If you’ve never regarded the oud —the fretless lute at the core of so much traditional Arabic music— as a rock’n’roll instrument, then you’ve clearly never heard Speed Caravan or the frenetic and joyous playing of Mehdi Haddab. The Algerian-French trio create music that references The Cure and The Chemical Brothers alongside Algerian rai and other Arabic influences in a glorious collision of global sounds and styles.