< to the previous page <

* * *

Few musicians can merge old-world musical traditions with modern dance music without causing grunts and groans. In the realm of Arabic music, Ofra Haza did it well and Rachid Taha is the current master of this blended world beat. Taha was born in Algeria and cut his musical teeth as a member of the transplanted immigrant community living in France. Taha was weaned on raï, Algerian rebel and dance music, and is influenced by the energy of punk. This confluence pours into Taha's rebel music, which is about fighting ignorance, poverty, racism and complacency. After playing in a band called CARTE DE SÉJOUR (French for RESIDENCE PERMIT), which initiated a loose "Arabic rock", he went solo and took the dance music route. "Tékitoi?" ("T'es Qui Toi", "Who Are You?") is largely a collection of dance music touched by Arabic rhythms, raï, and rock. An interpretation of THE CLASH's "Rock The Casbah", here called "Rock El Casbah", would please the late Joe Strummer. "Voilà Voilà" and the title tune are tracks that bookend Taha's melding of cultural influences with witty observations and a fiery vocal delivery. The better tracks are where the old-world rhythms are treated as equals to or supersede the dance beats.

Samir Shukla
"Creative Loafing", 16.02.2005

* * *

Somewhere in rock'n'roll heaven, THE CLASH's Joe Strummer is diggin' Rachid Taha's ferocious cover of "Rock The Casbah" (titled "Rock El Casbah"). French-Algerian rocker Taha has said that he takes Western music and reads it "right to left", and it has worked surprisingly well for him. His "Tékitoi?" rocks as hard as any disc out there - albeit with a pronounced North African vibe. Liberal use of the oud (Arabic lute), mandolute (guitar and oud), bendir (hand drum) and darbuka (hourglass drum) add elements of percussion and exotic melodicism to his sound that are absent from most Western rock. On "Safi" Taha takes that distinctive feel a step farther, backing rock number with a full Egyptian orchestra. "Tékitoi?" is nothing but great, from the provocative opening duet with Christian Olivier (the title track) through the final bonus cut, "Voilà Voilà".

PVV
"Billboard", 26.02.2005

* * *

If you don't know who Rachid Taha is, don't worry. "Tékitoi?" (Wrasse) includes the 45-minute documentary "Kienes?" on the accompanying DVD, though you'll learn more of the essentials about this Algerian French vocalist on "Rock El Casbah", his high-octane punk bellydance version of the familiar CLASH song "Rock The Casbah". Steve Hillage, the former lead guitarist for the '70s pothead pixie space music band GONG and Taha's collaborator for 21 years, is all over the disc with terrestrial power-chord riffs and programming. He produces, too. Taha has got more charisma in his little finger than most of us can muster in our entire frames, and his affable personality is as winning as his constant sense of humor. Musically, he's all over the map from raï to gypsy to cabaret. Brian Eno even finds a guest niche as co-composer and electronic drummer on the personal anthem "Dima". Whatever else Taha might be, the guy's definitely a rock star.

"The Beat", 1.03.2005

* * *

With Serpico good looks and a gruff Springsteen rasp, Algerian-born Rachid Taha is a no-brainer as a rock star. Mixing French and Arabic and a little Spanish, Taha purveys a hugely infectious rock'n'roll sound-accessible even to Stateside ears. His latest album features the hit "Tékitoi?", a riffy duet with French rocker Christian Olivier that moves along with such determination that it sounds speed-induced. (Brian Eno is the album's other guest star.) And after years of being compared to THE CLASH, Taha does a version here of "Rock The Casbah" - in Arabic and with North African instrumentation. Though Tana's music is reliably rocky - with a familiar chugging of guitars and furiously persistent drumming - he adds elements that are unexpected, including the mandolute. Arabic percussion and, on "Lli Fat Mat", the Egyptian String Ensemble. Such combinations make his songs both sexy and tough, as though Springsteen called up Tom Waits, and they decided to write some music for hot nights on the dance floor. Lyrically Taha's no ranter, but he is resolutely political. "Our culture is not democratic", he sings on the hard-rock "Safi!" "In the assembly, you cannot question the minister, there is no right to speak!" (It sounds more poetic in Arabic.) But Taha's not without hope: on the heels of lamenting oppression, he sings, "As for me, my heart is pure! I like joyous love!" Well, who doesn't? Last month England's "Daily Telegraph" wrongly reported that Taha's onstage behavior - leaning on the mike stand, staggering around - was the result of a degenerative bone disease. This infuriated Taha's U.S./U.K. manager, who called the reporter an "irresponsible motherfucker" on Taha's website. In fact, Taha has a rare, not-so-bad form of muscular dystrophy. But the illness is nowhere in evidence on the entertaining DVD that accompanies "Tékitoi?", which follows the grungy rocker as he travels through Mexico charming people with his scrappy assertions about music and politics. Best quote? "World music is a term for store-keepers". Right on. So don't let stupid record-store shelving conventions keep you from hearing Rachid Taha.

Liz Spikol
"Philadelphia Weekly", 2.03.2005

* * *

There has been an awful lot of hype about Algerian born Rachid Taha and his latest album release, "Tékitoi?" and I'm about to add a little more to it. Arabic in origin, punk in attitude, and gritty electronic-rock in style, Rachid Taha is the genuine nomadic cross breeder. From his early djing days at "Les Refoulés", Lyon, Rachid has made listeners sit up and take notice; he has a sound and a message that demands attention.
"Tékitoi?" loosely translates as french slang for "Who the hell are you?" and it's also the album's punchy opening track featuring Christian Olivier. For Rachid, fear, complacency, ignorance, racism, poverty and lies have long been the subjects of his music and "Tékitoi?" passionately continues down this path.
Drawing on rock, reggae, classic arabic and raw, dirty electronica Rachid makes no attempt to preach at his audience (at this point I should probably mention that 90% of the album is in French, there is however an english translation of each track in the artwork), he simply tells it like it is, in the most refreshing and compelling manner.
Far rockier than its predecessor, "Diwân", "Tékitoi?" totally sucks you in and spits you out on the other side, and thanks to collaborator Steve Hillage, driving guitar riffs, mesmerising arabic percussion and layers of digital beats all come together in spectacular fashion.
Highlights include the invigorating "Dima!" featuring synth and drums from Brian Eno, the passionate "Ya Rayah", the devilishly witty "Voilà Voilà", the hip hop infused "Nah'Seb" and the exceptional catchy remake of THE CLASH's "Rock El Casbah".
Including a dvd documentary of Rachid and his band on their latest tour of Mexico, "Tékitoi?" is an impressive piece of work, regardless of wether or not you understand what is being said, this album will rock you to the very core.

missmlp
"ITM", 04.03.2005

* * *

Like the beaten-down Hamburg Turk in the recent film "Head-On", combat rock nomad Rachid Taha regularly explodes on "Tékitoi?" with a blistering interrogation of the new Arab identity in all its displaced confusion and contradictions. "Who are you?" inquires the album's title track in punning French. Brash and defiant sonic combinations trump stylistic consistency on Taha's seventh solo album since departing from Franco-Arab hybrid group CARTE DE SÉJOUR. An irrepressible piss-taker, Taha declares "world music a cheap term for shopkeepers" on "Tékitoi?"'s accompanying DVD documentary, disavowing his Algerian raï heritage along the way. "I'm like a Rai Cooder", he smirks.
Longtime Taha accomplice Steve Hillage (yes, he of trippy '70s prog rockers GONG) meshes grimy guitars and synths with Oriental strings and traditional percussion in tunes drawing on the latest street sounds from Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, and the former Soviet Union. Brian Eno even drops in to bring refreshing ambience to "Dima (Always)". And as Taha's CLASH cover demonstrates, nobody Rocks the Casbah quite so convincingly as this rock star without a country.

Richard Gehr
"Tracks", 1.04.2004

The Who and What of Rachid Taha

The title of Rachid Taha's latest album translates as "Who Are You?", though "what are you?" might well be the question listeners would want to ask of Taha. He's been referred to as a raï singer, a label he rejects despite having appeared with raï guys Khaled and Faudel in a historic 1998 Paris concert that later became a bestselling live album. He's also been called a punk rocker, a term far too limiting to be applicable. I say forget the labels and just enjoy the guy.
Born in Algeria and eventually taking up residence in France, Taha grew up influenced by the grandeur of Arabic music, the hypnotic spell of Gnawa trance tunes and the snarl of punk. Being a North African living in the French metropolis of Lyon meant confronting racism and asserting one's identity, and Taha decided to do it with music gleaned from what he'd absorbed. His previous discs, including such critical faves as "Diwân" and "Made in Medina", cemented a signature swaggering sound that mixed Arabic grooves, rockish abandon and clubby electronica, and Taha made good on the promise of those discs with engagingly hot live performances around the world.
When I first listened to "Tékitoi?", the song that really grabbed me was the makes-perfect-sense version of THE CLASH's "Rock The Casbah", a fitting nod to a band (and their late frontman Joe Strummer) categorized as punk but having the good sense to make some trailblazing explorations into global sounds. Subsequent listenings revealed more of the disc's pleasures, including the melodic stomp of the title track (a duet with Christian Oliver), the roots/rock mixup of "Safi" ("Pure"), songs that bring helpings of nuevo flamenco ("Winta") and rhythm'n'blues-like bounce ("Shuf") to the table, the use of guitar power chords to keep things from getting too genteel and the consistent pulse of Arabic percussion (mostly played by Egyptian master Hossam Ramzy). Taha is by no means a technically perfect singer, but his growling, urgent style, punctuated by rolled r's and raw phrasing, is perfectly suited to what he does.
In Rachid Taha's world, you can respect tradition even as you mess with it. He does both to an admirable degree, resulting in an album I like a lot. The disc also includes a companion DVD that features Taha and band on tour in Mexico in 2004. Interview and concert footage shows Taha to be a laid-back, scruffy soul who nonetheless is full of genuine insight, conviction and charm.

Torr
"World Music Central", 03.04.2005

> to the next page >