mp3: CHEB i SABBAH toura toura (the medina remix)
Take any ‘world music’ album that purports to blend ‘the traditional and the modern’, and you invariably have a collection of Pro-Tools sessions, mixed from disparate sample sources. Chances are the composer and musicians will have never met, let alone be aware of each other’s existence.
In Cheb-I-Sabbah‘s case, nothing can be further from the truth. Cheb-I is a producer and DJ who has rightly garnered high praise for his decision to curate and commission the traditional / classical artists that appear on his releases. Much in the same way that Uwe Schmidt compiles his Senor Coconut albums, Sabbah works and records directly with his sources – and later blending overdubs and beats into the final compositions. His rationale is simple – whilst those musicians are highly skilled, their aim is not to impress dancefloors. Rather than simply remix them into club existence, Sabbah opts to bring the two worlds together under his tutelage – a bold project, but one that has paid off time and time again. The first results were 1999’s ‘Shri Durga’, written with Pakistan’s Ustad Salamat Ali Khan (who also crops up on last month’s Thievery Corporation remix album). The dj mix ‘As Far As’ (2003) also saw him develop his role as composer, and featured tracks from Natacha Atlas, Don Cherry and Asian Dub Foundation alongside his own works .
Last year’s ‘La Kahena’ saw Cheb-I complete the circle, returning to his Algerian birthplace and its neighbouring regions to develop his range of sounds and styles. The result was a collection of eight tracks featuring works from eight different regional groups of players – encompassing gnawa, berber, Andalusian wedding song, Algerian rai and Jewish poetry; all featuring exclusively female vocals.
Given his purist approach, it’s somewhat ironic that his new release is a collection of third party remixes of ‘La Kahena’ material entitled ‘La Ghriba’. Sandeep Kumar’s ‘Navdeep’ remix of ‘Toura Toura’ is the standout – although this has been blogged on a couple of other sites, so I opted for the second ‘Toura Toura’ mix from Yossi Fine of Ex-centric Soundsystem. Also on board is Temple Of Sound, the ubiquitous Bill Laswell, Gaurav Raini from Midival Punditz, Bassnectar and more. There’s precious few accessible contemporary productions from the region, so despite some misgivings about a couple of trance mixes, I recommend further investigation. More info at chebisabbah.com and sixdegrees.com.