- Audio CD (20 Sep 2004)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Limited Edition
- Label: Wrasse
- ASIN: B0002T6M92
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 51,111 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product Description
Review
If the Happy Monday's Shaun Ryder had been born in Algeria, he might have made music something like Rachid Taha - the wild man of Algerian rai. Tekitoi is French slang for "who are you?" and maybe it's directed as much at himself as his audience. That's because, even by the mix-and-match standards of his chosen style, he's an eclectic artist, drawing on rock, dance, hip hop and reggae for inspiration, as well as the diverse North African sounds he's absorbed in France since his family left Algeria when he was only ten.
Tekitoi? is Taha's first studio recording since Made in Medina (2001) and falls somewhere between the rockiness of that album and his earlier, more folkloric masterpiece Diwân. As ever, his long-term collaborator Steve Hillage contributes guitar, programming and production, sensitively combining digital beats and swathes of rock guitar with more earthy and acoustic sounds. These include Hossan Ramzy's Arabic percussion, oud-like mandolute from Hakim Hamadouche, Magid Serour's brightly metallic qanun (North African zither), the swirling atmospherics of rosewood gasbah flute and the grandeur of the Egyptian String Ensemble. They feature on more than half the tracks of the original album, beefed up in this edition to a generous 72 minutes by the addition of the evergreen "Ya Rayah" and a Spanish-language version of "Voila Voila". It also comes with a 45 minute DVD documenting a recent tour of Mexico, featuring onstage action and some pithy interview footage with the man and his hard-working band.
Fans of The Clash will instantly recognise "Rock El Casbah", which has ironically lost a little of its swing in translation. Never mind; the rest of Tékitoi? is largely top-notch original material co-written by Taha with Hillage and various others. The best known of these is Brian Eno, who contributes synthesiser and drums to "Dima!", which cheekily recycles the rhythm track from Chaka Demus & Plier's monster hit "Murder She Wrote". Hey, they probably stole it from somebody else!
Another highlight is the rocking hip-hop flavoured groove of "NahSeb", with its alternately jabbing and swooning strings and some typically guttural growls from Taha. His vocals are seldom less than compelling and stand out best on the more stripped-down and rootsy arrangements of songs like "Hasbu-hum" and "Mamachi". The title track is a nifty duet with Christian Olivier, who seems much better paired with Taha than Georgian singer Kaha Beri on the rather limp "Winta". It's one of the few weak points on an otherwise solid and often impressive album. --Jon Lusk
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The North African rai star Rachid Taha made his first record in 1981, influenced The Clash to record "Rock the Casbah" and returned the favour with a cover version on his latest album, Tekitoi ("Who Are You?"), produced by his long-time collaborator Steve Hillage. Taha is a kind of metaphysical protest singer, fusing Arabic folk tunes with crowd-raising rock in songs that combine public rage and private horrors.
Taha includes a half-dozen numbers from Tekitoi, from a full-throated "Rock el Casbah", to his battlecry against one-party thought in "Safi" ("Pure"). The insurgent sentiments of "H'asba-hum!" ("Ask Them for an Explanation") couldn't be clearer: "Liars, thieves, humiliators, killers, oppressors, traitors, the envious, the rotters, the diggers..." Elsewhere, "Medina" and the classic "Yarayeh" slow the pace and open up some musical space, for behind the thunderous impact of the six-piece band lurk some fine interplays between guitar and oud, tabla and full kit, and the rocker's growl of Taha's vocals and the sweetness of his sources - especially on "Bent Sahra" ("Bird of Sahara"), usually played on solo flute.
Taha is on top form, a showman who can galvanise his audience in seconds, raffishly prowling the stage in mirror shades and leather trousers, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Not even Keith Richards does stage cigarettes any more.
Taha includes a half-dozen numbers from Tekitoi, from a full-throated "Rock el Casbah", to his battlecry against one-party thought in "Safi" ("Pure"). The insurgent sentiments of "H'asba-hum!" ("Ask Them for an Explanation") couldn't be clearer: "Liars, thieves, humiliators, killers, oppressors, traitors, the envious, the rotters, the diggers..." Elsewhere, "Medina" and the classic "Yarayeh" slow the pace and open up some musical space, for behind the thunderous impact of the six-piece band lurk some fine interplays between guitar and oud, tabla and full kit, and the rocker's growl of Taha's vocals and the sweetness of his sources - especially on "Bent Sahra" ("Bird of Sahara"), usually played on solo flute.
Taha is on top form, a showman who can galvanise his audience in seconds, raffishly prowling the stage in mirror shades and leather trousers, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Not even Keith Richards does stage cigarettes any more.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Ideally, this intriguing show should have started in a village square outside Naples and then moved to some seething basement in Paris, London or even Algiers. Two very different exponents of global fusion from across the Mediterranean came head-to-head in an inspired double bill, and though a concert hall such as the Barbican was the wrong setting, it had at least brought them together.
The headliner, Rachid Taha, may be from Algeria, but he came on like the last rock'n'roll hero. A scruffy, hunched and shambling figure, he had a sense of danger about him that echoed Gene Vincent or Ian Dury. He has lived in France for years, mixing rock influences with his North African roots, and developed a pared-down, no-nonsense style with the immediacy and attack of early punk. He won new followers this summer with Rock el Kasbah, a tribute to Joe Strummer in which the familiar Clash riffs are seamlessly mixed with Arabic influences.
Taha played it early in the set, for his own songs are just as good. There were North African ballads interspersed with crashing guitar chords, as in Barra Barra, Bo Diddley-like riffs driven on by hand drums and keyboard electronics, and patches where he moved back to early Algerian influences.
Easy-going dance songs such as Ya Rayah allowed the occasional lute solo before the rock riffs kicked back in. He looked a mess, forever swapping hats and dark glasses, but this was a magnificent set.
It was a good night, too, for the portly Enzo Avitabile, the Italian session saxophonist and veteran pop star who has found a new lease of life since joining up with the traditional Bottari wine-barrel beaters who now provide his percussion. The hefty tub thumpers looked remarkable, sounded like a thunderous, clattering machine, and transformed his easy-going blend of jazz, world and rap into hypnotic dance music. He was a tough act to follow, and a reminder of the strength of the new, globally influenced European music scene.
The headliner, Rachid Taha, may be from Algeria, but he came on like the last rock'n'roll hero. A scruffy, hunched and shambling figure, he had a sense of danger about him that echoed Gene Vincent or Ian Dury. He has lived in France for years, mixing rock influences with his North African roots, and developed a pared-down, no-nonsense style with the immediacy and attack of early punk. He won new followers this summer with Rock el Kasbah, a tribute to Joe Strummer in which the familiar Clash riffs are seamlessly mixed with Arabic influences.
Taha played it early in the set, for his own songs are just as good. There were North African ballads interspersed with crashing guitar chords, as in Barra Barra, Bo Diddley-like riffs driven on by hand drums and keyboard electronics, and patches where he moved back to early Algerian influences.
Easy-going dance songs such as Ya Rayah allowed the occasional lute solo before the rock riffs kicked back in. He looked a mess, forever swapping hats and dark glasses, but this was a magnificent set.
It was a good night, too, for the portly Enzo Avitabile, the Italian session saxophonist and veteran pop star who has found a new lease of life since joining up with the traditional Bottari wine-barrel beaters who now provide his percussion. The hefty tub thumpers looked remarkable, sounded like a thunderous, clattering machine, and transformed his easy-going blend of jazz, world and rap into hypnotic dance music. He was a tough act to follow, and a reminder of the strength of the new, globally influenced European music scene.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Rachid Taha has always argued that North African styles and rock are closely linked, and this is his most convincing evidence to date: a furious, declamatory album that is firmly rooted in his native Algeria but has the sparse vitality of a punk classic. The stand-out track, inevitably, is Taha's tribute to his hero, Joe Strummer. It starts with a wailing burst of desert flute and hand drums before introducing the familiar guitar riff of what is now titled Rock el Casbah.
Elsewhere, Taha's blend of anger and angst has been distilled into a set of songs that match crunching guitar chords, simple riffs and angry French and Arabic lyrics with subtle, wailing flourishes of North African embellishment. Steve Hillage has been Taha's producer for the best part of a decade now, and he, along with Brian Eno, helped write the music for the most powerful, original and direct rock-and-rai fusion album that he has released, ranging from the chugging, insistent H'Asbu-Hum to the pounding and thoughtful title track. Strummer would approve.
Elsewhere, Taha's blend of anger and angst has been distilled into a set of songs that match crunching guitar chords, simple riffs and angry French and Arabic lyrics with subtle, wailing flourishes of North African embellishment. Steve Hillage has been Taha's producer for the best part of a decade now, and he, along with Brian Eno, helped write the music for the most powerful, original and direct rock-and-rai fusion album that he has released, ranging from the chugging, insistent H'Asbu-Hum to the pounding and thoughtful title track. Strummer would approve.
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