An album destined for North American shelves culled from the 80 or so cassettes available in Algeria by the great Cheb Hasni, who was gunned down by fundamentalists early in his career. Hasni was to be the heir to the throne of Khaled, and this album, to a degree, shows off why. The poetic lyrics are of love, love lost, and societal unrest. His voice has that necessary wavering that seemingly goes hand in hand with proper rai, and his keyboard work isn't lagging far behind. The songs are beautiful, with simple little trills defining the Algerian ornamentation in the keyboards and the standard violin hits defining the music clearly as rai. Still, the vocals are the showpiece of it here, with the right mix of high-pitched wails and guttural runs of nearly spoken lyrics. In the liner notes, among the translations to Hasni's songs, one is listed as "the lyrics to this song defy translation." That more or less holds true for the entirety of the album. The musicality carries the album for those who don't speak Algerian, and the comprehensive liner notes provide a nice look at the stunning poetry that stands within the music for those who can understand it. Pick it up as a fan of rai, but be sure to pick up works by Cheb Khaled and Cheb Mami first for the stronger ambassadors of the genre.
© Adam Greenberg /TiVo