Customer Reviews

Ghriba: La Kahena Remixes (Rmxs)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love the diversity of the tunes on this album. All of the cuts are well-mixed and smooth. The CD would provide the perfect backdrop for a sleek, modern cocktail joint. It brings together a number of diverse musical styles and weaves them together smoothly for an elegant sound. Moreover, the album contains enough diversity to make it an enjoyable backdrop for an entire evening. It is not like so many modern albums, where you feel like you are listening to the same song over and over again.

My first DJ Cheb disc was "Shri Durgha" which is both wonderfully inventive yet reverent to its source. I usually hate remix discs of any kind, but liked what I heard at Barnes and Noble (first 15 seconds of each track) and bought it.

Unlike Durgha which felt organic and only the subtlest bit of touch by the DJ, La Ghriba as a remix project is just the opposite and happily so as its a great fun ride. Trippy infectuous third world grooves keeps the toe tapping, and keep this disc hogging the CD player from all comers.

I don't remember when the last time I thought of a piece of electronica as "great fun", maybe not since "Live Orb 93", but in any case it's been way too long. This one qualifies easily.

"La Ghriba" can best be called "Erotic City in the Desert." DJ Cheb I Sabbah's contemplative grooves and chants from "La Kahena" are turned into a mystical feast for the senses. It's a seamless whole, like an endless desert trailing into the sunset. Bill Laswell, Bassnectar, and MIDIval Punditz are among those bringing Algerian mystical music to the dancefloor.

Nav Deep& the Chakadoon's groove into the rhythmic heart of "Toura Toura." They bring a new spin to the song. Bassnectar's re-interpretation of "Alkher Illa Doffor" is as multi-layered as a fine magic carpet. The Rai of Light and Constantine remixes of "Esh 'Dani" take the unlikely spiritual ode to San Francisco to a new level. The Zen Breaks remix of "Madh Assalhin" brings a Far Eastern side to the Middle East. It would be like finding a Zen sand garden in the midst of the Sahara. The closing track, MIDIval Punditz's remix of "Im Ninalou" brings out the spicy,erotic heart of the spiritual song.

"La Ghriba" is a worthy successor to "La Kahena." It's perfect for a thousand and one nights!

What can I say- From the opening notes to the last whisper of sound I was filled with a longing and sadness for a country lost to the ravages of war- I could only think how happy my mother-in-law would have been to have heard this since she was never to return to her beloved country once war had deposited her onto the shores of Europe- Yes, La Kahena Lives!

I have heard everything from DJ Cheb I Sabbah, and this is by far his best album!

This is not the best work by this artist. Some of it is dis-jointed and other tracks are great. Little more work required by the artist.

I loved La Kahena, and would give it 7 or 8 stars if I could, but I can't. This disc is a piece of crap. First, it sounds like it was mixed by a hearing impaired person. Second, the need to remix the brilliance of La Kahena to make it palatable to what someone thinks is American club culture (at least as it may be thought to exist in a place like Houston, Kansas City, or Pierre, South Dakota) just escapes me. La Kahena is a brave and brilliant integration of rockin' Maghrebi sounds. This ... ick!

Two stars for the original.