Made in Medina

Rachid Taha | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 6, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ark 21
• ASIN: B0000584Y0
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #234,631 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #30 in Music > World Music > Africa > Algeria

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

After reinterpreting Arab classics on Diwân, Rachid Taha returns with a stunning collection of original compositions that owes as much to rock as to his Algerian rai roots, connecting the dots between Europe and the Maghreb. Here he again teams with producer Steve Hillage (Gong, System 7), whose guitar work and arrangements provide the muscular frameworks for Taha's songs and emotive voice. Rachid's new direction has all the power of rock, as on "Foqt Foqt," which maintains an insistent riff while retaining the delicacy and polyrhythms characterizing North African music. "Ala Jalkoum" offers a duet with Afrobeat superstar Femi Kuti while "Verité" and "Ho Cherie Cherie" could have come from a Peter Gabriel album. Made in Medina is a massive, but still natural, step forward that establishes Taha as the most visionary Algerian singer today. --Chris Nickson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of a Kind, January 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Made in Medina (Audio CD)

This is a remarkably rich and varied record that resists hasty pigeon-holing. It's not just for the "World Music" shelf, that's for sure. Pressed, I'd file it under "Masterpieces".

I've had it since shortly after its release, listen to it often, and never tire of it. The cuts are loosely connected by the themes of voodoo and trance and there's an evident progression as they succeed one another. The opening songs ('Barra Barra', 'Foqt Foqt','Medina') appear to deal with urban angst and disillusionment and they are delivered with an irresistible rock bludgeoning. Gradually, more traditional North African elements assert themselves ('Qalantiqa' and 'En Retard') culminating in the literally breath-taking 'Garab' which the liner notes rightly calls "an invitation to enter into a trance ..." Lyrics are in Arabic and French with the exception of a few verses sung by Femi Kuti in 'Ala Jalkoum', but the liner notes include a few lines from each song in both French and English. The production by Steve Hillage is extraordinary, demonstrating as always in his work with Taha, enormous respect for both the power of the electric sounds and the discrete texture of the acoustic instruments. Those who are put off by Taha's somewhat gruff voice (see reviews of his previous solo record 'Diwân') will not find it changed and those who have acquired a taste for it will rejoice that it hasn't. I love this record.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars listen without prejudice, September 5, 2001

By 

"jmahagan" (montgomery,Al USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Made in Medina (Audio CD)

THE perfect entry point for Algerian rock icon Rachid Taha's music has arrived with an exclamation mark. Made in Medina is the album to take the maverick Rachid beyond the circle of purists and into the mainstream light. There are new stakes on this effort and plenty of redefining moments to savour with Rachid focusing heavily on street edge rock and rai to structure this recent work.

Rachid has truly mastered the art of extensive music-making. In its entirety, Made in Medina spreads the music across a variety of fertile music grounds and styles. He summoned the recording smarts in Paris and London while finding spiritual sustenance and mystical presence in Morocco and New Orleans. In bridging the rituals of the Morocco gnawas and the Louisiana voodoo with the roots of North Africa, Rachid has shortened diverse creative distances and unravelled an infectious yet frenzied brew of music set to boost his culture-bending socio-political cause.

An awesome sound awaits to be soaked in from Rachid's fresh vision as he drives the album through climatic chords and emotive jolts. It's mind-boggling to find sneering punk aggression, traditional lute sounds, New Orleans "gris gris" grooves and simple Franco-Arabic songs blending into the mixture with little difficulty. It's the sort of faraway rock music that Robert Plant and Jimmy Page would love to emulate.

The album goes for the one, two punch in commanding, uncompromising fashion. The stomping Barra Barra (Outside) carpets any Western rock competition as it tears away with a bilious swipe against the generalising of chaos in society while deception is the core subject on Foqt Foqt (I'm Not Taken In), a pulsing Algerian rock number with all-female Moroccan group B'Net Marrakesh singing the chorus in Berber language. Rock as a medium is a lethal force in any language, and with the innovative Rachid, no sound is untouchable in his rebel-rousing world.

The album does work the average listener into a sweat with its ball of energy. From distant ambulance siren effects in immigrant Lyon neighbourhoods to a stirring tribute to Kahlil Gibran and a generous spread of North African folklore, there's little reason to put this evocative Rachid album off the daily home rotation. There are poignant moments to sustain a different level of intensity, too. The vocals of Femi Kuti, a high-profile guest on Ala Jalkoum (Because of You), complement this blues-based track on the quest for freedom and fulfilment. Amid the volatile stuff, there are breaks to invite the wide-eyed wonder of revelry as well.

For a spell, the man's unrest is eased with the celebration of bliss and solitude on Aie Aie Aie (Carefree), tied up neatly with a Led Zeppelin-ish rhythm. Rachid also proves he remembers the days of old with a nod to the sheiks of rai from the 1930s with the tender nuances on Ho Cherie Cherie (Oh Dearest Dearest), a beautiful tune coiled around the gorgeous strains of violins.

Rachid might be Algerian by birth, he's got a French passport but the universal context of his music brings a startling new dimension to the appeal of rock music outside the usual. From Algeria to Malaysia, this is provocative, edgy and passionate stuff more than capable of touching a nerve no matter what the language of choice. Listen without prejudice

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars radio tarifa meets rock guitar, April 20, 2001

By 

M. H. Bayliss "book queen" - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Made in Medina (Audio CD)

This album has inspired me to seek out his first more traditional album. Though I too find all these songs infectious, I enjoy the traditional element more and sometimes find the harsh rock guitar overwhelming -- I guess it's that I enjoy the Algerian side of the music more than the driving guitar side. Still, these songs are excellent. I've listened to the CD about 10 times and am still not tired of it at all. It's even good to exercise to. If you like more mellow sounding North African music, try Radio Tarifa which to my taste is perhaps a tad better, but it's a close call.