Habibi Funk 007 - V/A

Habibi Funk 007 - Music from the Arab world  (Various Artists)
Habibi Funk

Following hot on the heels of Habibi Funk 008, here's 007. The name's Funk; Habibi Funk.

It's not just sequential irregularities* that will have you scratching your head here... the music within this brand new collection of lost music from the Arab world will pull your brain in a multitude of directions and inspire a giddy mix of abandon, fear, excitement and a pure joy of living. Much like driving in Beirut.

Intoxicating, wild, reckless, bizarre and infectious, the grooves within will ignite the dourest of souls.

The Habibi Funk mission statement is to re-release a style of music that never was. Music that is bound only by its connection to the vast, sprawling and disparate Arab world. Any time, any place. Traditional or western-influenced. It doesn't matter to Habibi Funk, they just want to bring our attention to the peculiar array of songs that would almost certainly remain undiscovered without their diligence.

This compilation features 16 such songs, mostly sung in Arabic and all wonderfully odd. The mix of Arabic instruments and Western influences (rockabilly, rock n roll and garage rock, mostly) make for incredible bed-fellows.

There's a DJ mix previewing the music from 007 by Konbini which offers a tantalising taste of the record, which you can pre-order on a range of formats from Bandcamp below. 

*Habibi Funk Mix 008, blogged last week, isn't really the precursor to Habibi Funk 007. One's a Mix Series, the other is a Record Series. But pretending enabled a rather cheap joke. Did you expect any better? 

Habibi Funk Mix 008 - Late 80s/early 90s Algerian Tapes

Habibi Funk Mix 008
Just Cheb Hasni (Late 80s/early 90s Algerian Tapes)

Here's something a little way different... the exceptional Arabic music foragers Habibi Funk have released the 8th instalment of their mix series, and it's as interesting a tale as it is sonic experience. In fact, having done so much homework themselves, I'll just let them explain the rationale behind this latest mix below. What I can tell you is it's an immaculately presented mix of 80s and 90s Algerian tapes solely featuring the late, assassinated Cheb Hasni. Cheb was, apparently, a phenomenally popular Algerian popstar, murdered by Islamic extremists. 

If you're not already following Habibi Funk you realy need to - get to know them here 

Notes on Habibi Funk Mix 008 from Habibi Funk themselves:

"Usually our focus with Habibi Funk (الترجمة العربية أسفله) is not music from the 1990s and we tend to focus on more obscure releases (not always though, e.g. Al Massrieen or Ahmed Malek are well known in their countries of origin). Cheb Hasni is an exeption to this. The music is very 1990s and he is to this day a major star, his not very active and most likely not official FB page has more then three-million likes. I know very few artists that did so many songs that I deeply love. Keep in mind Hasni was incredibly productive. In his short live he recorded around 100 albums so there is a plethora of songs to choose from and my passion goes especially towards the ones he did in the years before he got murdered. It’s rai, but it’s the type of rai sentimental that also fused the production astethic of early hip hop and house to a very unique fusion. His lyrics were often fairly explizit dealing with everything from love, sex, alcohol, divorce, a mix that made him a prime aim for the non progressive forces in Algerian society of the time.

Today marks the 23rd anniversary of his assassination by Islamists who had threatened to kill him throughout the most time of his career. Especially since Cheb Hasni was murdered for what he stood for as a musician we feel it’s even more important to keep his legacy alive and spread his name, even amongst those who might not know him outside of the Arab world so it felt right to dedicate Habibi Funk Mix #8“ solely to him. The selection is a very personal one and might not reflect what were his most popular ones but it’s the songs I love the most..."