Raï: the Search for Cheb
Hey, I'm looking for some new North African and Middle Eastern music in the Raï vein. On the one hand, I really dig the more traditional, acoustic stuff, however modern. On the other hand, I love how Natacha Atlas has embraced modern music technologies and techniques. The middle ground, though, seems stuck in 1988, with the synth hand claps and brass.
So, if I like these:
Cheb Mami (What a voice!)
Cheb Khaled (If you don't like Khaled, you probably don't like the entire genre —*he's sort of central)
Abdou (I've only heard a little and want more)
Natacha Atlas (because she and her fellow musicians really know their medium)
Cheb Anouar (a favorite because the voices and acoustics are more powerful than the synths)
Abdel Ali Slimani (Everything I like about the genre!)
Rachid Taha (What's not to like about punk Algerian/French awesome rock? Rock Al Casbah!)
... and I don't like these:
Cheba Zahouania
Cheb Khaled when he gets excited about synth saxes
Ofra Haza (I thought there was some that I liked, but I can only find stuff that's really overproduced and stretching for a nonexistent American audience)
...what else will I like?
Thanks!
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