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AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Welcome to week 2! Please vote for your favorite in whatever format you desire. Anyone can vote!

When there is a draw, only votes with comments will count to determine the winner, so it's not mandatory but recommended to leave a comment for the song of your choice.

All songs are available for download here and most are also available on youtube if you are unable to download the file.


Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria)
Oum Kalthoum - El Hob Halaotou Bil Kintar (Egypt)

Bracket 1.1.6
Abdel Aziz el Mubarak - Tahrimni Minnak (Sudan)
Zia - Helelyos (Iran)

Bracket 1.1.7
Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah (Algeria)
Ali Hassan Kuban - Habibi (Egypt)

Bracket 1.1.8
Les Frères Megri - El Harib (Morocco)
Erkin Koray - Ýnat (Turkey)

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria)
Oum Kalthoum - El Hob Halaotou Bil Kintar (Egypt)
The Khaled song really explodes from 2:18 to 2:52 when Aicha rejects the gold and treasures that he offers to her and ask instead for "les mêmes drots que toi" ("the same rights as you"). The fight for the rights of Arabian women is a long and bloody battle (I don't know what the Kalthoum song is about but if you click to the You Tube link it seems that it's about the war of sexes too but with a funny view). I prefer Khaled's song anyway.


Bracket 1.1.6
Abdel Aziz el Mubarak - Tahrimni Minnak (Sudan)
Zia - Helelyos (Iran)
Delicious Persian rare grooves!


Bracket 1.1.7
Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah (Algeria)
Ali Hassan Kuban - Habibi (Egypt)
The fabulous "Ya Rayah" is my candidate for winning the game (or at least the North African part). The hypnotic groove, the great oud part (counterpointed by the strings), the lyrics (I'll try to translate it from the Spanish translation: "You, emigrant, where are you going? / You'll get tired and you'll come back / Many more regret it before you and me", as you can see the two big dramas of Muslim countries, the women rights and the Diaspora mark many lyrical themes). And the rock'n'roll star attitude of Rachid Taha, so unusual in these countries. As bonus links, the original video clip and a live version from the great 1998 live album 1, 2, 3 soleils that teamed the past (Khaled), present (Taha) and future (Faudel) of raï music. The Kuban song is great too, with a contagious groove reminiscent of James Brown.


Bracket 1.1.8
Les Frères Mégri - El Harib (Morocco)
Erkin Koray - Ýnat (Turkey)
Prog-rock from Morocco and from Turkey. I'll go with Koray because of that fuzz guitar sound.


Please let me know if the links don't go to the versions you intented to nominate.

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Honorio
Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria)
Oum Kalthoum - El Hob Halaotou Bil Kintar (Egypt)
The Khaled song really explodes from 2:18 to 2:52 when Aicha rejects the gold and treasures that he offers to her and ask instead for "les mêmes drots que toi" ("the same rights as you"). The fight for the rights of Arabian women is a long and bloody battle


The problem here is that in 2009 Khaled had to flee France and settle in Luxembourg because he was accused of beating his wife !!

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Oh, s..., I see, didn't know that. It seems that, once again, very few people practice what they preach.

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Thanks for adding the links Honorio, they seem fine. I will try to find some time for next week to also include links.

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria)
Oum Kalthoum - El Hob Halaotou Bil Kintar (Egypt)

Aicha reminded me so much of some other song and I couldn't figure it out until I checked the wikipedia page and found the Outlandish cover that I instantly recognized. The original is better, but neither can compete with the brute force of Umm Kulthum's voice; to quote wikipedia: "no commercial microphone utilized for singing could withstand [the strength of her voice], forcing her to stand at a 1- to 3-meter radius away from one". I don't think this is her best song, but it's good enough.

Bracket 1.1.6
Abdel Aziz el Mubarak - Tahrimni Minnak (Sudan)
Zia - Helelyos (Iran)

Abdel Aziz drags on a little too long while Zia gets the funk going and really shouldn't ever stop.

Bracket 1.1.7
Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah (Algeria)
Ali Hassan Kuban - Habibi (Egypt)

Ya Rayah sounds a bit standard, although it's hard to say when listening to music you don't know much about, while Habibi sounds like pure fun. Easy choice.

Bracket 1.1.8
Les Frères Megri - El Harib (Morocco)
Erkin Koray - Ýnat (Turkey)

Another fairly easy choice, with Ýnat doing twice as much in 2 minutes as El Harib does in 4. Pretty crazy stuff, too.

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria)

Bracket 1.1.6
Zia - Helelyos (Iran)

Bracket 1.1.7
Ali Hassan Kuban - Habibi (Egypt)

Bracket 1.1.8
Les Frères Megri - El Harib (Morocco)

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Khaled - Aicha 7
Oum Kalthoum - El Hob Halaotou Bil Kintar 5

Two very Western influenced picks. One that's like a pop song and one that's like a cheesy musical melody. I'll go with the pop song.

Abdal Aziz el Mubarak - Tahrimni Minnak 7
Zia - Helelyos 8

Love that groove

Rachid Taha - Ya rayah 7
Ali Hassan Kuban - Habibi 6

Ya rayah gets the edge for being a little more interesting.

Les Freres Megri - El Harib 6
Erkin Koray - Ynat 6

Love that guitar lick, but on the other hand, it was a little too similar to the people I listen to regularly, to the point of mimickry.

This week isn't as good as the first week. A lot of ordinary goodness.

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria)
Easy.

Bracket 1.1.6
Zia - Helelyos (Iran)
I love that.

Bracket 1.1.7
Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah (Algeria)
One of my favorite of this game, I always like this song since I'm teenager.

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

I forgot to mention, but this closes Sunday the 11th at midnight.

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria)

Bracket 1.1.6
Abdel Aziz el Mubarak - Tahrimni Minnak (Sudan)

Bracket 1.1.7
Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah (Algeria)

Bracket 1.1.8
Erkin Koray - Ýnat (Turkey)

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria) 3.5
Oum Kalthoum - El Hob Halaotou Bil Kintar (Egypt)3.5

Aicha is not my favorite Khaled song (far from that), but like most raï, it is refreshing even if the production is a little over the top 90's mainstream. The bridge is beautiful.
Oum Kalthoum was the biggest North African star of the 21st century and her song is quite pleasant, but a little dated.

Bracket 1.1.6
Abdel Aziz el Mubarak - Tahrimni Minnak (Sudan)
Zia - Helelyos (Iran)

The Abdel Aziz El Mubarak was a great discovery. There are gypsy inflections in that music, it is both very traditional and modern (the dance rhythm), but maybe a little too long.
Zia is my favorite discovery of this bracket. I found this song very late in the nomination process. If you like it don't miss the compilation from where it's taken, it's called Pomegranates -
Persian Pop, Funk, Folk and Psych of the 60s and 70s
and it is full of gems !!


Bracket 1.1.7
Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah (Algeria)
Ali Hassan Kuban - Habibi (Egypt)

2 very good songs here too. Ya Rayah is my favorite Algerian song, although it would be fairer to sazy that it is Algerian/French, since Rachid Taha emigrated to France at age 10. "Ya Rayah" (you who are leaving) is a chaabi song by Dahmane El Harrachi, a star of the 70's Algerian diaspora. Like Slimane Azem he was marginalized by the leaders of Algeria. It is another immigrant song.
The Ali Hassan Kuban song with its bluesy influence, rocks like hell. Nubian music from Egypt is something worth a listen (more than chosing between the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Sleater-Kinney IMO). But the heart factor is for Taha.

Bracket 1.1.8
Les Frères Megri - El Harib (Morocco)
Erkin Koray - Ýnat (Turkey)

Well, actually, I really liked brackets 2 and 3
I'll go for the Morrocan Beatles as they were called by a big fan on a Web page. I prefer them to the Turkish Jimi Hendrix !!!!

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria)


Bracket 1.1.6
Zia - Helelyos (Iran)

Bracket 1.1.8
Les Frères Megri - El Harib (Morocco)

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria)
Oum Kalthoum - El Hob Halaotou Bil Kintar (Egypt)

"Aicha" has a great, catchy chorus that caught me on the first listen. I just couldn't get into Oum Kalthoum. Maybe it was the recording quality.

Bracket 1.1.6
Abdel Aziz el Mubarak - Tahrimni Minnak (Sudan)
Zia - Helelyos (Iran)

"Helelyos" is a lot of fun, mainly because I'm a sucker for these kinds of brass parts in songs. "Tahrimni Minnak" is also a good listen, but went on a bit too long and outstayed its welcome by the end.

Bracket 1.1.7
Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah (Algeria)
Ali Hassan Kuban - Habibi (Egypt)

Closest bracket of the week for me. But those strings in "Ya Rayah" win for me; I like hearing these sorts of scales and modes that don't come up a lot in Western music.

Bracket 1.1.8
Les Frères Megri - El Harib (Morocco)
Erkin Koray - Ýnat (Turkey)

I like the drugged-out feel of "El Harib," but the fuzzy guitars of "Ynat" are even better!

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria)
Oum Kalthoum - El Hob Halaotou Bil Kintar (Egypt)

Bracket 1.1.6
Abdel Aziz el Mubarak - Tahrimni Minnak (Sudan)
Zia - Helelyos (Iran)

Bracket 1.1.7
Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah (Algeria)
Ali Hassan Kuban - Habibi (Egypt)

My 2 favourite songs from this week's bunch. Habibi is exhilirating, but if I have to explain to someone what I think good music from North Africa sounds like, I would play them Ya Rayah.

Bracket 1.1.8
Les Frères Megri - El Harib (Morocco)
Erkin Koray - Ýnat (Turkey)

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Bracket 1.1.5 Khaled - Aicha
Bracket 1.1.6 Zia - Helelyos
Bracket 1.1.7 Ali Hassan Kuban - Habibi
Bracket 1.1.8 pass

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria)
Oum Kalthoum - El Hob Halaotou Bil Kintar (Egypt)
Aicha is very good pop and wins easy. Is this really among the best Oum Kalthoum has to offer?

Bracket 1.1.6
Abdel Aziz el Mubarak - Tahrimni Minnak (Sudan)
Zia - Helelyos (Iran)
Zia was beyond my expectations of Persian music. Very cool. Abdel Aziz el Mubarak has not caught my interest yet.

Bracket 1.1.7
Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah (Algeria)
Ali Hassan Kuban - Habibi (Egypt)
"Ya Rayah" is good while "Habibi" is the standout song of the week with its great energy.

Bracket 1.1.8
Les Frères Megri - El Harib (Morocco)
Erkin Koray - Ýnat (Turkey)
If Honorio's link is correct (is it "Ýnat" or "İnat"?) then Erkin Koray's song is taken from an album with a RYM rating of 3.82 from 274 ratings, there's gotta be more interesting songs than this instrumental piece, no? I preferred the psychedelic harmonies of "El Harib".

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Yes, I do believe that is the song, so it probably should be Ínat. I quite like the song, and it is eligible according to the rules we set.

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

Bracket 1.1.5
Khaled - Aicha (Algeria) - 11
Oum Kalthoum - El Hob Halaotou Bil Kintar (Egypt) - 1

Bracket 1.1.6
Abdel Aziz el Mubarak - Tahrimni Minnak (Sudan) - 1
Zia - Helelyos (Iran) - 11

Bracket 1.1.7
Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah (Algeria) - 6
Ali Hassan Kuban - Habibi (Egypt) - 4

Bracket 1.1.8
Les Frères Megri - El Harib (Morocco) - 6
Erkin Koray - Ýnat (Turkey) - 4

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

I was at a statistics conference this past week so I missed out. I'll get back into it this week!

Re: AM Foreign World Cup: Round 1 - North Africa (Part 2)

My posthumous votes:

Khaled - Aicha (Algeria)
Zia - Helelyos (Iran)
Rachid Taha - Ya Rayah (Algeria)
Les Frères Megri - El Harib (Morocco)

which are pretty much all the winners ...