stereotype-busting Arab sounds
(bio uniquement disponible en anglais)
The 16 tracks that make up the latest Habibi Funk compilation are a heady fusion of sound and fervour. There is some psychedelic disco from Egypt. Other songs are electrified by the carnival energy of Caribbean zouk. There’s even a raucous reworking of Beethoven’s “Für Elise”. And it all sits alongside smatterings of funk, soul and hip-hop. Some of the recordings are jagged and unrefined; others sound luscious enough to have been recorded yesterday.
And the stories behind how this compilation and the Berlin-based label that released it came to be are no less intriguing. For co-founder Jannis Stürtz, the journey started in 2012, with a chance visit to a hardware store-cum-record shop in Casablanca, Morocco, and has since taken him across the Arab nations, picking up rare LPs and dusty cassettes as he goes.
