Tabet, Fethi – Medite (Musique Sans Frontiers)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 1/27/06
At heart upbeat Andalusian/Arabic with strong Rai emphasis, but with input from the Caribbean/South America, Europe, and Central Africa, and jazzy bits as well. Very, very nice to listen to! Good beats, lovely melodies, fine singing and playing. Mostly in Arabic, occasionally French – no FCCs. Track 1 is a real grabber, but 2, 3, 11 are cool too. 5 and 7 are nice if you’re feeling downtempo.
1. **starts with vocal chanting, goes into energetic and uptempo Caribbean/Jazz/Funk dance groove with Arabic vocals, prominent horns and bass. Wow!
2. *Uptempo and funky, very solidly in the Rai camp, but rockin and danceworthy. Could stand to be a lot longer!
3. *mid-to-uptempo reggae beat with Arabian tune. Definintely easy on the ears.
4. Slow, starts with oud solo. Deep baritone vocals. Rhythm – and female vocal chorus – come in after two full minutes. Very much more traditional than other cuts – at least up til the guitar solo.
5. Midtempo, nice relaxed funky beat, emphasis on the Andalusian/Arabic melody.
6. uptempo, dueling ouds instrumental. Electric guitar, jazzy.
7. Starts slow, slides into almost a samba groove, but with Arabic melody and instrumentation.
8. Midtempo, swingy and jazzy, nice French vocals, nice little handdrum solo in middle.
9. Solo vocal start, midtempo with nice vocals, electric guitar and violin solos, chorus reminiscent of Gipsy Kings.
10. Slow, oud solo start, then vocal solo with lots of flourishes. Then violin – all with some sort of harmonium and no drums. More than 4 minutes of intro to less than 2 minutes “song” – interesting.
11. *uptempo oud and shuffling handdrums, starting soft but building – very north African trad, but with funky bass – nice.
12. Solo thumb piano start, impassioned vocals, funky midtempo beat comes in exactly halfway through song with chanting and flute/sax/violin – tempo builds til end. Very exotic and haunting.