Berlin Session, The

Xabiib Sharaabi, the self-styled “Somali King of Pop” brings his music from the discos of Mogadishu (three decades ago), to the stage in Berlin. It might sound like house music and funk but the style actually dates back to the clap and chant music from the Ogaden region now in Ethiopia; eminently danceable no matter where you are from; universal beat from a region we don’t usual hear from by skilled musicians who risked their lives to play in a culture with violent elements wanting to ban it. Richly textured with influences from reggae, funk, and Motown.

No FCC’s (no English except for track 5). Favorite tracks: 3, 4, 6, 8

1-Wam Ka Helaa (3:53)— snappy intro with syncopation; female (or falsetto) vocal that sounds almost Asian in voice quality backed by orchestra

2-Riyo (4:13) — male vocal with more percussion; language has a tonal quality; synth sounds; very upbeat

*3-Hasha Geel (6:02)—male vocal; interesting vibrato with nice choppy rhythmic background

*4- Hereya (4:02) —male vocal, lots of organ accompaniment; palpable reggae influence

5—Duurka (4:02) — male vocal that shows off the phonetics of the language (pharyngeal) with a scooby-doo feel :-); nice syncopation

*6- Love My Love (5:58) — female vocal with English phrase in the middle; nice shout outs; lots of reverb, great twirly accompaniment, nice outro

7- Sallal (4:25) —male vocal - straight ahead bouncy beat with organ flourishes

*8- Jija Love (4:43) —male vocal with nice glottal stops; great guitar licks; more vibrato; skippy beat