Mish Maoul

Atlas, Natacha – Mish Maoul (Mantra)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 5/12/06
Arabic pop/hip hop/bossanova outing from the Egyptian/ Moroccan/Belgian worldbeat diva… whew… Obviously, an eclectic record. No liner notes (even online), which is a pain. I don’t think it’s Natacha herself doing the hip hop vocal bits, which are a bit generic. Most of the cuts are at least interesting stylistic combinations, and Natacha’s vocals are always amazing. Amusingly, the bit of information we have is that this record is going back to her roots – which it turns out are in… Belgium.
No FCCs – mostly all in Arabic. Tracks 3 and 8 are da bomb, 2 and 5 are interesting.
1. 5:33 Downtempo, lazy with flutes. Vocal duet, then Natasha solo. Mostly rather ethereal and orchestral and not very “Arabic” sounding.
2. 5:46 **midtempo, starts very “Arabic”, then hip hop in English. No clues as to who the English rapper/singers are. Interesting mashup of cultures.
3. 3:57 ***midtempo, a bit mysterious, Moroccan gnawa influence and instrumentation (esp. percussion) – nice!
4. 6:29 downtempo, more bossanova than gnawa, but sweet and pretty.
5. 5:10 **uptempo, mostly Arabic pop with a hint of hip hop. GREAT percussion solo, nice beat throughout.
6. 5:43 slow and mellow, definite bossanova groove here, like track 4. Some Arabic musical overtones in the strings.
7. 4:34 *downtempo, mellow, nice oud. Rather atmospheric, emotive.
8. 5:06 ***slow groove with lots of percussion, a bit of Latin trumpet, lots of Arabic instrumentation – really nice.
9. 5:30 slightly downtempo hip hop in English. No idea who the male rapper is. Apart from Natacha’s vocals, rather little “Arabic” sound.
10. 3:35 very slow (no beat), pretty acoustic guitar, melancholy sounding vocals.