Camping Shaabi

Think of One – Camping Shaabi
Reviewed by Sadie O., 3/31/08
Belgian band with some Moroccan friends merging Shaabi with all sorts of modern Western musical ideas. Shaabi is very similar to Gnawa, but a bit more pop than devotional. Sometimes the blend gets a bit psychedelic, sometimes pretty jazzy. Every song has a different feel and different balance of influences. Pretty amazing stuff!
Very minor FCCs on track 7. I like 5, 13-14, and esp. 10.
1. 5:48 **electronic notes for a few seconds, then upbeat hiccuppy Shaabi-influenced beat, call and response in French. Bit of sort of dreamscape after a minute or so, then lots of changes, quite psychedelic in feel.
2. 3:41 **exotic-sounding horns, some electronics and some analog instruments, vocals that sound like ghosts from the Moulin Rouge.
3. 4:58 *shuffling Shaabi beat, tinkling piano, male vocals in Flemish, female chorus in Arabic.
4. 3:46 **downtempo somewhat funky, somewhat hip hoppy riddim, vocals in English with considerable processing.
5. 4:22 ***modern Shaabi, interplay between traditional strings and electric guitar. Great energy.
6. 4:01 *midtempo lopsided beat reminiscent of the turn of the last century somehow, pretty interplay of one male and one female voice.
7. 4:27 **street sounds, processed spoken vocals in English, chugging metal riff. Minor and hard to discern FCCs – “crap”, “hell”.
8. 1:27 *another dreamscape – part hurdy-gurdy and part arabesque. Strange and mysterious instrumental.
9. 4:03 *Spaghetti western and Marseillaise busker music and Folklorico. Many different exciting individual instruments to listen to.
10. 3:51 ****funky mestizo riddim, spoken vocals in Flemish – fun and unusual sound. Definitely a page out of the George Clinton book.
11. 3:51 *kinda loungey trancey, with upright bass and vibes. Breathy and jazzy female vocals in Arabic.
12. 4:35 **chimes, hip hop beat and vocals in English. Gets more complex and a bit jazzy as it goes along.
13. 4:47 ***solo acoustic guitar and harmonizing male vocals in Flemish. Violin squawks and a bit of Shaabi beat and female vocals in Arabic. Builds in energy and tempo.
14. 6:06 ***starts with a kid squawking, then some sort of an instrumental cross between Shaabi and Booker T. Crazy! There’s sort of a Primus moment, too…