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Sample Track 1:
"Aal Eah; Performed by: Samira Saeid" from North African Groove
Sample Track 2:
"Viens Habibi; Performed by: Cheb Mami" from North African Groove
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North African Groove
Layer 2
CD Review
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Pasadena Weekly, CD Review >>

Putumayo's distinctively packaged compilations of world muisc are almost always worth a listen, but there's a nagging sense that they shy away from anything too raw or real. This recent addition to the label's Groove series feels surprisingly polished for a collection so rooted in rai, a heavily percussive, often political hybrid of Algerian traditions and Western funk. Yet as simple dance music, it works, with artists from North Africa, Egypt and Europe drawing intriguing connections between Latin and Arabic rhythms.

-Bliss 06/16/05
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