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CD Review
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Saathee, CD Review >>
-By Samir Shukla
Souad Massi, Honeysuckle (Mesk Elil), Wrasse Records
Massi's voice is cloaked in subtlety. The Algerian born, Paris-based singer performs Algerian and Arabic music as seen through the eyes of an expatriate. A few years ago the singer and songwriter picked up her guitar and left her war-torn country for a life in France. She never forgets her heritage, and the music is laced with acoustic and folky treatments. She sings of "Dar Dgedi" (My Grandfather's House) recollecting her mother's upbringing as a Berber in the Djurdura Mountains. She sings of broken lives and of people trying to forge ahead in difficult situations. There's an element of pop in her perennial melancholy, yet optimism rears its head through the worldly music and lyrical flourishes. After listening to this collection it seems odd that Massi once fronted an Algerian metal band called Akator. She now breathes songs through her sinewy vocals. She obviously revels in the freedoms of her adopted land that allow for dissent and an air of feminist activism. The song "I Won't Forget My Roots," a duet with world music star Daby Toure, is laced with Arabic and Middle Eastern rhythms becoming one with West African grooves. There are several other duets on the album and they are intricately balanced with string arrangements. 12/01/05
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