It could be gimmicky: a cover of “Rock the Casbah” sung in Arabic, its brittle, punk melody adorned with Near Eastern slap drumming and Arabesque strings. But the biography of Rachid Taha, a French-Algerian singer, argues against mere cleverness. Reared in a French-Algerian ghetto and coming of age with punk, Taha’s interpretation of the Clash song seems deeply personal. Although touted in the media as a rebel against a narrow upbringing and the racism of society writ large, the sound on Tekitoi is an organic synthesis of rock and tradition, Near East and European West in arrangements where electric guitar and oud, and grungy beats and dramatic orchestrations work together in an easy tension.

-David Luhrssen