R-Flux | from Belsunce to Barbés

	Moroccan Chaabi
	Raï
	Chaabi Resources

The mission of my visit to Marseilles and Paris was clear: to buy Moroccan and Algerian pop music and eat cous cous.

Arriving in stormy and cold Marseilles at the end of January, we headed straight to Rue d'Aix Cours Belsunce, an Arab-quarter street with many small music shops and restaurants. As a hub of Maghreb immigrants and descendants, this port city provides a rich and exciting selection of North African music. (Some are locally produced and hard to find elsewhere.)

In Paris, it's Barbés ( at Barbés Rochechouart on Metro Line 4). We took sometime listening to various CDs at Etoile Verte on Rue Caplat.

Here are my music finds from the trip. Chaabi, Raï and Reggada are all genres of pop-music from Maghreb.

01	02	03

04	05	06

Daoudi, the Man.

I was determined to get all the CDs by Senhaji, my very favorite Chaabi star (see below), but it turned out there were none by him I didn't have already.

Instead, the Chaabi scene seemed to be dominated by another great star, Daoudi (#01-06).

I still believe Senhaji to be the best Chaabi artist, but this Daoudi is also pretty hot with well crafted songs and passionate singing.
Also

he must be the first Chaabi artist to release an official web site (abdellahdaoudi.com). This site is such a gem and a true labor of love.

07	08	09

10	11	12

More Stars & "Reggada"

Stati (#07), Bourgogne (#08) and Tahour (#09) are all big stars of Chaabi. The best find this time was Stati. The sound is so intense and dangerously sublime.
Not

much Senhaji this time. A cassette (#11) was a bonus gift from a shop in Belsunce.
"Reggada"

(#12) is another genre of music from North Africa. Originally from Algeria, this exciting dance music spread to Morocco and now Oujda, a Moroccan town at the border of Algeria, is the hot spot. (Information provided by Reda of abdellahdaoudi.com ) This compilation contains some super hot tracks.

DVD

I was ecstatic to find Chaabi DVD. It all turned out to be, however, let's just say, not too exciting. A curious and unsettling mix of super exciting music with sterile setting, stiff performance, dull audiences and poor production.
In fact,

I recommend to catch all of their great live performances in streaming video at Fabchannel.

16	17	18

19	20	21

22	23

Is it just me or does Raï scene has been quiet for sometime now? I didn't look into Raï much this time, but there were some good ones.

Cheb Hassen (#16 & #17) was the find. Passionate and moody singing with atmospheric sound with piano and trumpet.

The great Abdou (#19 & #20) seems to not only have gained weight but changed his voice somehow?! Just don't sound like him...
#21 is an exciting collaboration by Houari Dauphin and Abdou. (They actually sing together throughout the album. )

Rather insignificant local releases by Aissa (#18) and Bilal (#23). #22 is a beloved Cheb Mami's early work "Fatima Fatima".

Related articles within this site:
- Paris (Music finds from Barbés in 2001)
- On Senhaji

Artist official site:
< Daoudi >
A gorgeous flash site with everything you want to know about Daoudi in English, French and Dutch. A must-see.

On-line Shop:
< Fassiphone >
From Belgium. Provides an extensive collection of Chaabi CDs and a relatively reliable service.

Streaming Video:
< Nachatte.com >
A gem! You can check out what it seems to be clips from Moroccan TV of all-star Chaabi performances.
< Fabchannel >
A heavy Flash site that has an excellent collection of Chaabi and other concert video. Find Senhaji, Tahour and other great Maghreb stars under "Marmoucha" entries. Mustapha Bourgogne and Najat Aatabou can be found as independent entries.

Streaming Audio:
- Beur FM: A Beur radio station from France.
- Radio Casablanca: Sucks now you need to pay to hear the music, but still a good place to check out Chaabi top 10.

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Special thanks to Reda (abdellahdaoudi.com) for his generous support.
Top image originally taken by D (FB/DJ).
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