Artist: Houria Aïchi
& L'Hijâz'Car
Album: Les
Cavaliers de l'Aurès
Year: 2008
Line-up: Houria Aïchi – Vocals
Grégory
Dargent – Oud, banjo
Etienne
Gruel – Daf, bedirs, derbouka
Jean-Louis Marchand – Clarinet, metals
Jean-Louis Marchand – Clarinet, metals
Fabien
Guyot – Daf, bendir, karkabou
Nicolas
Beck – Tarhu, hajouj
Sefsaf,
bdesslam Mejjaoui & Ali Bensadoun – backing vocals
Label: Accords Croisés
Label: Accords Croisés
My ”brother”, my lover,
He is like quicksilver.
O God, protect his clan,
Prolong his life
Increase his prosperity.
The Shawiya
Berbers are the indigneous ethnic group living in the mountainous territory in
north-east Algeria called the Aurès. Continuing to led a pastoral life to the
present from the ancient days the Shawiya are recognised as excellent horse
breeders. The brave and tough mountain shepherds are known as the Horsemen of
the Aurés. Now they remain the mythical, imaginary and handsome men, warriors
mounted on their magnificent steeds.
In addition
they have their own musical tradition. It is said that during the harvest
festival nights gasba – a long oblique flute – can be heard, and its sensual
soundings capture the hearts of girls. Singers with bewitching voices recount
tales of passing time and lost loves. The voices are accompanied by the bendir
frame drum and by the jingles of the silver bangles that the girls wear on
their ankles.
On this
record the Shawiya singer Houria Aïchi teams up with Strasbourgian group
L'Hijâz 'Car to create a fascinating album which captures the magical ancient
melodies of the Aurés mountains and combines them to modern expression. Houria
Aïchi provides the rich vocal traditions of her culture, those of which she had
learned from her grandmother in the form of traditional songs and complex vocal
techniques of a great uniqueness. For this astounding record she dug deeper to
the Shawiya folklore, mythology, history and music.
Martina A.
Catella of the production agency and record label Accors Croisés got interested
in Houria Aïchi's project and got her together with a music group called
L'Hijâz 'Car. The five members had met in a music conservatory and decide to
invent their own ”folklore” which drew inspiration from Gypsy and Middle
Eastern music fusing them to elements of rock and jazz. While Houria Aïchi had
studied the folklore of the Horsemen of the Aurés she provided Grégory Dargent,
the main composer of L’Hijâz 'Car, the musical material in the form of early
recordings and her own interpretations on Dictaphone tapes. Dargent retired
then to his small home studio to study the tapes and immersing himself in this
new exciting musical world.
The result
is the most exciting, astounding and exotic aural marvel – unlike anything you
have heard before and are unlikely to hear again. This record stands between
the magical world between the ancient and modern creating something new, but
still preserving the old without sounding forced. The bold and unique voice of
Houria Aïchi recounting her native folklore is accompanied with rich
instrumentation of the Arabian musical tradition played five young and talented
musicians who bring their own flavor to the mix. As the album starts off with
and old Dictaphone tape recording you know that you are about to enter an
entirely new dimension of music.
Absolutely
mesmerising. Check the piece that got me personally interested in the group
below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7LEaOPT9VU (studio version)
this is UG as f%ck
VastaaPoista