Houssaine Kili
Mountain to Mohamed
Tropical Music (GEMA), 2001
Houssaine Kili presents himself as a cultural bridge builder, seeking ways to marry the American 70s pop he grew up on--from James Brown to Neil Young--with Moroccan roots music. As difficult as that may sound, Kili's second international release is nothing short of a revelation. His powerful voice manages the husky angst of rai ("Mountain to Mohamed"), the searing cry of gnawa and Berber traditional singing ("Shouafa" and "Attan"), the toughness of rap ("Salamoualeikoum"), and even the soulful falsetto of his boyhood hero Neil Young on a moody, Arabized cover of "Cowgirl in the Sand."
Kili's Moroccan and German band really kicks. In place of the falseness of keyboards and electronics that color so much music from the Middle East and North Africa, we get a seamless blend of acoustic and electric guitars, oud, violin, and a variety of percussion instruments. In place of bass, Kili delivers the warm thunder of the Gnawa guimbri, as sound that proves muscular enough to drive rockers like "Fanan" (The Artist) and James Brown-esque funk like "Kfaya" (It's Enough). The variety of styles reveals such confidence and fluency. "Lalla Fatima" is a restless, passionate cover of a song by Moroccan shaabi star Hamid Zahir. "Nelgak" (I Will Find You), a song inspired by the pain Kili's sister experienced upon the death of her husband, transforms deep gnawa music into seductive pop. Kili rates as one of the great Afropop discoveries of 2001.
Contributed by: Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org
 |
