The king of Algeria's pop rai music, Khaled, is moving ahead in all directions. He's continuing with the muscular, high-angst funk that made him so popular during the 1980s Afropop explosion, as well as the gushy pop balladry that won him a mainstream French audience during the `90s. Khaled always throws a few curve balls, and this time his collaboration with Hindi film star Amar yields a home run. "El Harba Wine" melds the quirky exuberance of Hindi pop with Khaled gravitas. Khaled's bid to participate in Latin music fever, "Goulouha-Dji", also works well, perhaps since Latin and Arabic rhythms are kissing cousins from centuries back. Three tracks use a full Egyptian string section headed by Hossam Ramzy, who helped Page and Plant with their Arab music flirtation. Dark orchestral themes, pop hooks, a pumping backbeat, and Khaled's smooth, husky tenor come together magically on "Aâlach Tloumouni" and "Melha." "Raba-Raba" digs deeper still into traditional Arabic music with tumbling percussion and soaring strings providing the perfect foil for Khaled's dry-eyed vocal passion. The syrupy "Leili (C'est la vie)" might make the French pop charts like its stylistic predecessor "Aicha," but hard core rai fans may find it a blight of sentimentality on an otherwise solid record. In top creative form, and still keen for adventure, Khaled maintains his title as rai music's standard bearer.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre
Originally published in: Boston Phoenix