Search - Ait Menguellet :: Chants Et Poesie De Kabylie

A treat...

Cazzandra | Guildford UK | 01/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chants et poesie de Kabylie is Thalt Ayam (Three Days) under a different name. It can also be found as part of Le Meilleur. Three Days contains some of my favourite Ait-Menguellet tracks so this is one that I would recommend buying. The four tracks that lift this CD into the realms of the delectable are Thalt Ayam (Three Days), Igganim (Your Sky), Thaghzalt (Gazelle), and Awin Iqazanizzagwan (To a gravedigger). If you listen to the samples and don't know Lounis's work then be warned the way in which songs start off is not much indication as to what might happen later - or at least I'm unable to predict them (I'm English) - I have no idea if Kabyle listeners are better placed.



This is a wonderful collection of Lounis's songs. I don't know if it's his best as everything he produces is of a high quality. But it certainly contains some of my favourite songs. It's difficult to describe the music for those who haven't come across it but it's kind of folk. There's a heavy reliance on the guitar (acoustic), wind instruments like the flute and the tin whistle and the most amazing mellow sounding drums. Then there is Lounis and his poetry and the music to help it along. The whole effect is amazing and addictive.



[..]"

Haunting Music of Algerian Berbers: Vocal with Acoustic Guit

Boaz Shalom | san diego | 12/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Berber Music of Algeria has its own uniquely haunting quality;

the language itself sounds like no other, not at all like arabic, it is full of soft "th" sounds, not guttaral at all, indeed it is vaguely Indo-Euopean; the rhythms are more complex than arab rhythms, and the acoustic guitar is tuned to Berber melodic structures.

The lyrics themselves are of love and freedom. [..]



[..]"