Radiodiffusion Internasionaal Annexe

♬ Dir Ettaouil

The only information that I have been able to find about Cheb Kada is that he is mostly known for writing music for and playing on albums by his famous cousin – Cheb Khaled.

If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.

Catalog number C101 on Edition Laser of France. Released 1979.

♬ Hram Alik

Chab Houcine Chabati – also know as Chabati Le Jeune or simply as Chabati – was born on June 6, 1959 in Chaâbat el Ham, Algeria. His real name was actually Belkacem Bendaoud. This single was records with Groupe El Azhar as his backing band. In the 1980s, he released a cassette that produced and recorded at Studio Rachid et Fethi. He later moved to Givors near Lyon in France – where he lived until his passing.

If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.

Catalog number N° 0014 on Ennachat of Algeria. No release date listed.

♬ Si Moh’

I reached out to my Algerian sources and neither one of them could find anything on this record.

If you have any further information about this artist or anything else about this recording, please leave it in the comment section below.

Catalog number KO 77.1010 on Le Kiosque d’Orphée of Paris, France. Released 1977.

♬ Men Win

Abdelkrim Zouaoui – AKA Krikri – was born in Constantine, Algeria on January 19, 1945. He formed his first band – Blue Jeans – at the age of 17. He would go on to record two singles for the Oasis label, accompanied by his brother Hassan. The song on the A side of this single – Wahdi – can be found on Sublime Frequencies “1970’s Algerian Folk And Pop” compilation.

Catalog number 10792 on Oasis Disques of Algeria, release 1978.

♬ Ouine M’Hamelni Ya Lasmar

The person who sold this record to me said it was Raï. It’s from Algeria and sounds like Raï, right? But no. It’s Staifi.

Raï music started in western Algeria – most notably in Oran, as well as surrounding cities of Sidi Bel Abbès and Aïn Temouchent. Staifi music originated from eastern Algeria – primarily Sétif and other cities in the region like Annaba, Guelma and Tebessa.

Bekakchi Khier – also seen as Bekakchi El Khier – is from Sétif. He is apparently still active. Here is a performance from Algerian television from November 2020. Also, someone has uploaded a few of his more recent releases to SoundCloud.

Many thanks to Loïc Guillaume of Phono Mundial and “the Algerian guys working on the bathroom of the flat” for the help with this post.

Catalog number HL 46 on EtHerLux of Setif, Algeria. No release date listed.

♬ Dag Dagui

Mohamed Mazouni was born in Aït Lahcène in the Kabylie region of Algeria in 1949 – the same village and year as Idir. His name ‘Mazouni’ in the Kabylie dialect means ‘He will live’.

Mazouni is considered one of the most popular singers of the 1960s and 1970s. He is well known to Algerians living abroad due to his songs about immigration, homesickness, love and country. His hit “Adieu la France, Bonjour l’Algérie” was very successful since it celebrates the independence of Algeria from France. Among his other famous songs are “Allo Allo”, “Azizi”, “Mini Jupe” and “Halte à la Vitesse”.

Mazouni continues to record and perform to this day, and is an important figure in the world of Algerian Kabylie music. His most recent album – as of this posting – was “Mazouni 2007”, which was released in 2007.

You can find a few more tracks by Mazouni over at Phocéephone.

Catalog number JAM 21 on Disques Z of Paris, France. No release date listed.

♬ Athedjaladde

♬ Ayetheri-A L’Afjare

Recently, I was asked: With all of the compilations and blogs out there, do you think that you will run out of music to find? The short answer is ‘Yes’. As it stands now, it is getting more and more difficult. There are only a finite number of records from that time period that were pressed. But what that number is, nobody really knows.

A good example is the Bollywood Steel records. When I put together the compilation for Sublime Frequencies, I thought I had found pretty much all there was to find. I knew that I was missing a record or two, but I think at the time I had maybe 25-30 records. Since then I’ve found at least 60 more – and counting. I bought three yesterday!

Another thing to consider, is that as collectors – I mean archivists – accumulate these records, they hear stuff outside of their original focus. In the process of searching for Thai Beat records, people have stumbled onto Shadow Music, Molam, Luk Thung and the many other wonderful mutations from Thailand. So the number of records out there is not exactly static.

But as more and more folks get clued into these recordings, there are now more people hunting down the original vinyl. And it has gotten quite competitive. When I started this site, there were only a dozen or two compilations and maybe a handful of websites. Now? I cannot even keep track of what’s become available.

The good news is that we are probably going to get to hear those records… Eventually.

Both of these songs were featured on the first volume of the Waking Up Scheherazade compilations. For further information on Les Abranis, as they were to be known after this single – which was their first, please check out the previous post.

Catalog number 11102 on Oasis Disques of Paris, France, released 1973.

♬ Rohi Ya Hafida

Every now and then, I stumble upon a record that’s a complete mystery. Anyone out there ever heard Arabic Zouk before? I know I sure have not.

The single was released on a French label called Antilles Musique Diffusion. The liner notes – which according to the Google translator read “Mr. Mallek young composer, still unknown to you, has 45 cm in this attractive entry you” – were written by Tinou Lavital. But Lavital was a well known manager, musician and producer from Guadeloupe… I am assuming that Mallek and Lavital must have crossed paths in France, since Algeria had been and Guadeloupe still is part of the French colonial empire. But beyond that, I got nothing.

If you have any further information on the band, please contact me or leave a comment.

Note: The song title Rohi Ya Hafida is listed as Rouhi Rouhi Ya Hafida on the label of the actual record.

Thanks to Anis Bousbia for helping me at least figure out where Mallek Mohamed was from…

Catalog number AMD 008 on Antilles Musique Diffusion of France. No other information available.

♬ Tfuk Tufra

The Kabyle group Agraw consisted of two Algerians: Boudjema Semaouni and Hassen Zermani.

Boudjema (also spelled Boudjemâa) was born in Semaoun, Algeria in 1952. He began his career as a singer for Radio Berber Channel 2 and released a single for the Vogue label before moving to Paris in 1980.

Hassen Zermani, is better known as Takfarinas. He was born in Tixeraine in 1958. Takfarinas took his name from the Ancient warrior of North Africa – Tacfarinas (which is how his name is spelled on this record) – who fought against the presence of the Romans in Algeria. He formed first band was band in Algiers in 1976, and three years later moved to Paris to record a solo album titled “Yebwa Reman”. That same year, he met Boudjema Semaouni and the group Agraw was formed.

The band only released two albums before going their separate ways in 1984. Both records were produced by Idir, who also played flute on their recordings, and released them on his Azwaw label.

Boudjema Semaouni kept the name of the band, and became known as Boudjema Agraw. He continued recording, replacing Takfarinas with Karim Tizouiar – who went solo soon after. Boudjema currently lives in El Kseur, Algeria.

Takfarinas had a successful career in the Eighties. He became most recognized for playing the ‘takfa’, which is based on a traditional lute-like instrument which he modified by adding a second neck. He still lives in France, where he records and even has his own website.

Thanks to Anis Bousbia and Hicham Chadly for their help.

Catalog number AZW200 on Azwaw Records of Paris, France. No release date listed.