Rouicha Mohamed رويشة محمد
Ajmal at-Taqasim âla Aalat al Hajhouj أجمل التقاسيم على آلة الهجهوج
[The most beautiful improvisations on the hajhouj instrument]
Tichkaphone cassette TCK 763 تشكفون
There are so many recordings by the late Mohamed Rouicha (1950-2012) - they all sound pretty similar, and they're all pretty great - well recorded, solid performances, killer grooves, entrancing lotar plucking, soulful baritone singing from Rouicha in call/response with the piercing soprano voices of the backup singers, all animated by the incessant buzzy time-keeping of the bendir frame drums.
I've identified at least 65 cassette releases by Rouicha on the Tichkaphone label. These were preceded by some 7" vinyl releases on Koutoubiaphone (which later became Tichkaphone) and on Bouissiphone, and followed by some cassette/CD releases on the MasterOne label in the last decade of his life, including his famous late-career hit "Inas Inas".
Many of the Tichkaphone albums can be found on YouTube, but the digital transfers are often thin-sounding and sometimes corrupted. This cassette rip comes to us from Peter Doolan (blogmaster at มนต์รักเพลงไทย), and it's a great improvement over what you can hear elsewhere online.
For those who want to dig into some of the meanings of Rouicha's songs, here's a recent article in English:
There's not much scholarly or critical writing on Rouicha - I hope more will appear!
Rouicha Mohamed رويشة محمد
Tichkaphone cassette TCK 1157 تشكافون
A1 Ana Noussik أنا نوصيك
A2 La Smaha Lli Kan Sbab لاسماحة اللي كان سباب
B1 Hatta Line حتى لين
B2 Lahbiba Latgouli Lawah لحبيبة لا تڭولي لواه
Here's another Rouicha album that I don't see on any of the streaming platforms.
Enjoy!
Rouicha نجم الموسم رويشة و مجموعته
Tichkaphone cassette TCK788 تشكافون
A1 Aghoudeh Labas أَغْدحْ لَابَاسْ
A2 Awaroutn Ayoulinou أَوَارُوتْنعْ ايْولِينوُِ
B1 Rarad Amazan رَارَادْ أَمَزَانْ
B2 Ahidous أحِيدُوسْ
Here's a great album by lotar-master Mohamed Rouicha. It's been a while since I posted anything by Rouicha, though we've recently featured some of his collaborators and an album of covers of his songs.
Rouicha's albums rarely differ from the standard format - 4 songs over 2 sides of a cassette, all with lotar, some bendirs, and one or several female vocalists singing the song's refrains. It's a great formula, and there's LOTS of Rouicha's music available online, much of it aggregated at the Arab Tunes blog and at Ournia. I'd already posted 3 Rouicha albums here, here, and here. So I hadn't gone back through my Rouicha tapes for a while.
Somehow, though, this album didn't appear anywhere online, even on YouTube. I hadn't listened to it in a long time, and didn't remember it being this good. There's a nice organic push and pull of dynamics between the lotar and the bendirs. Some songs alternate between different melodic sections. (Middle Atlas songs often repeat the same melodic material over and over.) And of course Rouicha's touch on the lotar is always a gift. Enjoy!
Rouicha نجم الموسم رويشة
Tichkaphone cassette TCK872 تشكافون
A1 Ouaili Ouaili وايلي وايلي
A2 Ezzine الزين
B1 Mahboubi محبوبي
B2 Al Âshqin العاشقين
Well here's something old yet different - it's a tape of songs by lotar-master Rouicha, performed by a 1980s chaâbi orchestre - viola, drum kit, and darbuka, and driven by an electric guitar! I was just remarking a couple weeks ago how Middle Atlas lotar songs work so well in a chaâbi context and vice versa. Here is more evidence (apologies - the audio quality is not the best, but the grooves are so good!):
The vibe here ☝️ reminds me somewhat of the âita-based guitar-driven sound of Noujoum el Haouz. The drum kit is similarly propulsive, and the darbuka and viola pull the track toward the âita sound world. On another track 👇 however, the âita/chaâbi stylings fall away - there is no viola, the singing is in Tamazight, and the drum kit and darbuka switch from chaâbi propulsion to a laid-back Middle Atlas swing. This foreshadows a bit the flangey acoustic guitar-driven Middle Atlas grooves that Moulay Ahmed el Hassani would popularize a few years later.
Unfortunately, I have no idea who are the musicians on the cassette or from where they hail. The Sawt Nassim label was (is?) based in Casablanca, but that doesn't guarantee that the ensemble was based there. I hope someone in YouTube comments can identify the musicians!
By the way, this cassette came to me from Essaouira (shukran T!) with the j-card pictured at right. I was looking forward to hearing it - the duo Arouiha and Oulad Cherif were featured in this old post over at Awesome Tapes From Africa. Was disappointed that the tape did not match the j-card. Luckily, the Sawt Nassim tape it housed is pretty great. Still - that leather tie!
The songs on side B of this album are both featured on Rouicha's fabulous album TCK790, still available here: https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2011/06/mohammed-rouicha-afak-al-hwa-hda-liya.html. I couldn't identify the first track on side A, but the second track, 'Mani L3ahd Mani L3zazit' (featured in the YouTube clip above) can be found on YouTube in several versions, one of which is attributed to Rouicha. (There's no discographic information, but a YouTube commenter claims it was recorded by Rouicha in 1981). It clearly remains a well-known song, as one can find versions of it performed by many artists on YouTube.
Editing note: Side A and Side B of the tape both end with instrumental intros, and both sides begin with intros cut off. So I grafted the intro from the end of each side to the first track on the other side.
Pluck Yeah! 1980s Electric Guitar Chaâbi Orchestre Plays Rouicha
Unknown Guitar-Driven Chaâbi Orchestre
Sawt Nassim cassette
A1 Piste 01
A2 Mani L3ahd Mani L3zazit ماني العهد ماني العزازيث (video embedded above)
B1 Toub Toub A Rasi توب توب اراس (audio embedded above)
B2 Lawah a Lawah Ammi Lhubb Iâddeb لواه امي لواه الحب يعدب
These two albums feature Almou singing in Arabic. I dubbed them from original copies in 1992 or 1993 in Marrakech. The song "Tfah Jnane Bghitou" that opens the first of these albums is somewhat well known. Several other recorded versions of it can be found online, including one by famed âita singer Khadija al Bidaouia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7I-aX2jwPU). I don't know whether Almou is the originator of the song or whether the song existed before he recorded it. It works remarkably well as both a viola-driven âita-styled chaâbi song and as a lotar-driven Zayane-styled chaâbi song.
Digital research note: As with any Arabic or Amazigh name, there are many different ways of transcribing المو حميد with Roman letters. A Google search for the name returned results that included Hamid Almou, Hamid Al Mou, Hamid El Mou, and Hamid Alemmou. it also returned this image:
Iconographic note: Since I didn't have images of the original j-cards, i
went fishing on the internet to find something appropriate. I did find
an entry on Discogs
for an album by Almou, also on the imprint Enregistrement Lachkar,
though it's not the same album as either of my dubs. The album refers to
Almou as الريشة الذهبية "The Golden Plectrum" (richa being the Arabic word for both 'feather' and 'plectrum'). Anyway, I pilfered the image of the j-card and tweaked the colors to create mock j-cards for these 2 albums, shamelessly adding Moroccan Tape Stash branding in English and Arabic. Thanks and apologies to the original uploader Hackente.
More fun facts from Discogs: The Spanish rock band Les Conches Velasques adapted a song of Almou's in their song "Cosas de usar", the opening track on their 2021 album Celebración del trance profano (which also includes a version of Nass el Ghiwane's "Mahmouma").
Hamid Almou does not appear to have a web presence on either Facebook or YouTube. As far as I can tell, he is still active and performing. He sounds good in this live clip from 2014:
More Hamid Almou at Awesome Tapes From Africa and at Fazaz Arts YouTube channel.
Hamid Almou المو حميد
Enregistrement Lachkar 4
A1 Tfah Jnane Bghitou
A2 Ya Lli Nasini
B1 Mal Hbibi Malou Ma Jache
B2 Chawerni Alfraq Chawerni
Hamid Almou المو حميد
Enregistrement Lachkar 14
A1 Âchiri Lli Wellfou Guelbi Ya Hasra
A2 Min Zinek Ya Lil Ch'hal Dlamek Khwaf
B1 Had Denb A L-Hbiba Machi Denbi
B2 Tir Tir Bnit Lu Chebbak Hrir
B3 Galt Lbniya L-Baha Lach T'hdini
Here's a beautiful album by a trio of great artists from Khenifra (Magni and Cherifa) and Khemisset (Boutmazought). I love the sparse texture of this recording - just the lotar, a single bendir, and verses sung in rotating fashion by each of the three distinctive singers. In the clip below, the first singer is Maghni, followed by Cherifa and then by Omar:
We wrote about Maghni in our previous post. The fiery Cherifa Kersit is among the most celebrated singers of the Middle Atlas region. You can find her biographical sketch and more of her music at the Arab Tunes blog. The deep-voiced Omar Boutmazought is a singer and lotar player whose career dates back to the 1990s. You can find more of his music at the Moroccan Tapes site.
This album comes not from my physical media stash but from my hard drive (aka my file stash). It was shared 11 years ago by AbdelSMB at his long dormant site
The Silence Has a Voice, and the Real Music Teach You the Silence. Shout out and well wishes to Abdel, wherever he may be - he has disappeared from Facebook and Twitter. I've uploaded his audio and image files and retagged the songs to include their titles. The CD appears to have been issued in 2007, but an image of the cassette issue of the album indicates a 2003 release date (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZPy1D_kImg).
Cherifa (Kersit), (Mohamed) Maghni, and Omar Boutmazought
الشريفة و مغني و عمر بوتمزوغت
Edition Wislane CD 09/01/07
2003
1 intro 1
2 Khetrou Yathna خترو ياثنة
3 Tousid Oulench توسيد أولنش
4 intro 2
5 Awdid Echilach أوضيد الشيلاش
6 Chouf Ayerzikh Asmouninou شوف ايرزيخ أسمونينو
Back to Khenifra this week for a tape by the renowned Amazigh singer, songwriter, and lotar player Mohamed Maghni. Born in 1950, Maghni comes from the same generation and milieu as Rouicha. Though he is less well known than Roucha, Maghni's songs are considered by aficionados of Amazigh song to be of higher artistic stature.
I'm not able to find many sources of information about Maghni's career and music, though all sources note the sensitivity and deep feeling of Maghni's poetry and melody. Two articles ([1] and [2]) state that Maghni's songs directly address social issues related to the experience of Imazighen, and that his uncompromising artistic stance led to his marginalization for many years outside of the mainstream of Moroccan music. (His Arabic Wikipedia entry states that worse things happened to him as well.)
Maghni has worked with other great singers of the region such as Hadda Ouakki and Cherifa Kersit. I don't know who is singing with him on this particular tape.
Maghni appears to be alive, well, and celebrated today. He was honored at the 2014 National Festival of the Lotar [3], and was even fêted in an episode of the Moroccan celebrity tv program Masar in 2016 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezPGoN0Ffqo).
There's not much of Maghni's music at the usual streaming sites like izlan.fr or izlanzik.org. There are, however, many clips of Maghni on YouTube, though with little documentation as to provenance or historical period, The YouTube channel Fazaz Arts has an extensive collection of these: https://www.youtube.com/user/SuperElmekki/search?query=%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF%20%D9%85%D8%BA%D9%86%D9%8A
Mohamed Maghni محمد مغني
Studio Fassiphone cassette 176 استوديو فاسيفون
320 | FLAC
[1] 2018 article in Hespress by Youssef Lakhdar: https://www.hespress.com/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D9%85%D9%8E%D8%BA%D9%86%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A3%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%BA%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D8%B5%D9%8A%D8%BA%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9-%D9%82-465611.html
[2] 2011 article in Amazigh World by Ali Alhassan Obaisha: http://www.amazighworld.org/arabic/studies/index_show.php?id=2198