Oriental Roots

Jimmy Oihid – Oriental Roots
Reviewed by Sadie O., 10/2/07
Terrific Arabian Reggae by the “Algerian James Brown” – I assume he got that name from energetic live performances rather than vocal style. The music is delicious – energetic Reggae with lots of North African elements; a very successful mashup, IMO. Oihid’s vocals are strong, and there’s female chorus on all tracks. Songs are very positive in content, as far as I can tell.
No FCCs detected. It’s all great (well, you can skip the skit…)
1. 1:05 skit – car starting, people talking in Arabic and French, a bit of Mahgrebi drums and strings.
2. 4:02 ***mellow intro, then pretty but forceful midtempo bubble with piano.
3. 3:42 ***downtempo bubble with interesting instrumentation and electronics and very cool syncopation. Singing in French and bit of “rap” in English, very sweet.
4. 3:39 ****Arabian instrumentation, upbeat skank. Energetic, fun musical mashup.
5. 3:43 ****strong midtempo bubble with fat bass sound. Long fade with just singing.
6. 3:47 ***midtempo relaxed skank, but builds a lot in energy. “Lah” is “no” in Arabic, FWIW.
7. 3:42 ****wave sounds intro, then uptempo forceful bubble – another really cool combo of Arabic music and Reggae. “Fikr fi” is NOT an FCC, BTW. It means “think about”… Hopefully everyone knows “mon frere”…
8. 3:38 ****uptempo bubble – “Get Up Stand Up” – in French, with chorus of “Freedom”… (Aston “Familyman” Barrett on bass)
9. 3:41 ****bit of radio noises intro, upbeat skank, a real hip-shaker, great feel.
10. 3:24 ***uptempo skank, interesting vocal stylings.
11. 3:46 ***hand drums and acoustic guitar intro, downtempo bubble with lots of bellydance groove. There’s a really lovely solo – the mandolin, I think? Long hand drum fade.
12. 3:36 ***very uptempo skank with great syncopation.
13. 3:42 ***track 3, in Arabic rather than French. Song is a love song “to our daughters”…