Habibi Funk 007 - An Eclectic Selection of Music from the Arab World

The Guardian 80

(Habibi Funk Records)

Those drawn to world music often seek the exotic and the alien, but Jannis Stürz, the German crate-digger behind the Habibi Funk label, seems to explore the vinyl troves of the Arab world in search of the familiar. Specifically, he’s after artists who’ve tried to faithfully recreate orthodox western pop forms, but ended up putting them through a shaky fairground mirror. This 16-track compilation features some entertaining moments from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. A Moroccan take on Beethoven’s Für Elise sounds like Ennio Morricone’s lost blaxploitation movie theme; a wobbly disco number from Sudan resembles Madonna’s Holiday. Meanwhile, one of the two instrumentals by Algeria’s Ahmed Malek would make a great theme to an Africa-set James Bond film. The tracks are arranged chronologically, and the flirtations with funk and garage rock at the start are the most fun, but even some of later R&B pastiches from Tunisia and Egypt are pleasingly odd.