Maghrebika

Among the many multicultural projects initiated by the Barbarity label stands Maghrebika, which began when Algerian-born vocalists Abdelkader Belkacem and Abdelaziz Lamari, both then residing in Switzerland, received an invitation to contribute vocals to an existing recording session. From that starting point the pair expanded the effort into a full-length album, ultimately drawing input from roughly a dozen additional musicians that included Moroccan performers as well as New York-based bassist Bill Laswell. Issued in 2006 under the title Neftahir, the recording blends longstanding North African melodic and vocal traditions with contemporary strains of electro-dance, rap, and dub reggae.