eMusic Review
04.22.11
The impressive invention of lovers' rai.
Label: MLP / World Music Office
Cheb Hasni was just coming into his own when he was assassinated by fundamentalists in 1994, but he already had a distinctive style, as heard here. It's a slow burn approach that might be equivalent to lovers 'rock (lovers 'rai?), a tendency to lean back on the beat and watch as the melody glides by, as if it were a girl he was thinking of sidling up to. Since his death his reputation has grown as an artist cut down in his prime, with a strong body of work already available and the promise of more to come.