MICK MCSHANE is roused by a band whose socialism laces every line of every song with commitment and raw passion
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Album reviews with Ian Sinclair: June 29, 2022
New releases from Ferkat Al Ard, Shabaka, and Stars
New releases from Mountain, Soul Asylum and Michael McDermott
ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
Ferkat Al Ard
Oghneya
(Habibi Funk)
★★★★
THE latest reissue from Berlin-based Habibi Funk, Oghneya, was originally released by Ferkat Al Ard in Lebanon 1978 — on cassette tape by the band themselves.
Led by Issam Hajali, the set is a fabulous mix of Arab, jazz, folk, rock and Brazilian musical styles such as bossa nova and tropicalia (Brazil has the largest Lebanese diaspora in the world, apparently).
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New releases from Black Country, New Road, Anouar Brahem, and Jaywalkers
