Homesick: Abdel Ali Slimani and "Alger"

Today's random tune is by Abdel Ali Slimani. A raï singer from Algeria, Abdel Ali Slimani grew up surrounded by all kinds of different music - Arab, Saharan, reggae and Western funk and then witnessed the explosion of raï. He eventually moved to England and became a DJ in North London with an enthusiasm for raï music. He came to the attention of Jah Wobble, who was looking for a lead singer for his band Invaders of the Heart. That led to Slimani singing at WOMAD at a sensation-causing concert in Toronto. He sang with the band for three years, contributed vocals to a Sinead O'Connor song, and was the first Arab singer to appear on the British music chart program Top of the Pops. This song, Alger, is from his 1995 solo debut Mraya, which touches on themes of home and longing.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://realworldrecords.com/artist/332/abdel-ali-slimani/;

Berber Shop in France: Lo'Jo and "Alger"

Lo'Jo, a French band that performs songs drawing from world music, gipsy music, North African music and French folk songs, brings us the random tune for today entitled Alger. Lo'Jo began in 1982 in the French city of Angers and performed locally for several years - with a rotating cast of band members and alongside acrobats, street actors, mimes and dancers. They became known worldwide in the 1990s after touring around Europe and appearing in New York City. In 1995 they solidified their lineup by adding Berber musicians Yamina Nid El Mourid and her sister Nadia - which opened the band to influences from North African music. Alger can be found on their 2012 album Cinéma el Mundo.