Tékitoi

For several years Algeria’s Taha has been pushing to find the perfect mix of rock and North African music. His previous disc, Made in Medina, came very close, and this time he’s nailed it. There’s a brooding, abraded quality to his increasingly raw voice, and the balance between strings, flailing percussion and the crunchy guitars—usually by Steve Hillage—is just about perfect, all pushed by an unstoppable, at times even punishing, backbeat. The highlight for some will be the Arabic remake of The Clash’s punk anthem “Rock the Casbah,” which not only turns the song on its head and reenergizes it, but also pays tribute to one of Taha’s inspirations.