Rachid Taha June 4, 2009
Parramatta, New South Wales 2150
As part of the Vivid Sydney festival, international world music performer Rachid Taha is performing soulful and contemporary interpretations of African music.
Rachid Taha was born in Algeria and raised in France. His Arabic, French and African ties are echoed in his music. Taha counts North African Folk, European pop and the Sex Pistols amongst his music influences and armed with these traditions he has concocted one furious sound.
A simmering musical revolution, Rachid Taha’s politically minded songs transcend genre and are driven by eclectic vision and a rebellious heart. Taha’s music is a fusion of beats, samples, rock melodies and Arabic instrumentation. On stage, he’s a feral and formidable presence, his energy incomparable and his passion palpable.
Taha’s cover of The Crash song Rock the Casbah appeared in the 2007 film about frontman Joe Strummer, The Future is Unwritten and Taha’s song Barra Barra featured in Black Hawk Down. In 2008, Rachid Taha won the BBC Award for International Music. Perhaps his most autobiographical and arguably the best of his six solo albums is Diwan (2001) which is mostly covers of the North African classics closest to his heart.
Taha makes lavish use of traditional Arab instruments… driven forward by electric bass and guitars, rock backbeats and even the odd hip-hop influence
Time Magazine
Official Website: http://riversideparramatta.com.au
Added by mgm events on May 26, 2009
Comments
clarissamls
As a passionate supporter of world music, I was very disappointed with this event.
The opening act Asim Gorashi was amazing as usual and performed to a very high standard.
Rachid Taha unfortunately appeared to be unwell or intoxicated during the show, with the quality of his performance deteriorating as the evening went on. On a number of occasions, he had to read his songs from a book brought on stage by stage assistant. His band did extremely well in keeping the show going- not so however the leading star of the show, who by his poor performance showed no respect for the audience - expecially the younger members of the audience who should not had to view such a spectacle.