Made in Medina

After reinterpreting Arab classics on Diwân, Rachid Taha returns with a stunning collection of original compositions that owes as much to rock as to his Algerian rai roots, connecting the dots between Europe and the Maghreb. Here he again teams with producer Steve Hillage (Gong, System 7), whose guitar work and arrangements provide the muscular frameworks for Taha's songs and emotive voice. Rachid's new direction has all the power of rock, as on "Foqt Foqt," which maintains an insistent riff while retaining the delicacy and polyrhythms characterizing North African music. "Ala Jalkoum" offers a duet with Afrobeat superstar Femi Kuti while "Verité" and "Ho Cherie Cherie" could have come from a Peter Gabriel album. Made in Medina is a massive, but still natural, step forward that establishes Taha as the most visionary Algerian singer today. --Chris Nickson