“La Ghriba: La Kahena Remixed” - Cheb i Sabbah

North African dance music CD La Kahena has been glued to my CD player for a while now. So I got all geeked up when I found out that a remix album was available.

Now that I’ve listened to it, I can put away some of that original excitement. It won’t stay in my iPod rotation like La Kahena has, but it does have some standout tracks. I’ll start, however, with the not-so-good ones.

In “Esh ‘Dani, Alash Mshit (The Rai of Light Club Remix),” (”Why Did I Follow Him?”) for example, the beat and vocals are seriously mistimed. The deeper you get in the track, the more of a cacophony it becomes.

“Alla Al ‘Hbab: The Hydrophobia Remix” (”Blessed Be My Friends”) hovers between working and not working. The beat pulsates and borrows the strings from the original. But like “Esh ‘Dani,” the beat and vocals are often out of synch. And “Jarat Fil Hub: The Chalice Remix” (”Love’s Chalice”) sounds far more like a “Toura Toura” remix with its muffled lyrics that I’m still not convinced are from the La Kahena version of “Jarat Fil Hub.”

I’m torn over the “Sadats” (”Saints of Marrakesh”) remixes. The ‘Les Filles de Marrakech Remix,’ is fabulous with its more melodic vocals (some how they’re just different than the original) and bits of scratching and rapping. The ‘Sufi Sonic Remix’ of the same song goes in a different direction, employing a club-friendly danceable drum and electronic string beat. In contrast to the ‘Les Filles’ version, the ‘Sufi Sonic’ vocals are secondary to the music, almost subliminal. I was a little confused, though, by the sudden shift to a lighter-feeling, uptempo (though still dope) dance beat for the last two minutes or so of the track.

Now the Constantine Remix of “Esh ‘Dani,” is perfectly acceptable, though it stays too close to the original for my tastes. But it does manage to reorganize the musical elements a bit and add some new sonic elements — synthetic strings, blips, and electronic high-hats — that subtly complement the original.

On the other hand, the Groovio Deep End remix of “Im Ninalou” (If the Doors Are Locked) is just delicious. Groovio adds some Indian-sounding drums and strings to the track, and echo to the vocals for a more haunting, futuristic ‘clubby’ sound that still resepcts the original.

Without a doubt, however, the two brightest spots are the (actual) remixes of “Toura Toura.” The Medina Remix adds some funk-ish guitars, and the Nav Deep Remix blends in some Punjabi and bhangra sounds. Each manages to be like their La Kahena counterpart, but better.

Overall La Ghriba is an intriguing listen, if not a stellar one. Cheb i Sabbah is known for mixing dance rhythms and North African traditional music, so it’s interesting to hear how other DJs and producers add other international music textures.