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Rashid Taha


AdamH

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Mention the 'Small World & nufunk list' and you'll get in for $20..

RACHID TAHA

Tuesday, July 8, 9:00

@ The Phoenix Concert Theatre, 410 Sherbourne St.

w/ DJ medicineman (CIUT 89.5 FM – ‘No Man’s Land’)

Tickets: $30 advance @ www.smallworldmusic.com & Soundscapes Records (572 College St.)

The music of Rachid Taha is a musically and socially potent mix of styles such as the raï of his native Algeria, techno, rock and punk. Now based in Paris, Taha is considered to be France’s first true punk-rocker, his sound having evolved over the past two decades into one that can rock dancefloors and mosh pits alike. He is an artist whose personal experience has made him a powerful spokesperson for democracy, tolerance and altruism – always speaking out against racism, fundamentalism and discrimination.

Taha moved to France from Algeria in 1970. In 1981, while living in Lyon, Taha met Mohammed and Moktar Amini. The three of them, Rachid, Djamel Dif and Eric Vaquer would later form the band Carte de séjour, which is French for "residence permit". Taha indulged his natural appetite for challenging gestures and open revolt with Carte de Sejour. Stirring up a twister of outrage and irony, the group released an "Arabesque" cover of Charles Trenet’s "Douce France", (a sentimental wartime ballad beloved of nationalists.) Taha then persuaded President Francois Mitterand’s notorious minister of culture, Jack Laing, to distribute copies of the single to every member of the French parliament.

The silver screen has also been instrumental in bringing Taha’s music to the world. The song "Barra Barra" from his album Made in Medina was featured in the 2001 film Black Hawk Down. His cover of ‘Rock the Casbah’, the immortal song by The Clash, appeared in The Future is Unwritten, the 2007 biography of the late Clash frontman Joe Strummer.

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