Radio Annajah G'nawa Succès 94 - More Popstalgic Enjoyment

Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin' into the future... and the cassette era recedes further and further back in the rear view mirror. For our first post of 2026, we're going back to 1994 for some early electrified Gnawa music. And when I say electrified, I mean one dude with a keyboard!

1995 me picked up this tape probably in Marrakech and, played it maybe once or twice, said "meh", and set it down to languish in the Stash until 2026. 1995 me was more interested in either straight-up Gnawa recordings (you know, just the guinbri and qarqabas) or in hipper fusion things like Hassan Hakmoun's first 2 albums (Gift of the Gnawa and Zahar), the Gnawa rock of Houssaine Kili, or the wild Mahmoud Guinia + drum kit tapes (which I now believe NOT to be Mahmoud Guinia, at least on vocals). 1995 me was not interested in a Gnawa group accompanied by a keyboardist playing sax, flute, marimba, organ, and straight-up synth sounds along with a drum kit. 

While 2026 me still prefers electric guitars to keyboards in chaâbi ensembles, I have developed occasional warm feelings for the sounds of the North African electric keyboard (especially those of the 1980s Algerian raï variety). And whereas a standard wedding band drum kit was nothing special to 1995 me, 2026 me waxes nostalgic at the sound of a prominent and raucous drum kit, and for the days (nights, really) before production values got so smooth. Its sound brings a time-traveling grin to my face and an old school derdeg to my feet and hips.

This is all a prelude to saying that 2026 me is rather enjoying the "meh" tape that 1995 me dismissively filed away so long ago. 

Sure, it's an anonymous studio creation meant to capitalize on the growing popularity of Gnawa music, crediting no particular musicians and using stock images of Gnawa from postcards for the cover. But as I spieled recently, pop textures of yesteryear age differently for different ears. For me, the keyboards here are never awful, sometimes retro-delightful, and the drum kit is always in the pocket, sometimes just grooving steadily with the qarqabas, sometimes pushing things forward with accents, punctuations, or backbeats. 

So you may dig this or you may not. For mid-90s Gnawa-and-keyboards cassettes, you may prefer the cassettes released by the duo Saha Koyo, but they don't float my popstalgic boat like this Radio Annajah cassette, and I don't find them interesting as fusion items. But ask me again in a few years - perhaps my ears' viewpont will have changed!

Discographic note: The songs listed on the j-card flap appear in a different order on the cassette. Also, I believe Side 2 is actually the beginning of the album. Side 1 fades in mid-song, and side 2 fades out mid-song. These two songs typically run together in performance, so I have edited them together into one long track. The edit is not seamless - there appears to be some missing music - but the tempo and the key are the same, so the edit is pretty smooth. Side 2 does not fade in but rather starts with a guinbri and keyboard unmetered intro section, so it feels much more like the beginning of an album. So I've tagged track B1 as the first song of the album and the edit of B2-A1 as the second song.

G'nawa ڭناوة
Succes 94 مفاجأة
Radio Annajah cassette RN 136 راديو النجاح
1994

B1 Taj Lâin A Ya Habib Allah تاج لعناية حبيب الله
B2 Nebda Bennbi Wensbeq Allah Feklami نبدا بالنبي ونسبق الله فكلامي
A1 Ach Qdaw Ila Berhou Biya آش قضاو إلى برحوا بيا
A2 A Moulati Fatma أمولاتي فاطمة
      Lâafou Ya Moulana العفو يا مولانا
A3 Hamouda Baba Hamouda حمودة بابا حمودة

Production and Distribution انتاج و توزيع
Radio Annajah راديو النجاح

 FLAC | 320

Mustapha Baqbou - Negcha: Dancing Together Out Of Our Constrictions

Here's another great cassette by Mustapha Baqbou: a nicely recorded effort with Maalem Mustapha accompanied by what sounds like 4 singers who also provide percussive accompaniment in the form of the tapping of cassette tapes and a couple jingly percussion instruments - possibly the sersara (shaker plate with jingles) that normally sits atop the neck of the guinbri . The jingles are not to my taste - perhaps they were meant to be a more gentle accompaniment than the crazy-making sound of the qarqaba iron clackers. However, they feel sloppier than qarqabas because one cannot control the jangle of the jingles after the plate is struck. Qarqabas or cassette tapes, on the other hand, give a very controlled sound with a very quick decay after they are struck.

Despite the jingle jangle issue, the tape is very enjoyable. The guinbri and the vocals are strong, and the album includes almost the entirety of the Negcha suite (minus a couple of fadeouts). As always Mustapha gives a master class in how to manipulate one or two simple guinbri phrases into endless, compelling variations.

Negcha is the second of the two Fraja (entertainment) suites that open the Gnawa lila ceremony. I adore the Negcha, and I find it the most joyful part of the lila. The Gnawa dancers move counter-clockwise in circle formation, facing inwards toward each other. Although Negcha song texts lament the Gnawa of old who have passed on and recall the slave experiences of the Gnawa forbears, the rotating Negcha dancers celebrate life together in the present moment. Dancers lock eyes with each other across the circle and coordinate their spins, crouches, and leaps. Older musicians in attendance join the circle to share the moment. Most movement in the lila is that of an individual body (dancer or trancer) coordinating/dialoguing with the phrases of the guinbri. In the Negcha, it's a collective endeavor, it's about the group. 

Thanks for continuing to stop by Moroccan Tape Stash after all these years. Here's wishing you all the best in 2026. May we find a chance to joyfully dance our way out of our constrictions.

Mustapha Bakbou مصطفى باقبو
Edition Hassania cassette EH1598
1995

Side A: Negcha (Oye Waye) - Lalla Fatima - Tanglamo - Chabakro - Bukiriri
Side B: Mbirika - Allah Ya Buderbala - Rebbi Moulay - Hada Waâdo Meskin - Zid El Mal - Yomala| 

FLAC | 320

Discographic notes:

• My copy of the cassette contains a faint clicking that runs through the entire tape. You can only hear it in the fadeouts or introductions. Other pressings of the album seem not to include this - you can hear a clean copy at Cafe Matich's YouTube (Side A | Side B). I think you will like my version, though. As usual, I have used Logic's Mastering Assistant tool to tease out a more dynamic sound from the cassette.
• Cafe Matich dates this to 1985, but I think that date is incorrect. The catalog number EH1598 is very close to Najat Aatabou's EH1595, which is undoubtedly from 1995. I'm pretty sure the Baqbou album dates to 1995 as well.

Noujoum Bourgogne - Donia Ghadara

Here's a tape from chaâbi pioneers Noujoum Bourgogne. As mentioned in our recent post about Zitouni Bourgogne, the group came out of the Bourgogne neighborhood of Casablanca in the mid-1980s, distinguishing themselves from the typical chaâbi ensemble by eschewing keyboards, guitars, and drum kits in favor of the bendir and târija folk drums. In their use of folk instruments, their approach resembles that of the Ghiwani groups, but they retain the driving kamanja of the chaâbi ensemble and their songs are more suited for the dance floor than those of their Ghiwani contemporaries.

The sound on this album rather thin, so I did a remix to pump up the drums a bit:

 

I later found that the album can be heard on streaming platforms in a version much cleaner version than my cassette copy:

But y'all come here for that old well-loved cassette sound, right? So avail yourself to whatever version suits your taste and enjoy this fine slice of vintage chaâbi goodness!

Noujoum Bourgogne نجوم بورݣون
Donia Ghadara لدنيا غضارة (2025 Moroccan Tape Stash Remix)
A1 Donia Ghadara لدنيا غضارة
A2 Lghorba لغربة
B1 Mnin Nebda Lehdite منين نبدا لحديث لحدي
B2 El Mejdouba المجدوبة 

FLAC | 320