Orchestre Houcine (Eddoug) - Nouveaute 90 (File Under Massnawa, Part Two)

Ooh here's a good one, unearthed at a friend's house in El Sobrante. It's a vintage 1990 chaâbi album credited to Orchestra Houcine. The artist is one Houssine Eddoug, who rose to fame as a member of the group Massnawa out of Casablanca. 

We've written a little bit about Massnawa here. The key members of that group are the brothers Rachid and Hamid Batma, with lyrical help from their brother Mohammed Batma of the group Lemchaheb. (All of them are brothers of the legend Larbi Batma of Nass el Ghiwane.) The name Massnawa refers to the tribal group from which the Batma family originates, and it resonates with the rural (ârobi) musical inspiration for the group's early works. For more info on the origins of the Massnawa group, see this documentary (in Arabic) about the group that aired on the Moroccan channel 2M:

The documentary highlights the contributions of the Batma brothers. However, another key component of Massnawa's sound was the vocals and buzuq playing of Houssine Eddoug. Here is a clip of him performing (well, lip-syncing) with Massnawa: 

  

<--- You can also find this fine Massnawa album featuring Houssine over at Bodega Pop. Houssine is pictured at top left.

I haven't found much information about Houssine's history or career trajectory. I gather that he was one of the original members of Massnawa when they formed in 1980, that he continued with the group for quite a few years but at some point he moved to Italy. I see some solo recordings of his on the Ajial Ghiwania2 YouTube channel that refer to him as Houcine al Messnawi الحسين المسناوي and on the Hafed Vision channel as Messnawa Houssine. 

The album we're sharing today hits all my chaâbi sweet spots:

• That raucous drum kit high up in the mix
• Orchestre driven by a plucked string instrument - the buzuq sounds fantastic here
• Aita-based forms, melodies, and singing styles.
• We'll forgive the keyboard-bass here. It's light, unobtrusive, and in-the-pocket
• Keyboard accompaniment is inventive in terms of timbre and texture, never overpowering or overbearing.

So yeah, grab this thing below or stream it on YouTube here 👇🏼 It's a chaâbi good time!

Serendipitously Similar Posts note: This tape rhymes with the tape we shared in our recent post about Zitouni Bourgogne insofar as it:

• Features a musician who:
• rose to fame with a 1980s Casablanca-based group, who 
• was less famous than other members of that group, and who
• is noted as an important and creative member of that group in YouTube comments.
• Is a 1990s solo album by that musician that 
• is more conventionally chaâbi than the music of their former group and that
• rocks 
• Was gifted to me by a dear friend 

Orchestra Houcine اركسترا الحسين
Nouveaute 90
Presente Par Sawt Ennassime 
Sawt Nassim cassette EN 574

A1 Rijal L-Ghaba
      Rah Ellil راح الليل
A2 Khoukoum Al-Bnat خوكم البنات
A3 Mina مينا
B1 Mina (continued) مينا
B2 Saken Hrizi ساكن حريزي
B3 Ana F-Hmak Htta Nmout 

 FLAC | 320

The Brothers Batma (file under Massnawa?)

Massnawa was one of the more successful groups that followed in the wake of Nass el Ghiwane and Jil Jilala. According to their biography at Yala Ournia, they formed in 1980 and gained initial successes in 1981 with the songs "Âoudi Lazrqaq" and "Hemmady".



Brothers Rachid (j-card upper left) and Hamid Batma (upper right) were original members of the group Massnawa, both leaving after 1989. Both eventually joined Nass el Ghiwane - Rachid in the late 1990s, replacing his late brother Larbi on tam-tam and vocals, and Hamid a few years later, playing guinbri in Paco's spot.

Today's album is credited to "The Batma Brothers: Rachid al-Massnawi and Hamid", thus making explicit reference to the former's association with the group Massnawa. The lyrics and music on the album are written by another Batma brother, the late Mohammed, longtime member of the group Lemchaheb. I believe Mohammed is pictured in the photo at bottom left on the j-card.

Further, the j-card makes reference to the Massnawa songs "Moussem Essiyda", Âoudi Lazrqaq" and "Hemmady. I can't quite figure out what is meant by these references - perhaps it means that Batma was the author of these songs as well?

The title track is called "Rjou' Hammadi" - the return of Hammadi, and the final line of the j-card reads "for you, part 2". I assume that this means the title track is meant as a continuation of the story told in the original "Hemmady" track.

These are nice long tracks, rooted in âita melodies and forms, with deep poetic resonances. What I've heard by Massnawa is similar in nature - you can hear lots of good Massnawa over at Yala Ournia.

Al Ikhwan Batma - Rjou' Hammadi
1) Rjou' Hammadi
2) Baba Khyar

3) Khelli flousek fjibek
4) Darit âlik

Get it all here.