Orient Noir: A West-Eastern Divan

In the saturated compilation market these days it’s all about packaging and presentation. The ‘noir’ concept by the German label Piranha is as vogueishly serviceable as any. So far we’ve had Egypt Noir, Luso Noir and Brass Noir. Now comes Orient Noir and the fact that the ‘concept’ doesn’t actually mean anything (at least as far as this reviewer can discern) is of no real concern if the music sailing under a marketable flag is seaworthy. And there is no denying the quality of the majority of the 14 tracks here (taken, for the most part, from albums by Piranha-signed artists). It is very good indeed, presenting an appealingly diverse picture of the dynamic music currently being made across North Africa and the Middle East, together with its exiles in far-flung parts of the world. Among the latter, the sumptuous reinvention of Ofra Haza’s Yemenite hymn/global pop hit ‘Im Nin’Alu’ by France’s Watcha Clan is outstanding, as is the Jewish gospel of ‘I Ain’t Afraid’ by the New York-based Klezmatics. Other highlights include tracks by the veteran Algerian-Jewish pianist Maurice el Médioni, a Nubian wedding dance from Egypt’s Mahmoud Fadl and the Sephardic/Balkans stylings of the Israeli singer Ruth Yaakov. A special mention, too, is well-deserved for the one real oddity here, ‘The Garden’, which is a rare slice of Oriental kitsch recorded in the 70s by Krautrockers Efendi’s Garden. It panders preposterously to every stereotype of Orientalism and is all the more enjoyable for its outrageous lack of political correctness.