Ferkat Al Ard: Oghneya [HABIBI FUNK]

Why you'll love it

Habibi Funk's reissue comes with a 12-page booklet, including an interview with Issam Hajali, and a download. The album first circulated on cassette, and its original vinyl run was tiny, so this is the first easy way for most people to hear it.

This edition

• 12-page booklet
• Download card included

About the album

Some records travel a long way to reach a shop in Toronto. Oghneya was recorded in Beirut in 1977 by Ferkat Al Ard, the band singer and guitarist Issam Hajali formed after his return from Paris, with Toufic Farroukh on flute and saxophone and Elia Saba on bouzouki and oud. Ziad Rahbani, son of the great Fairouz, produced and arranged it, adding strings and choirs of backing vocals.

Hajali had played with Brazilian musicians in Beirut before the war, and you can hear it everywhere: gentle bossa rhythms, jazzy guitar chords and a voice that critics have compared to Milton Nascimento. "Matar Al Sabah" opens the album with a quiet jolt, the title track is dreamy and enveloping, and "Entazerni" and "Matar Naem" drift along beautifully. The lyrics draw on Palestinian poets including Mahmoud Darwish and Samih al-Qasim.

The Arts Desk called it superb and recommended it without reservation. We'd gently point out that it's the most relaxing thing in the World section, and we've checked.

Also at Kops: more Ferkat Al Ard on vinyl · browse World

Tracklist

Listen

On Habibi Funk (cat# HABIBI019).