Mohamed el Marrakchi | Fassi Disque Cassette | FLAC re-rip

As you've probably noticed by now, I've been (not-exactly-systematically) ripping my cassette collection, including re-ripping earlier ripped tapes.

Why re-rip? Because there were a number of problems with my previous cassette deck. 

First, the sound was not terribly great. It was, at best flat. Second, it ran slow. At least 5.5% slow, because that's about the percentage at which I used to have to speed up rips in Audacity.

And I'm re-sharing re-rips with you because, my gosh! These things sounds amazing. Well, okay. Some of them sound amazing.

This one is one of the amazing ones. Even if you've got the earlier version I posted, get this one. It sounds [*chef's kiss*].

Get it here.

Original post (from 2017):

Hey, kids; here's our second cassette-to-digital offering, plucked from the shelves of Nassem Halal Meat and Mediterranean Grocery in Astoria, Queens. Super Bodega Pop thanks to hero blogger and musician Tim Abdellah Fuson for translation, transliteration, and context.

This is a beautiful and hypnotic recording, as you can hear for yourself on last night's Bodega Pop Live program, where I played يا عشقين نبينا (Ya Âshqin Nabina) in the penultimate set. 

Here's what Tim has to say about the cassette:

"Side 1 sounds like Aissawa-style religious songs, while Side 2 are melhoun-style songs in honor of the Prophet. Nice textures -- it's a modern chaâbi orchestra from the time before keyboards intruded into the texture. I can hear what sounds like electric guitar, bass, and drum set, along with the strings."

As Tim also noted: while someone named Mohamad el Marrakchi sounds as if they are from Marrakech, the music is "hella Fassi"; in polite English, from Fez. (Not surprising, considering this is a Fassi Disque tape.)

Track List:

Side A: Hali ma yekhfaq yal wahed Rbbi (حالي ما يخفاق يالواحد ربي), Ya Âshqin Nabina (يا عشقين نبينا)

Side B, Track 1: Nta Lâziz ya Muhammad (انت العزيز يا محمد)
Side B, Track 2: Lhorm ya Rasul Allah (الحرم يا رسول الله)

As I mentioned a few days ago, I picked up somewhere around 40 cassettes at Nassem; now, I don't want to startle you, but I went back today and picked up at least another 30 -- I thought I had gotten everything, but ... no. 

So? 

So, there's going to be a lot of cassette digitizing going on at the Bodega for the foreseeable future.

Link to cassette rip in comments.

Please leave a comment of your own if you like what you hear. Your comments -- or lack thereof -- will make or break this blog's second wind.