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"Camping Shaabi"
by Think of One
Label: Crammed/Ryoko
Release Date: April 1, 2008
Check out some other great tracks like "Camping Shaabi" with Webjockey Elke Jon's Rifflist, "Think Of One"
In a passionate response to pronounced cultural and racial tensions between Belgium's Western and Arabic communities, Think of One truly lives the challenge that their name poses by releasing a record that paints a portrait of an entire Belgian community. With vocals in Arabic, French, English and Flemish dialect, and collaboration with Moroccan musicians, "Camping Shaabi" does more than simply mash different elements of radically different musical traditions together—it integrates them into an innovative musical sound, completely unique and with a fusion of many traditionally opposing musical elements.
A listener will catch glimpses of multitudes of genres twinkling in and out of songs as the album progresses, ranging from R&B, quasi-punk and jazz to vintage-sounding electronica, dub and hip-hop. A true feast of colors, cultures and sounds, "Camping Shaabi" contains Flemish refrains, Moroccan percussion and traditional Berber 12/8 rhythm, and is bursting at the seams with rich cultural references and individual vignettes about the dizzying excitement of city life.
Like Gogol Bordello's raucous gypsy-punk records demanding "Revolution!!!," Think of One adapts their sound to meet their artistic goal, streamlining with a cool Western electronica sound while evoking the addictive beat of traditional Moroccan shaabi itself, forming a style that at times sounds a bit 60's mod lounge and a bit like a grand Moroccan wedding. If meshing a world of styles successfully and a creatively fueled political goal isn't enough to hook you, Think of One has yet another amazing fact pulling for them: they are undeniably talented.
Camping Shaabi is not only catchy and flowing, but dynamic—each song is a unique and colorful episode within the band's travel through the genre of shaabi. The way that these songs function within the album is very similar to some hipster bands we've got back in the states (think Yeasayer) that are attempting not only to evoke a vivid image of real life, but a vision that is shot like a film, flowing and guided to create a tangible atmosphere around the song itself.
Successfully creating this living musical portraiture of Antwerp's torn community truly elevates "Camping Shaabi" past the level of simply an experiment or mash up to that of an art form.
If you like "Camping Shaabi" by Think Of One, then be sure to check out "Trafico" by Think Of One, "Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike" by Gogol Bordello and "The Flying Club Cup" by Beirut.
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