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The National
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Physical media picks for June, from Laura Lippman's latest to a Freh Khodja album
As physical media continues its comeback, The National rounds up the best releases across film, music, art and more. Ken Andi Habib by Freh Khodja Algerian saxophone player Freh Khodja is a cult figure among collectors and DJs who specialise in Arabic grooves. His 1975 album Ken Andi Habib, which blends Arabic music, Caribbean and Latin grooves and funk, is among his best work. Recorded in Paris while Khodja was a member of the African diaspora group Les Flemmes, the album sounds even better 50 years on – not only for its danceable rhythm section, but for Khodja's vocals. It's being re-released on vinyl by French record label Wewantsounds and will have you grooving either on the dance floor or your apartment floor. William Mullally, arts & culture editor Tour of Japan by Minyo Crusaders There's no easy way to define Tour of Japan, but its charm is in its eclecticism. The 2023 album is the second studio release by the Minyo Crusaders, a group renowned for their experimentations with Japanese folk music. They draw their name from a genre of traditional Japanese music called minyo. The tracks on Tour of Japan have roots in songs performed by Japanese fishermen, coal miners and sumo wrestlers. They have been completely reinvented by the band's innovative arrangements. Charged with Latin, jazz and Caribbean rhythms, Minyo Crusaders' compositions incorporate sounds unexpected in Japanese folk, from synthesisers and drum machines to robust brass sections and distorted guitars. Tour of Japan is due for release on vinyl on June 13. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong I recently read Ocean Vuong's semi-autobiographical debut novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, and it shattered me. Published in 2019 and written in the form of letters from a son to his mother, it is achingly beautiful, weaving Vuong's tragic family story as a Vietnamese asylum seeker in the US into a powerful narrative about memories, human bonds and home. While he has published many poems and essays, The Emperor of Gladness is only Vuong's second novel, and was recently picked by Oprah Winfrey for her book club. It follows a 19-year-old boy who decides to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge but is urged by an old woman to reconsider. The old woman, who has dementia, and the boy then form an unusual kinship and decide to face the world together. I can't wait for my copy to arrive. David Tusing, assistant features editor Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters Yukio Mishima was one of Japan's most acclaimed authors, and one of its most controversial. After an award-winning literary career, the author gathered a group of loyal followers in order to restore the Japanese emperor to power, attempted to launch a coup from a military garrison and took his own life when they failed. Since his death, many have delved into his life and work and the events that shaped him. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, the 1985 film by American director Paul Schrader, is perhaps the most enduring international examination of Mishima's life. The film uses vignettes from the author's novels to juxtapose his writing against the events of his life. These tableaus serve as a mirror between fiction and reality. Previously released on DVD and Blu-ray, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters arrives in 4K from The Criterion Collection in June. Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman Laura Lippman is a distinctive voice in mystery fiction. Stephen King called her 'special, even extraordinary' and Gillian Flynn wrote: 'She is simply a brilliant novelist.' Here she returns with a wickedly smart mystery featuring Muriel Blossom, a sharp-eyed widow with a past in private investigation and a disarming talent for going unnoticed. When she stumbles on a winning lottery ticket, Mrs Blossom trades her quiet Baltimore life for a river cruise through France on the MS Solitaire. On the flight over, she meets Allan, a charming man who briefly reignites her long-dormant sense of romance – until he turns up dead in Paris the next day. As the ship winds down the Seine, Mrs Blossom is drawn into a web of secrets, stolen art and suspicious men who keep showing up when something goes wrong. Lippman weaves intrigue and wit into this stylish caper about reinvention, revenge and what happens when a 68-year-old woman refuses to disappear. Described as White Lotus meets Only Murders in the Building by its UK publisher Faber, what's not to like? Nasri Atallah, editor of The National's Luxury magazine Freaky Tales Portmanteau films show several stories and present them as intertwining and connected. Wild Tales, Fantasia and Sin City are just some examples. The most recent, and perhaps one of the most exciting entries to the genre is Freaky Tales by directing duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who previously directed Captain Marvel. Set in Oakland, California in 1987, the film is a nostalgic trip filled with crime, alien powers, basketball and buckets of blood. Pedro Pascal, Ben Mendelsohn and Jay Ellis star in this raucous adventure that deserves a place in everyone's library. Freaky Tales is being released in a VHS-style case to evoke the experience of renting the film from a video shop in the 1980s.
CairoScene
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Wewantsounds Label Reissues Les Abrains' Coveted 1983 ‘Album No 1' LP
An underground staple of Algerian-Kabyle rock, Les Abrains' cult 1983 LP gets its first-ever reissue. May 30, 2025 Paris-based record label Wewantsounds has reissued a rare private press of Les Abrains' highly sought-after 1983 LP 'Album No. 1' for the first time ever. Formed in France in the late 1960s by two young Algerian Kabyle workers, Shamy El Vaz and Karim Abdenour, Les Abrains is one of the pioneers of the Amazigh freedom rock sound in the late 70s to early 80s. Their unique blend of early psych-rock with Kabyle rock, funk and reggae has positioned them as one of the most influential figures in the North African music scene and beyond. Curated by Cheb Gero, who recently compiled the Sweet Rebels Rai set for Wewantsounds, 'Album No.1' (also known as Id Ed Was) showcases a masterful range of various sounds imbued with the Kabyle rock soul, from the reggae-infused cult classic 'Avehri' to the funk-driven 'Achethkhi' and the irresistibly groovy instrumental 'Thadoukli'. Originally recorded in Paris, the record was initially self-released and distributed exclusively within the Kabyle and Algerian communities in France and the Maghreb. Wewantsounds Records reissued the album with remastered audio by Colorsound Studio in Paris, the original artwork, and a two-page insert with new liner notes –in French and English–by the acclaimed Algerian journalist Rabah Mezouane. This also comes as part of the label's program dedicated to reissuing rare old gems from the Algerian music scene.
The National
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
March physical media picks, from Algerian Rai music to Soviet sci-fi
As physical media continues its comeback, The National rounds up the best releases this month across film, music, art and more. Born in Oran, a port city in Algeria, Rai music grew from a folk movement into the defining pop sound of the country in the late 20th century. It gave rise to major stars and fueled an active cassette culture and a passionate fan base who went wild for the electro-funk style. And while most of those cassettes are now hard to come by if you're not scouring record shops in Algeria, that sound has aged to perfection in the current era, making it ripe for rediscovery. Thankfully, Wewantsounds has enlisted DJ Cheb Gero to curate several cult tracks into a new compilation – with most of the songs in vinyl for the first time – that will undoubtedly be the sound of my summer. William Mullally, arts and culture editor Nigerian writer and activist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a decorated fiction and non-fiction writer. This month, she is releasing Dream Count, her first novel since Americanah in 2013; her 2024 collection of essays, We Should All Be Feminists, is a book I have returned to countless times. Dream Count follows the lives of four Nigerian women and explores themes of love, longing and self-discovery. I am yet to read it – my copy should land on my doorstep on March 4 – but in reviews, it's been described as reading like 'a feminist War and Peace'. Farah Andrews, head of features As a city whose social and cultural currents have shaped American popular music, Detroit's influence has been explored in many seminal genre compilations, including Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959–1971 and Grit, Noise & Revolution: The Birth of Detroit Punk, 1975–1985. The new collection, Motor City Is Burning – A Michigan Anthology 1965–1972, makes a valiant attempt to weave these eclectic musical strands into a cohesive narrative of a sonically charged city in creative overdrive. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Detroit's musical explosion illuminated a new generation of artists and bold reinventions of established genres – including garage rock, proto-punk, Motown soul and psychedelic funk. These creative leaps are across the three CD box set featuring 66 tracks and spanning four hours. They range from the punk frenzy of The Stooges' 1969 self-titled debut album to MC5's Teenage Lust and the high-concept soul of The Temptations' Ball of Confusion. Many of the city's revered names are also in the mix, including blues maestro John Lee Hooker, rocker Alice Cooper, as well as Grand Funk Railroad. An accompanying 48-page booklet – featuring rare photos and behind-the-scenes anecdotes – elevates this release beyond mere nostalgia, making it an essential document for understanding a creatively fertile period in American music history. Saeed Saeed, features writer Syrian-Kurdish musician Mohammad Syfkhan began learning the bouzouki in 1980, when he was in nursing school in Aleppo. He moved to the city of Raqqa after graduating and soon formed Al Rabie Band, performing in weddings and concerts across Syria. His repertoire featured Arabic, Turkish and Kurdish music. Syfkhan left Syria in 2014, months after one of his sons was murdered by ISIS. While the rest of Syfkhan's sons attained asylum status in Germany, he resettled in Ireland, along with his wife and daughter. Since then, Syfkhan has become a regular in the Irish music scene, collaborating with artists such as Martin Hayes and Cormac Begley. In 2023, he opened for the contemporary Irish folk band Lankum at the Cork Opera House. Syfkhan released his debut album, I Am Kurdish, in February last year. The album is now being re-released on vinyl. The eight tracks on the album are underscored by the atmosphere of mirth that Syfkhan has become renowned for, offering joyful listening as much as it can spur people to dance. Razmig Bedirian, features writer Science fiction and the former Soviet Union have an interesting relationship. Take, for example, one of the fathers of modern sci-fi, Isaac Asimov, who was born in Russia in 1920. His literature spurned generations of writers to go forth and explore the future. The Soviet Union also had an accomplished space programme, having beaten the US twice with the first man, Yuri Gagarin, in space and the first satellite launch, Sputnik. It is no coincidence then that great sci-fi films would come from the bloc. Films such as Stalker and Solaris from Andrei Tarkovsky have been adored and celebrated by fans. There is another, lesser-known film that I am interested in. Kin-dza-dza! by Georgiy Daneliya was released in 1986 and tells the story of two Russians who accidently press a button on a peculiar object and end up being transported to an alien planet with bizarre societal norms. The film has always been mentioned by cinephiles as being one of the great cinematic exports from the Soviet Union, and with a new Blu-ray release from Deaf Crocodile Films on March 11, I can finally enjoy it at home. Faisal Al Zaabi, gaming and social media writer Despite being defined by their seminal hit, Iris, a song written by frontman John Rzeznik for the 1998 tear-jerker City of Angels, New York rockers Goo Goo Dolls now have 13 albums to their name. But it was with their fifth album, A Boy Named Goo, released in 1995, that the band found their first mainstream success. A Boy Named Goo turns 30 in March, and the band is releasing a special deluxe edition, in vinyl and CD, featuring the original album as well as an unreleased live concert performance recorded in Las Vegas in 1996. The 13 tracks include the hit, Name, considered their breakthrough single, as well as Long Way Down, Naked and Only One. The vinyls come in two colours – sea blue and black. Fun fact: after the album's release, the band's label Warner Bros accused retailer Walmart of removing the album from shop shelves after customers had allegedly complained about the cover art, which showed a baby smeared with blackberry juice. Customers were upset because they mistook the blackberry juice for blood and thought it implied child abuse, Warner Bros claimed. Walmart denied the claim and said it removed the album due to poor sales. David Tusing, assistant features editor Japanese literature is experiencing a boom internationally at the moment, with even mid-20th-century luminaries such as Kenzaburo Oe, Yukio Mishima and Kobo Abe experiencing a resurgence in popularity. But there are still several fascinating and unique voices that are yet to be discovered – many of whom editor Sarah Coolidge has collected into this new compilation from Two Lines Press. Do you like your short fiction strange, funny and a bit otherworldly? You'll find much to enjoy here, including stories about a young storm-chaser who welcomes a jaded woman into the eye of a storm, a medical student coolly observing an adolescent boy contorting his body into violent positions, and an implausibly tiny man attending a Mozart opera with his wife. For the uninitiated, take this as a sampler that will open your eyes to a rich and fascinating world. William Mullally, arts and culture editor
