Taarab is said to have emerged from a blend of East African Swahili, Indian, Persian, and Portuguese cultural influences. This comes from BUDA, the label famous for the Ethiopiques series, which also runs a Zanzibar series — and this is their 2021 release, a compilation gathering taarab from the '70s through the '90s. With all the attention SITI MUHARAM got on the UK's ON THE CORNER last year, I'd been feeling like this territory was in the air. Not as heavy as Arabic music, it has the wide-eyed, sunny feel of South Indian music without the difficulty of the classical tradition, mixed with East African rhythms that almost recall Japanese ondo — and just when you think that's the whole story, the vocals hit you like the first time you heard Thai molam. It even sets you daydreaming: could there be an Austronesian connection linking this to Asia? A fun bit of far-flung acid quiz material. Taarab is often said to be unlike any other African music, but I think it's fine to just enjoy it broadly as a kind of distinctive, richly textured island music, like Madagascar's (though it's not only island music). Things like this are why I can't stop... CD only, but it ranks among my favorite world music releases of the year. Great for DJing too. The best~ (Original Japanese text by Shhhhh)