"...Every culture has it`s goddesses of destruction: The Greeks had Circe and the Sirens, Indian Hindus have Kali and Shiva, Americans have Courtney Love and Hillary Clinton, and the Moroccans have Aisha Kandisha..." Sia Michael - San Francisco Weekly
"...No doubt world-music purists will find the result thoroughly repellent, but less doctrinaire listeners may well be captivated...." Michael Roberts - Denver Westworld
"...Some victims become paralyzed, others find their blood turned to ice, most are rendered insane - Jarring Effects, you see? ..." James Lien - CMJ
"...but the group`s kinetic performance has enough centrifugal force to draw these disparate components into its heady orbit..." Mark Jenkins - Washington Post
"...If I were getting married, I`d want to play this band for my wedding. It`s downright joyous - I actually started dancing at 8a.m. while brushing my teeth. And believe me. folks, that is saying a lot ! ..." PJR - NAPRA ReView
Seven long years have passed since the last AKJE studio album. During those seven years the band played again and again shows and festivals all over Europe and some of the members were also involved in diverse sideprojects such as Amira Saqati, or did contributions for Mara & Jalal, Sapho, Ahlam or Argan. The line up changed mainly by the departure of co-founder and guitar player Habib El Malak, who got elected in his part of the old Medina of Marrakech, becoming too busy with political responsibilities and to whom this album is dedicated. He got replaced by the wild and extrovert percussion player Jamalski, who joined the band in 1998, playing an important visual role during the live shows.
This album was recorded in a conceptless manner, mainly influenced by "Shabee", the popular traditional Moroccan folk song (on tracks: 2,4,5,6,9 ,12,13,15,16) and by Gnawa harmonies (on tracks: 1, a remake of "Sankara", original version on AKJE`s first album "El Buya"; and on track 8 "Koyo Koyo" = brother; see liner notes by DJ Kuma) or based on Moroccan Raï (on track 3). Tracks 10 and 14 are freestyle improvisations, honouring the Casablanca Electro revival scene, getting bigger and bigger in the local dance clubs as at private parties, where the youngsters still call it "smurf". Track 6, is a typical traditional song from Marrakech, which is sung before a wedding, when the family of the husband is lining the processinal route from their house to the house of the future wife. Track 7 and 11 represent the darker Dub edge of Kandishaistic space ceremonies, calling the palpitating aliens from the eternal unknown cosmic dimensions. Track 9 is another version of "El Aloua", a very popular Shabbe song, with Cheb Youssef doing the lead vocals.
The album also includes the very first recording ever done by Barraka El Farnatshi in 1988 with Habib El Malak (Track 17), for a project called HOUBB AL ASSOUAD (Black Love) which became AKJE in the same year.