Tunis Hotel Stereo [LP]

Various Artists - Tunis Hotel Stereo [LP]

TUNIS HOTEL STEREO
A compilation of Tunisian rock, funk, disco and reggae, 1977–1984
Compiled by Cheb Mimo • Shakshouka Records
In the years after independence, Tunisia made an unlikely bet: tourism. Beach resorts rose along the coast, each one trying to outshine the next, and each one needing a band to entertain their guests. A whole generation of musicians grew up on those hotel stages - sharing bills with James Brown, Claude François and the Mingus Dynasty - and what came out of it was a small revolution. Funk played on Tunisian instruments. Disco with an oud in it. Reggae carried back from the island of Kerkennah. A "Third Language" the press didn't quite know what to do with.
Tunis Hotel Stereo gathers nine of those records. Most of them were pressed in tiny quantities, sold to tourists as souvenirs, censored before reaching the radio, or quietly slipped onto a 45 between two hotel sets. Some of these artists filled the Carthage amphitheatre. Some topped the Maghreb hit-parades. Most have been waiting, for forty years, for someone to play their music again.
This compilation is the result of years of work - collating memories, hunting down records, sitting with the artists who made them, and with the people who once danced to them. It is the third release on Shakshouka Reco(more...)

A1. Les 4Des - Ya Touness
A2. Omnya (Peace Band) - Yendam
A3. Zalila - Tiou Tiou Tiou (Instrumental)
A4. Gharbi Sadok - Noujoum
B1. Carthago - Dhikrayet
B2. Khaled - Wait Till the Morning Dew
B3. Marhaba Band - Baba Bahri
B4. Corniche Band - Dance
B5. Jomaa - Now That