Essaouira is a small city, almost a town, on the coast of Morocco. In the Sixties and Seventies, it attracted Western counter-culture types (Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, Timothy Leary), the ultra-laid back atmosphere, ease of obtaining hashish, and, most of all, the entrancing music has been Essaouira's draw. Back in 2009, I spent a
few days there and, musically, it was one of the best experiences of my life. For two days, I haunted a hole-in-the-wall music shop, while the
owner of the store, threw on CD after CD, playing hand drums to the music, giving me a full history of Moroccan music and its rhythms, especially the form known as Gnawa. I know the phrase is corny, but it really was magical. As far as records go, this comp on Sublime Frequencies is as close to that experience that I've heard. Originally recorded in 1994 and released on CD soon after, Eat the Dream features ecstatic percussion, trance like guimbri (a lute like instrument) and riatas, the double reed horn that is endemic to Moroccan music. Bordering on chaos and trance, Gnawa music is the dominant form of coastal Morocco and its influence on legendary Moroccan groups such as Jil Jilala and Nas el Gihwane is huge. If I was to pick just one record of Moroccan music to give to someone it would be this (of course right after I gave them a Master Musicians of Jajouka LP). (Sublime Frequencies)
