Humanity is Falling Apart

For better or worse, the ominous title of this new album by Moh Alileche is not borne out by the contents. Tracks like ‘Lullaby’ and ‘Meet the Stars’ make for a much less foreboding mood (and as the title-track is instrumental, it’s not clear what he is warning us of).

Alileche is an Algerian-born US resident and this is his sixth album on his own Flag of Freedom label. His stated goal is to promote the culture of the Kabyle people, the largest ethnic group among the Amazigh (Berber) in Algeria, with a repertoire of Kabyle folk songs, original compositions, and interpretations of chaabi pop songs. On this varied disc, with two songs in English and a spoken-word track, the instrumentation of violin, mandole, ney, hand drums and bendir, create a strong and evocative sound in the hands of the Algerian musicians. However, there are a lot of electronic keyboards and percussion mixed in, which veers towards a pop-reggae feel on a couple of tracks. There’s an impassioned message here, but a more coherent articulation would have made it clearer.