Fame Monster | Jouz Walla Fard (1978)

 


That boy is a monster (Mo-mo-mo-monster)
That boy is a monster (Mo-mo-mo-monster)
That boy is a monster (Mo-mo-mo-monster)
That boy is a monster-er-er-er-er
1978 is another hyper-productive year for Ahmed, who releases two full-length cassettes. Based on this year and last, our man seems to have settled into an annual pattern: Release one ass-whupping cassette album doing what it is you do best, an album that blows away any possible competition simply by you being your own bad self, followed by a gobsmacking, goalpost-moving follow-up that catapults the genre into uncharted (if highly charting) territory. 


Had anyone else released Jouz Walla Fard, we'd remember them for having hit an all-time shaabi high point; but this is Ahmed, and it's almost too easy to take his exceptional if less innovative work for granted.

Ahmed and crew, we should say. Accordionist and composer Hassan Abou El Seoud once again provides the music and arrangements for this joint, and we're treated to some of his wildest playing to date. Take, for example, the album's shortest track, Side A's "Halak Houch." Give it a listen, then repeat, but focus on the mind-blowing twists and turns of El Seoud's accordion.

Next, dive into the mawwal that follows and do the same, but this time focusing on the interplay between accordion and trumpet.

Listen to Side A



(Listen to "Jouz Walla Fard")

(Listen to "Halak Houch")

(Listen to "Mawwal")

Listen to Side B


(Listen to "Katr El Habayeb")

(Listen to "Ya Helou Al Malameh")




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