Entertainment
Algeria ‘to have private TV channels in 2012′
Sep 19th
Algeria will get its first private television channels in 2012, Communication Minister Nacer Mehal was quoted as saying Monday by the El Khabar newspaper. More >
Algeria gathers freedom icons for jubilee fete
Dec 15th
Algiers, the capital of Algeria, arguably one of the few North African countries which endured one of the most brutal freedom wars for its independence, gathered Africa’s leading freedom fighters this week. The freedom fighters, most of them in their sunset years, but still going strong, graced an occasion on Tuesday to mark the 50th Anniversary of UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
The occasion offered an effective opportunity for the launch of an intensified campaign for the independence of Western Sahara, still under the control of Morocco.
Algeria Music
Aug 10th
Algeria is the home to a new music genre called Rai. This form of music has gained fans in France, Spain and Asia. Many new musicians are experimenting with this genre to make it more global.
Rai is a creative outlet to express political discontent. “Rai became an important means of cultural expression for a minority struggling to carve out an ethnic identity and a space for itself in an inhospitable, racist environment” Rai is more than simply cultural expression, it morphed into a unique blend of popular “rebel” music. “What makes raï so rebel, so politically charged, is the fact that it goes against the hard-line conservative government, a religiously fundamentalist establishment. Unlike traditional music, with its subtlety, flowery language, and innocuous subject matters, raï is notable for its blunt imagery and willingness to tackle subjects such as sex, booze, lust, and drink – all of which the deeply religious establishment frowns upon.”
Malouf Modern malouf has some elements of Berber music in the rhythms, but is seen as a successor to the cultural heights reached by Muslim Andalusia. Malouf has been called “an emblem of (Tunisian) national identity” [6]. Nevertheless, malouf can not compete commercially with popular music, much of it Egyptian, and it has only survived because of the efforts of the Tunisian government and a number of private individuals. Malouf is still performed in public, especially at weddings and circumcision ceremonies, though recordings are relatively rare.
