One of the numerous cross-cultural aggregations launched by the Barbarity label, Maghrebika originated when two Algerian immigrants living in Switzerland, Abdelkader Belkacem (vocals) and Abdelaziz Lamari (vocals, guitar, violin, and oud), were invited to add vocals to a recording project. The two then worked on an entire album that eventually roped in contributions from nearly a dozen other participants, including some Moroccan musicians and bassist Bill Laswell, who added his parts in New York. Maghrebika's Neftahir album came out in 2006, and weaves traditional North African melodies and vocals with far more modern electro-dance, rap, and dub reggae influences. ~ Richie Unterberger