Album Review: Imanaren - Imanaren

As the bandleader to Berber folk trio Imanaren, Moroccan musician Hassan Wargui handcrafts a soundworld seemingly driven by the deep feelings generated through the complex relationship between village and city (an interplay also evident in the English folk traditions of the 60s/70s). In the introduction to the music video clip for album opener 'Taldrar N Lawlia (Flowering of the Wise)', whist sitting in a Casablanca coffee house, Wargui verbally illustrates his personal venn diagram. He lives in the bustling, crowded city, because it allows him to make money from recording and playing music. Money he sends home to his family in the Berber village of Issafn (South Morocco). However, opportunity notwithstanding, there is nothing he would rather do than return to the countryside. As he puts it, "In the village music sounds more beautiful, because the village itself is beautiful."

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