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Café mira casse les clichés, joue la carte du hors cadre. Leur AfnoRock (ou Rock des Afnords, tel qu’on appelait les maghrébins à l’époque bénie du gouvernement de Vichy) s’affirme sur des bases rythmiques bien soutenues et une énergie inlassable au niveau des transitions et des progressions. Le répertoire est un brassage des genres entre chants afro traditionnels, riffs rock, Reggae-Dub, cuivres Jazzy et ambiances Funk Ska, etc.
Les retrouvailles des deux fondateurs de ce projet fut à Paris, Reda et Amine, après avoir oeuvré dix ans auparavant dans des groupes Hard-Metal à Casablanca. Ce dernier a accumulé une expérience au bled sur les scènes et festivals les plus prestigieux, et notamment avec "Reborn" qui a connu le procès connu sous le nom "l'affaire des rockers satanistes", ou 14 musiciens et fans de metal ont été arrêté pour "pratiques contraire au moeurs" (jouer du Rock, port de tee shirt noir,.) puis relachés grâce à la mobilisation de la société civile au Maroc et d'autres ONG en France, en l'occurence.
Dès le début, le pari de Café Mira a été le partage des richesses et expériences entre ses membres (Algérie, Maroc, France, Italie) et de jouer une "musique de tout les mondes". Les textes sont polyglottes à majorité en darija (langue maghrébine) et abordent les thèmes des libertés individuelles dans les pseudo démokraties, la liberté de circulation, les frustrations liées à toutes les violences réelles et symboliques subies par les citoyens et les sujets des deux rives de la méditerranée.
Après 2 ans d’existence, cAfé mirA est devenu un groupe très prometteur qui dès le début 2005 a acquis un public et a commencé à enflammer les salles les plus populaires de Paris.
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Cafe Mira smashes all the cliches you've heard
about "world" music with an intensity that bursts
through existing genres and frameworks for
collaboration. Their "AfnoRock" (that is, the
rock of the "Afnords" as the people from the
Maghreb were called by the Vichy Government in
World War II), is built upon the powerful
rhythmic foundations and boundless energy that
moves the music between transitions and
progressions that haven't been heard before.
Their repertoire is a blend of genres that
combine traditional African songs, rock riffs,
Reggae-Dub basses, jazzy curves, and funk-ska
ambiance.
The two founders of the project, Reda and Amine,
were reunited in Paris, having worked together
closely several years before in the Hard-Metal
scene in Casablanca, their home town.
With the "Reborn" project, Amine experienced significant
success in Morocco, performing at some of the
most prestigious festivals in the country, and
becoming even more well known because of the
infamous "Satanic Metal Affair," in which 14
metal musicians and fans, including him, were
arrested and put on trial for "Satan worship"
because, among other things, they liked metal,
had long hair, and wore black t-shirts. Although
jailed briefly, they were ultimately freed by the
huge outpouring of protest on their behalf by
civil society in Morocco and across the
Mediterranean, especially in France.
From the start the members of the group gambled
that the combination of musical knowledge and
richness of experiences of the members, coming
from Algeria, Morocco, France and Italy, and the
playing of a "music of all the world" would
create a powerful and innovative sound. The
lyrics are a pologot blend of tongues, with the
majority in Derija (the Arabic of Morocco) and
addressing issues of individual freedom in the
pseudo (at best) democracies of the Arab world
(and increasingly Europe), the right of movement,
and the frustrations that emerged from all the
violence--real and symbolic--suffered by the
citizens and subjects of the two banks of the
Mediterranean.
After two years of existence, Cafe Mira is
becoming a highly sought after group that shows
even greater promise for the future, which is
burning up the live music scene in Paris and
increasingly across France and beyond.
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Photos et diapo réalisés par Mehdi (MonkeyMan) le 10.03.07 au Capitol studio.(+ d'infos + Live Report sur : www.myspace.com/guiltyismyfirstname )