sun|never|sets|on|music

Tiraka (Habibi Funk 34)

ALI & CHARID MEGARBANE

Released 20 March 2026

Habibi Funk Records

****-

A record of deeply intuitive collaboration, flow and trust in which Indonesian groove traditions meet Arab melodic sensibilities, revealing how closely and  successfully they merge.​

​​

Jakarta-based trio Ali have built their sound on a distinctive blend of 1970s Indonesian psychedelic funk, Melayu  (Malay) forms and disco-laced rhythms, while Lebanese composer and multi-instrumentalist Charif Megarbane has developed a wide-ranging catalogue rooted in Levantine melody, library music aesthetics and cross-regional experimentation.

Released via Habibi Funk, a label known for promoting musical exchanges across the Arab world and its diasporas, Tirakat (Habibi Funk 35) feels less like a one-off collaboration and more like a continuation of an ongoing conversation. Its premise is deceptively simple: not fusion, but recognition.

From the outset, the grooves settle into place with an unforced clarity. Basslines are elastic and melodic, often carrying equal narrative weight as the lead instruments. In combination with light-sounding drum drums the result is closer to 1970s funk recordings than contemporary production.

The role of the guitars is crucial. They move in repeating, interlocking figures, sometimes percussive, sometimes melodic, drawing equally from Southeast Asian styles and Arabic phrasing. These patterns rarely resolve in a Western sense; instead, they cycle, shift emphasis, and subtly reconfigure as downbeat. Charif Megarbane’s melodic instincts are evident in the horn and synth lines, which favour modal movement and ornamentation, as notes bend, hover, and return. Remarkably, all this knits together seamlessly: Indonesian rhythmic sensibilities and Arab melodic forms circulate freely, embedded deeply in the playing.

​

Read more...

Bandcamp

Spotify

YouTube

​