Natacha Atlas – Belgium and UK – World People's Blog

Natacha Atlas (Arabic: نتاشا أطلس‎; born March 20, 1964) is a Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and North African music with Western electronic music. She once termed her music cha’abi moderne (an updated form of Egyptian pop music). Her music has been influenced by many styles including Arabesque music, drum ‘n’ bass and reggae … /// … Personal Life: In 1999, Atlas married Syrian kanun player Abdullah Chhadeh. The couple divorced in 2005. Atlas considers herself to be a Muslim with an interest in Sufism. She is, however, open to other forms of spirituality because « it’s important to be tolerant ». In 2001, she was appointed by Mary Robinson as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Conference Against Racism. Robinson chose Atlas because « she embodies the message that there is a strength in diversity. That our differences – be they ethnic, racial or religious – are a source of riches to be embraced rather than feared » … (full text).

Her Solo career.

As befits her globetrotting lifestyle and influences, Middle Eastern singer NATACHA ATLAS continues to create a body of work that refuses to be neatly categorized. Over the past decade, she has entrancingly fused North African and Arabic music with western electronic beats to produce a unique dance music hybrid. This sound has constantly been fed by fresh musical passions and testing in new sonic settings. With her latest album MISH MAOUL, her career comes full circle to touch base with her roots. The new album harks back in its sound and traditions to the music she grew up hearing in the Moroccan suburb of Brussels, particularly when the Golden Sound Studio Orchestra of Cairo makes its entrance. It also reunites her again with the Temple of Sound’s Nick Page aka Count Dubulah, with whom she first worked in Transglobal Underground and who helped produce her very first solo album Diaspora (and many subsequent collaborations) … (full text Biography).

Her Homepage on Beggars Group.

Natacha Atlas – Belgium and UK

Watch these videos:

Natacha Atlas – Mon Amie La Rose, 04.44 min, May 9, 2006;
Natacha Atlas – Mistaneek, 3.21 min, June 20, 2006;
Natacha Atlas – Bellydance (live Copenhagen, Vega 26.08.2006), 3.00 min, October 07, 2006;
Natacha Atlas – When I Close My Eyes, 4.30 min, June 26, 2006;
Natacha Atlas – Iskanderia (Live), 5.05 min, October 10, 2006;
Natacha Atlas – I Put A Spell On You, 3.47 min, June 01, 2007;
Natacha Atlas – Leysh Natarak, 04.26 min, Mar 25, 2006;
Natacha Atlas – Amulet, 3.55 min;
Natacha Atlas – Yalla Chant, 04.22 min, May 25, 2008;
natacha atlas – gafsa, 06.36, Dec 2, 2006.

… « The Arabic form doesn’t need any alteration, Atlas said in an interview « World Music Central ». « You don’t need to f*** about with the Arabic scales, they’re beautiful as they are, » she said a few years ago. « If you just mix them together with modern European sounds and dub sounds, you’ve got a great blend. » Atlas says her 2008 outing and tour « shows the Western public that, actually, Arabic composers have been fusing music, East and West, a lot longer than I have » … (full text).

Natacha Atlas – Gone:

He went on a journey and left
He crossed the seas
And nobody knows where he might be
And he’s gone … (full text).

… With a heritage that connects Egypt, Palestine, Morocco, Belgium and the UK, the unique singer Natacha Atlas represents a one-woman Migration. Indeed, she has described herself as “a human Gaza strip”. An international star for two decades, she is famed for her collaborations with Transglobal Underground, Nitin Sawhney, David Arnold and Jah Wobble. Tonight Natacha goes acoustic to present the music from her acclaimed album ‘Ana Hina’, a sensuous evocation of the Egyptian and Lebanese singers she first heard through her father’s record collection, and in which her incredible voice takes centre stage … (full text, January 5, 2009).

… Another London-based world music talent, Natacha Atlas, is doing a short tour in support of her sublime recent album Ana Hina, on which she moves away from her more club-based music to a fairly restrained take on traditional Arabic music. Joining her will be the Mazeeka Ensemble, who also played on the album. They’ll be at the Salisbury Arts Centre (01722 321744) on 28 January, St George’s, Bristol (0845 402 4001) on 30 January, the Union Chapel, London (08700 600100) on 1 February, and the Norwich Arts Centre (01603 660352) on 2 February … (full text, 4 January 2009).

She gets the BBC radio award for world music, Middle East and North Africa for 2007.

Find her and her songs on Nataha Atlas.net; on Mantra Recordings; on beggars.com; on mySpaceMusic; on wikipedia /discography; on Music album’s post: on mixdiggerz; on Google Video-search; on inauthor Google-search; on Google Book-search; on Google Scholar-search; on Google Group-search; on Google Blog-search.

… As early as her teens, Natacha was being singled out for her singing talents, and she spent time in Arabic and Turkish clubs, as well as with a salsa band in Belgium. But in the early 1990s, a bigger audience caught on to her vocal gifts. She became a favorite among England’s alternative rock bands, especially Jah Wobble, the former bass player for Public Image Limited, the band formed by Johnny Rotten after the breakup of the Sex Pistols. On his own, Wobble investigated music from the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, then brought these sounds together in the band Invaders of the Heart … (full long text).

She says: … « I find YouTube a bit scary. Every time I do anything, even an unannounced guest spot that I don’t want the whole world to see, somehow somebody manages to get it up there on YouTube, and mostly the sound is crap, and it’s a bad camera angle, and I’m totally embarrassed, as I have had no choice in whether to expose that or not. And it’s just there for all to see, whether i like it or not, mistakes and all. But on the good side, the Internet definitely gets you to a wider audience, and I am lucky to have fans that have dedicated some of their free time to setting up MySpace and other websites (NatachaAtlas.net) that I come across by accident sometimes, and I think, Wow!! They think enough of me to spend time and effort on getting me out there to the world. It’s very touching » … (full interview text).

Anglo-Egyptian singer has spent more than a decade fusing electronic beats with North African and Arabic music, finding links between seemingly disparate musical genres, exploring new and different sonic settings and working with a wealth of like-minded collaborators from across the world along the way. The resulting body of work is both a triumph of true multiculturalism and a testament to the richness and accessibility of Arabic culture. It is, indeed, an oeuvre unlike any other. (ugly duckling).

… Last night CNN’s international music program « The Beat » featured the Arab singer Natacha Atlas in one of its segments. She is from Northwest Africa (Morocco, I think), the land of the Atlas Mountains. These mountains take their name from the Titan Atlas, who was holding up the Heavens, according to Greek mythology. Another Atlas, a human, not a Titan, was the father of the human female Cleito, who became the mother of the first Kings of Atlantis, through Poseidon. Natacha Atlas’ first name is the French spelling of Natasha, the Russian pet form of the Greek name Anastasia. The word Anastasis, of course, means Resurrection … (full text, 17 June 2001).

… Natacha’s first break was when she sang on Balearic beat crew !Loca¡’s club hit Timbal, and was drawn into the Jah Wobble circle, singing and co-writing with his just-forming Invaders of the Heart. (She has recently worked with Wobble again, on the 2002 Wobble/Temple of Sound album Shout At The Devil). She also met Transglobal Underground, the London-based multicultural collective who, in blending electronica, dub, hip-hop and funk with Indian, African and Middle Eastern musical forms, were significant role models for today’s world dance phenomenon. The encounter was to turn into a long-standing and happy association. First guesting with them in 1991, in 1993 she became a member of the core quartet of Transglobal, as lead singer and belly-dancer (the latter not some kind of limp tourist-pleasing wiggle but the real raq sharki). A couple of years later, it was the band’s Tim Whelan, Hamid ManTu and Nick Page (a.k.a. Count Dubulah, now of Temple of Sound) who helped her to make her first solo album, Diaspora. In parallel with the success of her solo albums she remained a full-time Transglobal member, and Transglobals constituted her backing band, until they left Nation in 1999, and they have remained allies throughout her subsequent career … (full text).

… He then moves over to his keyboard to bring up a track, illustrating how he builds up Halalwood’s disparate elements, one hand sliding volume levels on a portable mixing desk as he plays back a house mix featuring the award-winning European-Egyptian chanteuse Natacha Atlas. He made this version a few years ago. Another completely different interpretation of the song, Ouddamak, appears on the finished album. “Natacha was working on a solo album and asked me to remix it,” he remembers. “It was OK but I wasn’t happy with it and it didn’t fit with the rest of the music.” The two artists have been friends since her days with Transglobal Underground in the early 90s. “This year, I came back and spent two weeks working on a new version,” Adel says. The song begins with a qanun (Arab box zither) solo, recorded in his basement studio, with staccato beats almost accidentally taken from the start-up demo on his mixing software. A glitch meant they fortuitously bled into the track at just the right juncture. “I sent it to Natacha to get her opinion, and she loved it,” he laughs … (full text, January 04. 2009).

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