Habibi Funk 021: Free Music (Part 1)

Habibi Funk gave us a glimpse into Najib Alhoush’s brilliance on their second ever compilation by including the very familiar-sounding “Ya Aen Daly.” Yet this would turn out to be just the tip of the iceberg, as the Libyan composer and producer is rumored to have made dozens of albums, many of them with his band The Free Music. Thankfully Habibi Funk dug back in and collated songs from two of the group’s 1976 albums on Habibi Funk 021: Free Music (Part 1), and it’s nothing less than fire: tight grooves that take off and go wild, glitzy horn stabs, searing guitars, and thumping bass and drums interspersed with the odd flute and spacey synths make this a wild ride.