Surprising by the richness of his music, Sidi Bémol (a.k.a. Hocine Boukella or Cheikh for the fans) is the composer of fusion : between modernity and tradition, between chaabi, gnawa, blues and rock, Berberic and Celtic music. Changing languages over the albums -Arabic, Kabyle, French and English-, his texts are meaningful, successively poetic, nostalgic, critical, humorous. He depicts society with much tenderness and lucidity...


Sidi Bémol, has a rich discography already. A first opus was released in 1998, conceived like a radio from the seventies broadcasting different musical genres (rock, blues, traditional...). He then recorded a live at the Bledstock (Algiers) in 2000. The year after, with Thalweg, he takes a Berbero-Celtic detour. Then he releases El Bandi, very successful in Algeria since 2003. After having played on many international scenes, Sidi Bémol come back in 2007 with 10 new terribly rock songs in the album Gourbi Rock. Drawing on its success, the artist continues his musical exploration with Chants de Marins Kabyles in 2008, surprising by its originality, its simplicity, the a capella songs reveal a warm Kabyle bluesman voice. He now comes back with a Berbero-Celtic album that links continents around an amazing festive music...


2008 is a significant turn in Sidi Bémol's career. He plays two full house concerts in a 5.000 seats theater in Algiers. He then hits the headlines of Algerian newspapers. The same year, Lyes Salem, director of Mascarades (December 2008, UGC-Canal+ production), chooses the song Ma Kayen Walou Kima l'Amour to conclude his movie. Last but not least, the documentary Bled-Musique à l'Usine, directed by Samia Chala and Sid Ahmed Semiane, broadcasted every week on Beur TV, is centered on this outstanding artist.


Sidi Bémol it's also a record label, CSB Productions, that allows him to produce his own albums but also those of Azenzar, a Kabyle singer, Zerda, an Algerian rock band. This label also made Sortie d'Usine, a compilation album bringing together 20 songs from the musicians of Louzine, a Franco-Maghrebin artist collective in which groups like Orchestre National de Barbes or Gaada Diwane de Bechar have developped. In a permanent search for independence, he also created the online retailer Undergroone.


For his 7th album, Sidi Bémol, his festive sounds, the warmth of the Berberico-Celtic groove, invite us to a musical trip from Brittany to Kabylia, from Ireland to Sahara, under the title Paris-Alger-Bouzeguene.