Rachid Taha might be in his 40s, but he’s still fuelled by anger. Self-confident and provocative, he has made a lasting name for himself in the international music-scene. Throughout his career, he’s fused Western and Arabic elements to create a whole. That’s because, even by the mix-and-match standards of his chosen style, he’s an eclectic artist, drawing on rock, dance, hip hop and reggae for inspiration, as well as the diverse North African sounds he’s absorbed in France. Never mind the war on terrorism, what about the war on fear, complacency, ignorance, racism, poverty and lies. That’s a struggle that Rachid Taha has been fighting for the past two decades and more, ever since he was a tear-away punk immigrant from Algeria gobbing metaphorically and no doubt literally at the good burghers of Lyon in France.