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KG Omulo: Ayah Ye!: Moving Train
A synergy of funk, rock, reggae and traditional African sounds from this inventive, young singer/songwriter. -
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Mamadou Diabaté: Courage
Mamadou Diabate, the kora master, takes a fresh look at Mali instrumental music with his new CD Courage. -
Various Artists: The Kankobela of the Batonga, Vol. 2
Mysterious melodies from a disappearing thumb piano tradition of Southern Africa. -
Kiran Ahluwalia: Aam Zameen: Common Ground
Indo-Canadian Songwriter Combines Folk Poetry with African Rock, Jazz and more -
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Sona Jobarteh: FASIYA
West African female kora virtuoso releases an album full of grace, warmth, and passion. -
Sia Tolno: My Life
Kissi singer releases a strong second album full of pop-infused star power over songs of strife and triumph. -
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Guelewar: Halleli N Dakarou
Re-released and remastered live CD from this 80's experimental Senegambian outfit. -
Tinariwen: Tassili
Touareg desert legends return with an offering that is meandering, sorrowful and proud. -
Los Rakas: Chancletas y Camisetas Bordada
Oakland/Panamanian rappers -call it "Panabay"-- return with good results. -
Cheikh Lo: Jamm
The unique Senegalese singer and multi-instrumentalist crafts an eclectically excellent record. -
David Rudder: Random Notes
Calypsonian David Rudder returns with an album that covers various styles with excellent results.
The Saharawi people's homeland is the Western Sahara, part of Morocco since 1975, despite the longstanding, but never fulfilled promise of a referendum on self-rule. In some ways, their struggle mirrors that of the Tuareg in northern Mali, except that the Saharawi have never been allowed to return to their homeland, and they have now lived in tent cities in southwest Algeria for so long that refugee life has become a vital aspect of their culture. Both the Saharawi and the Tuareg trace their origins to north Africa's original inhabitants, the Berber (more properly Imazighen), and both of their stories fit into the larger, and very complex, struggle of all Berber peoples to find their rightful place in Arabized countries like Algeria, Morocco and Libya, and African ones like Mali and Mauritania.
This set of recordings from the tent cities reveals the lively, folkloric musical life of a people who have had an enormous amount of time to reflect on who they are. Most of these 11 tracks involve only drumming and singing, something that sets this release apart from the landmark 1998 3-CD compilation Sahrauis: The Music of the Western Sahara (Nubenegra), which also includes many electric guitar revelations, and studio-made pop songs.
On the opening track, "Ya lali (Old Man)," The first thing that strikes you is the unearthly sound of the voice. It has an electronically distorted hue, as if the (strangely unidentified) singer is being amplified through a guitar amplifier with the chorus effect activated. Once the ear adjusts, you focus on the sound of the voice, its full-throated richness, the sense of a deep emotional investment. A chorus answers her and there is both clapping that follows a set, pulsing pattern, and soft, muted hand drumming that creates a subtly polyrhythmic overlay.
Some songs hew to a camel-lope, three-four time; others play six and four rhythms against one another in classic north African polyrhythm; and at least one, "The Celebration," cranks out driving four-four, gloriously accented with ululations and intensifying hand-clapping to create a mystic party mood. There is a beautiful guitar instrumental with a loping rhythm reminiscent of the Tuareg takamba. In all, a moving and atmospheric turn in the desert. One only wishes that there were information about the artists to match the excellent notes about the plight of the Saharawi, and the song texts.
Contributed by Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org
