Sahel Sounds presents "Music from Saharan WhatsApp 03 by Jeich Ould Badou

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Over the past couple of months, I have been pleased to pass along the announcement that 10 years later, the Sahel Sounds was following up their fantastic Music From Saharan Cellphones compilation with the ground-breaking compilation, Music from Saharan WhatsApp.

“For the year of 2020, Sahel Sounds presents "Music from Saharan WhatsApp." Every month, we'll be releasing an EP from a musical group in the Sahel. Every album will be recorded on a cellphone, and transmitted over WhatsApp, and uploaded to Bandcamp - where it will live for one month only. Available for pay as you want, 100% of the sales will go directly to the artist or group. After one month, the album will be replaced by another one, until the end of the year.”

The label says of this third installment:

“This month we go to Mauritania to one of the premiere players of the tidnit, Jeich Ould Badou. Coming from a hereditary family of musicians, Jeich's tidnit (the Mauritanian lute) is updated, with built in phasers and pre-amps. Jeich is well known in Nouakchott, where he regularly gigs in weddings and invitations. Here he presents a series of WZN recordings, instrumental classic Mauritania music, for dancing: three songs recorded at home with the drum machine, and one live invitation recording with percussion.”

credits

released March 16, 2020

Jeich Ould Badou - Tidnit
Boss DR-770 Drum Machine (Tracks 1, 2, 3)

Recorded by Jeich Ould Badou on iPhone 7, March 2020
Album Art by Christopher Kirkley

Sahel Sounds presents "Music from Saharan WhatsApp 02 by Oumou Diabate et Kara Show Koumba Frifri"

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Last month I was pleased to pass along the announcement that 10 years later, the Sahel Sounds was following up their fantastic Music From Saharan Cellphones compilation with the ground-breaking compilation, Music from Saharan WhatsApp.

“For the year of 2020, Sahel Sounds presents "Music from Saharan WhatsApp." Every month, we'll be releasing an EP from a musical group in the Sahel. Every album will be recorded on a cellphone, and transmitted over WhatsApp, and uploaded to Bandcamp - where it will live for one month only. Available for pay as you want, 100% of the sales will go directly to the artist or group. After one month, the album will be replaced by another one, until the end of the year.”

The label says of this second installment:

“This month we present mother and son duo, Oumou Diabate and Kara Show Koumba Frifri (Youssouf Drame), from Bamako, Mali. Playing traditional Mandingue music, these lowkey recordings are a snapshot from a griot family home. Oumou Diabate has been performing all her life, and is honored as one of the first griots to perform on television when it first arrived in Mali. Kara Show carries on his family tradition, a renowned performer of the Tamani drum. A founding member of the Balani Show outfit Group Mamelon, Kara Show is a regular guest performer in Bamako’s modern music scene."

Preview the second EP here (THIS WILL DISAPPEAR AT THE END OF THE MONTH):

Head over to the Bandcamp page to download the first installment and track future releases.

  • Follow Sahel Sounds at Facebook.

  • Follow Sahel Sounds at Twitter.

  • Follow Sahel Sounds at Youtube.

  • Support Sahel Sounds at Bandcamp.

  • Browse “Sahel Sounds” at Amazon.

Sahel Sounds presents "Music from Saharan WhatsApp"

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The Sahel region of northwestern Africa, spans several countries including: Mauritania, Mali, and Niger, and includes dozens of languages and dialects. This region produces some of my favorite music in the world (browse my posts tagged “Tuareg”). And one of my favorite labels putting out some of my favorite music is Sahel Sounds.

Pitchfork says that at least part of the reason label owner Christopher Kirkley chose to work in the Sahel region was “in part because it was so hard to find English-language information about it.” The label’s website says:

“We work directly with artists that we represent and aim to have input and control over artistic endeavors. All profits are shared 50/50. We’re committed to using culture as a means of communication, helping our artists build careers, and listening to good music.”

Preview the trailer for 2016 German trailer about the label (which is available to watch at Amazon Prime):

In 2010, the label put out the terrific and fascinating Music From Saharan Cellphones compilation. The compilation’s Bandcamp page provides some context:

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“Music from Saharan cellphones is a compilation of music collected from memory cards of cellular phones in the Saharan desert.

In much of West Africa, cellphones are are used as all purpose multimedia devices. In lieu of personal computers and high speed internet, the knockoff cellphones house portable music collections, playback songs on tinny built in speakers, and swap files in a very literal peer to peer Bluetooth wireless transfer.”

The compilation not only helped highlight music from the region but was, for many, the first exposure to Tuareg guitar wizard Mdou Moctar, whose album Ilana (The Creator) was one of my favorites of 2019. Now, 10 years later, the label presents the follow-up to the ground-breaking compilation, Music from Saharan WhatsApp.

“For the year of 2020, Sahel Sounds presents "Music from Saharan WhatsApp." Every month, we'll be releasing an EP from a musical group in the Sahel. Every album will be recorded on a cellphone, and transmitted over WhatsApp, and uploaded to Bandcamp - where it will live for one month only. Available for pay as you want, 100% of the sales will go directly to the artist or group. After one month, the album will be replaced by another one, until the end of the year.”

The label profiles the first installment at the Bandcamp page:

“This month's release comes from Agadez guitar band, Etran de L'Aïr. Translated to "Star's of Agadez," Etran is one of the longest running wedding bands in a city renowned for guitar. Constantly playing in the outdoor weddings, both in the city and the surrounding countryside, Etran play exhaustive concerts, late into the night. Even for a guitar band, they push the instrument to the extreme, with three guitars playing simultaneously, soloing over one another, creating a dreamy cacophony of sound. This session was recorded at night in their home in Abala, just outside the center of Agadez. "We invited friends over to the home, for encouragement," says Moussa "Abindi" Ibra. "But we asked them not to make too much noise, for the sake of the recording."

Preview the first EP here:

Head over to the Bandcamp page to download the first installment and track future releases.

  • Follow Sahel Sounds at Facebook.

  • Follow Sahel Sounds at Twitter.

  • Follow Sahel Sounds at Youtube.

  • Support Sahel Sounds at Bandcamp.

  • Browse “Sahel Sounds” at Amazon.