Naan Violent Treefort

In case you missed it, I posted two tracks from Atlanta’s Naan Violence in September, 2019. I also posted one of their songs in The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow, the global-music, Xenophobia-fighting weekly music podcast I did for a year.

From Episode 14 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow:

“We first heard Naan Violence when this track was posted by our friends over at Aquarium Drunkard. The group's label, ZAP Cassettes describes them as: "a freak-in transcendental free-sitar underground super-group from Memphis, Tennessee, the home of Isaac Hayes. Lilypadinman.com says: "Fronted by sitar player Arjun Kulharya, Naan Violence creates dreamy, mirage-like sitar music that evokes the mystery of an endless expanse of desert sand. It’s traditional sitar music re-invented for a barroom audience." Aquarium Drunkard describes the music as: "Layered with analog synthesizers, acoustic guitars, flute and tabla, Naan Violence’s expansive palette of sound feels at once organic and untethered." However you'd like to describe the music, we dig it and we think you might too.”

Here is Naan Violence “on Radio Boise's Global Grooves as part of their Treefort 2018 in-studios.”

Aquarium Drunkard calls it “Transcendental free sitar music” and that seems just about right.

• Purchase the album from ZAP Cassettes.

• Hear “"Breakfast with the Sirens of Infinity" by Naan Violence” on Episode 14 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

An Hour With Pink Floyd

From the official Pink Floyd Youtube page:

“‘An Hour with Pink Floyd: KQED’ sees the band filmed performing live in April 1970 by San Francisco cable TV station KQED. Taken from the version featured on 2016 ‘The Early Years 1965-1972’ box set, the film includes performances of Atom Heart Mother, Cymbaline, Grantchester Meadows, Green is the Colour and Careful with that Axe Eugene. Appearing as part of the @YouTube Film Festival until May 17th.

• 0:00 Atom Heart Mother

• 17:01 Cymbaline

• 25:41 Grantchester Meadows

• 33:18 Green Is The Colour

• 36:48 Careful With That Axe, Eugene

• 46:00 Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun”

Thanks to online friend Brent Miles for the tip on this set.

• Visit Pink Floyd’s official website.

• Follow Pink Floyd at Facebook.

• Purchase Pink Floyd’s music at Amazon.

Oki Ainu Dub Band

Oki Kano (加納 沖, Kanō Oki) was born in Hokkaido, to a Japanese mother and an Ainu father (renowned wood sculptor Bikki Sunazawa) and grew up in Kanagawa Prefecture. After graduating in crafts at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, he moved to New York in 1987, where he worked as special effects artist on film productions. He returned to Japan in 1992, and was presented with his first tonkori - the traditional stringed instrument of the Karafuto Ainu.

Oki uses the tonkori, an Ainu stringed instrument, in his performances and mixes traditional Ainu music with reggae, dub and other styles of world music. He also plays guitar and traditional Ainu percussion instruments.

Dive in to the band’s music.

First up is “Suma Mukar”:

Next is the title track from the Sakhalin Rock album Sakhalin Rock.

And here is a live performance

“Filmed at the FMM Sines Festival in 2007, this is a traditional Ainu bow and arrow dance performed by Futoshi Ikabe, to a deep dub mix by the band with Naoyuki Uchida at the desk.”

• Visit the official website.

• Follow Oki Dub Ainu Band at Facebook.

• Purchase Oki Dub Ainu Band’s music at Amazon.

• Hear "マナウレラ - Matnaw Rera" by Oki Dub Ainu Band on Episode 06 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

"Egad Józsi, and (what about) the mask?" (A Holiday At The Sea Quarantine Playlist)

Here’s a Quarantine-inspired playlist. With a story arc of sorts. Sort of like a concept album, except it’s a mix.

Curious? Why don’t you give it a listen. I’d like to hear someone else try and describe the journey of discovery I was trying to capture here. What do you think? How would you tell this story?

Playlist:

1. “Cold Hard Times” by Lee Hazlewood

2. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

3. “We Will Become Silhouettes” by the Postal Service

4. “T.B. Sheets” by Van Morrison

5. “Sorry You’re Sick” by Ted Hawkins

6. “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” by R.E.M.

7. “American Heartache” by the Wood Brothers

8. “Down With Disease” by Phish

9. “Down With Desperation” by Sammy Brue

10. “Sometimes It’s Hard” by Rainer

11. “Consider the Ravens” by Dustin Kensrue

12. “Love Is Everywhere (Beware)” by Wilco

13. “Shelter From The Storm” by Bob Dylan

14. “Love Knows (No Borders” by Howe Gelb

15. “I’ll Be Your Shelter” by the Housemartins

16. “Sisters and Brothers” by the Vespers

• Browse other Holiday at the Sea playlists.

Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids

“Exploring the outer limits of jazz since the 1970s.”

“Founded 45 years ago by 3 Antioch College students, Idris Ackamoor, Margaux Simmons, and Kimathi Asante, and resurrected after a more than 30-year hiatus the band is experiencing more acclaim and success than ever! With the 2016 release of the band’s fifth full-length album We Be All Africans, on Strut Records, the group is now creating a new history and a new legacy for the 21st Century.”

Get your cosmic-soul-space-jazz-groove on with a couple of live performances by the Idris Ackamoor & the Pyramids.

First up, a 15-minute journey called ‘Virgin’ live for Music City Sessions in 2019.

Next up is the title-track to the 2016 album “We Be All Africans” performed in 2015 for Unseen Recordings, followed by an interview segment about touring oversees, etc.:

Strut Records put out the band’s 2016 album and posted the following video. There is no song information, but Strut says: “here’s a taste of the original Pyramids experience from a 1975 KQED TV special.”

• Follow Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids at Facebook

• Visit Idris Ackamoor’s official website

• Support Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids at Bandcamp

Ali Akbar Khan: Live from Delhi (1981)

Today we feature a 1981 concert from Sarod master Ali Akbar Khan in Delhi.

I originally got this recording in my tape-trading days by mistake. I was doing a big trade with a guy, like 10-12 shows. Mostly jazz/funk/groove/jam type stuff (Medeski Martin and Wood, Galactic, Greyboy Allstars, that kind of thing). When the other package arrived, there was one unmarked CDR. I e-mailed the guy and asked what it was because when I put it in my player, no information came up. The other person said they had not meant to that CDR to be in my box, it was supposed to go to someone else, but that it was a recording of Ali Akbar Khan in concert.

In all honesty, I was not ready for this music then and the CDR sat in a pile for years. Then, one day a few years ago, as my musical palette was expanding, I not only pulled out the concert but looked it up online to learn more. The fantastic Flat, Black, and Classical came to the rescue with a full-write-up! Included in their piece are the following observations and details:

The two pieces on this cassette almost sound like two different concerts (which could be the case). An alternative explanation for the differences in aural character between the two is that adjustments at the mixing desk were made during the show, which can often occur.

The first piece is an alap and jod section of Raga Miyan ki Malhar. This has a slightly dull upper end and some minimal distortion at the dynamic peaks. I would have though it was an issue with azimuth adjustment, but the fact is that the second piece sounds more full and with a crisp upper end in comparison. Because of the way cassettes are made, a cut had to be made in the longer piece so that the sides were about equal in timing. The first section of Raga Desh Malhar is on the same side of the tape as the entire alap and jod of Raga Miyan Ki Malhar, but sounds exactly like the rest of the raga on the other side of the tape. So it was not a case of one side of the tape being played with incorrect azimuth. I stitched together the longer piece in a way that is noticeable but not jarring.
Overall, it is an extremely enjoyable live performance from Ali Akbar Khan and tabla maestro Shankar Ghosh, who unfortunately died in late January of this year.

Ali Akbar Khan: Sarod
Shankar Ghosh: Tabla

Side 1: Raga Miyan Ki Malhar: alap and jod
Side 2: Raga Desh Malhar: gats in vilambit (slow) teentaal and medium

I don’t know where your musical palette is at these days, but I highly recommend serenading your Quarantine with some Sarod.

• Visit the official website for the Ali Akbar College of Music.

• Listen to/download a 1983 Ali Akbar Khan concert from Eugene, OR, here at Holiday at the Sea.

• Purchase Khan’s music at Amazon.

• Listen to “Raga Hem Behag” as featured on Episode 46 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

Doug Burr Celebrates On Promenade With Trouble

One of the “good” things to come out of Quarantine 2020 is that a lot of musical artists are having impromptu live sessions and releasing lots of nuggets from their own vaults.

Dentonite Doug Burr recently re-released his phenomenal 2007 album On Promenade on vinyl, and we’re celebrating with a newly-released live track, “Thing About Trouble” from On Promenade.

Doug says:

“A stripped down recording of "Thing About Trouble" made at the Barn, Denton, TX, March 2020. Glen Farris is accompanying on the same Wurlitzer keyboard used in the original recording. This song is from our 2007 album, On Promenade, which has been re-released to vinyl for the first time in April 2020 by Oklahoma record label, Clerestory AV.”

• Visit Doug Burr’s official site.

• Purchase ‘On Promenade’ (remastered) on vinyl

• Visit Burr at Facebook.

• Follow Doug Burr at Twitter.

• Purchase Doug Burr’s music at Bandcamp.

• Purchase Doug Burr’s music at Amazon.

• Browse my previous posts tagged “Doug Burr”

Kikagaku Moyo / 幾何学模様 Go To Church

Japanese psychedelic rockers Kikagaku Moyo / 幾何学模様 recently posted a fantastic new live video to the social messengers. And it is my duty as a Certified Eboy Internet Courier (not a real thing) to pass awesome nuggets like this along to you, my fellow, faithful Internet friends.

We’re all in this together. The band says the following on their Facebook page:

“We are very happy to share our improvised live session with our friends Jacco gardner & Bruno Pernadas :).

The set was performed & recorded at at St. George church in Lisbon, Portugal back in 2018.

Big thanks to Barking Dog Agency for the video production and incredible opportunity.”

The video's Youtube page provides the following details:

• Live session at the St. George Church in Lisbon with Kikagaku Moyo, Bruno Pernadas and Jacco Gardner.
• RECORDING Rui Antunes Emil Lloyd
• CAMERA Francesco Giacomini David Breda Silva André Chaby Mendonça Ulpiano Capalbo
• EDIT Ulpiano Capalbo
• PRODUCTION Barking Dogs

• Browse other Kikagaku Moyo / 幾何学模様 posts here at Holiday at the Sea.

• Listen to "Kogarashi”" by Kikagaku Moyo on Episode 10 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

• Visit the group's official website.

• Follow the group on Facebook.

• Follow the group on Twitter.

• Purchase the group's music at Bandcamp.

• Purchase the album at Amazon.

Sun City Girls: Cloaven Theater

Deep from the bowels of the Interwebs, we spelunked this gem from 1994.

From the notes on the Youtube page:

“1994: VHS video (Abduction: Video 1)

A mind control experiment shot and edited at the cable public access studios of Viacom in Seattle (after TCI pulled the rug out from under us). It was supposed to be aired, but Viacom's tech guy screwed up the dub and it never did. So it was released on VHS. “

Guest appearances by:

• Eddy Detroit and Adam Burke (percussion on "The Venerable Song"),

• Eddy Detroit (goat calls on "Sam Manilla" and "Brothers Unconnected").

Includes a "video comic book" by Blaine Thurier, narrated by Charles Gocher.

Filmed by: Charles Gocher, Greg Hynes, Javier Gallegos, Keith Parry, Steve Reetz, Erin Lofton, and Bohemia Afterdark.

Songs and ???:

* Flippin the Bird
* An Old Eyeball in a Quart Jar of Snot
* Music For the Funeral of Drama City
* Nay Bah Zay
* Bail Out of Jail
* The Brothers Unconnected
* Bliss of Coma
* Drifting in Smiles
* The Venerable Song Pt. 1 (the meaning of which is no longer known)
* Hitman Boy
* No, There I Go
* Out on the Dixie
* The Momentary Fugitive
* The Venerable Song Pt. 2
* Sam Manilla
* Mamas Milk (Too Dry)
* It's Not a Real Knife
* Let the Night Roar

Freddie Hubbard, Paris, 1973

I’m not sure if there is more video of this performance, but this seems to be from ORTF TV Studio, Paris, France, on March 25, 1973.

I believe the personnel here is:

• Freddie Hubbard - trumpet 

• Junior Cook - Tenor Sax 

• George Cables - fender rhodes 

• Kent Brinkley - bass 

• Michael Carvin - drums 

Check it out.

• Visit Freddie Hubbard’s official website.

• Visit Freddie Hubbard’s page at Blue Note Records.

• Follow Freddie Hubbard at Facebook.

• Purchase Freddie Hubbard’s music at Amazon.

Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters November 1974 on Radio Sendesaal

One of the things I periodically do here at the music blog is revisit some of the things I picked up when I used to do a lot of tape-trading. Years ago, I picked up this little three-song Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters radio appearance and it’s been one of my favorite live recordings for a long time.

There’s something undeniable about Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters. Primordial, gutteral, visceral, groove-yo-booty stuff right here. Even Pitchfork agrees.

Today, for your interstellar auditory transport, we present: Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters November 1974 on Radio Sendesaal. I don’t know if live Herbie shows are your sort of thing, but if they are, I highly recommend visiting the Herbie Hancock section over at the blogspot (yes, that’s still a thing) Never Enough Rhodes, which is currently up to 53 concert recordings!

At only 3 songs and 39 minutes, this one deserves to be on repeat.

Today’s little nugget features:

• Herbie Hancock - keyboards

• Bennie Maupin - reeds

• Paul Jackson - bass

• Mike Clark - drums

• Bill Summers - percussion

If this type of thing whets your whistle, you might want to head over to Aquarium Drunkard and watch video from the same tour.

• Visit Herbie Hancock’s official website.

• Visit Herbie Hancock at Facebook.

• Follow Herbie Hancock at Twitter.

• Purchase Herbie Hancock’s music at Amazon.

The Comet Is Coming: Tiny Desk

Since you, dear friends, trust my musical explorations, I know you remember my recent post about Shabaka and the Ancestors: Soul Jazz For The End of Days.

Between Shabaka and the Ancestors, Sons of Kemet, and The Comet is Coming, I dig the musical universe of Shabaka Hutchings in a way I have dug a musical universe in quite a while. While Shabaka and the Ancestors scratch my soul/spiritual-groove-roots-jazz itch, The Comet Is Comet channels my Quarantine angst with electronics, pulsating beats and skreeking skronks and some of the most evocative playing I’ve heard in a while.

The group’s Facebook page says:

“The Comet is Coming to destroy illusions. It will manifest new realities, perceptions, levels of awareness and abilities to coexist. It is a musical expression forged in the deep mystery. It is the overcoming of fear, the embracing of chaos, the peripheral sight that we might summon the fire.

Through the transcendent experience of music we reconnect with the energy of the Lifeforce in hope of manifesting higher realities in new constructs. Because the end is only really the beginning.”

Late last year, the group recorded an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, performing tracks from Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery.

Setlist:

1. "Super Zodiac"

2. "Summon The Fire"

3. "Blood Of The Past"

Musicians:

• King Shabaka: saxophone;

• Danalogue: synthesizer;

• Betamax: drums

• Visit the official Shabaka Hutchings website.

• Visit the official website for The Comet Is Coming.

• Follow The Comet Is Coming at Facebook.

• Visit The Comet Is Coming’s Bandcamp page.

• Purchase The Comet Is Coming’s Music at Amazon.

• Visit Shabaka and the Ancestors’ Bandcamp page.

• Follow Shabaka and the Ancestors at Facebook.

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

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

Tuareg Guitar: Welcome To Saharan Desert Rock

I have made my love of Tuareg Guitar music known to you, dear friends. So the following mix should come as no surprise. As if any of you are waiting around to be surprised by the music mixes I post. But, hey, you go have your own weird daydreams, alright?!

The Sahel Sounds Records Tuareg Guitar page says:

“Tuareg guitar has become one of the most popular folk music in the contemporary Sahara. Originally political ballads, created in exile in Libya, today the sound has expanded to encompass everything from introspective love songs, blistering psychedelic rock, and synthesizer and drum machine. At its core, the music still relies on poetry to transmit a message, carried by the pentatonic solos of a guitar.”

Here is a mix of songs from some of my current favorite Tuareg albums.

Tracklisting:

1. “Itous” (Live) by Tamikrest

2. “Nar djenetbouba” by Tinariwen

3. “Wiwasharnine” by Mdou Moctar

4. “Idrach” by Timasniwen

5. “Afous Dafous” by Tartit

6. “Ici Bas” by Songhoy Blues

7. “ASCO” by Ali Farka Touré

8. “Chebiba” by Tallawit Timbouctou

9. “Imigradan” by Les Filles de Illighadad

10. “Alemin” by Group Inerane

11. “Tenere” by Afous d'Afous

12. “Tekana” by Etran Finatawa

13. “Dounia” by Toumast

14. "Amidinin Senta Aneflas” by Terakaft

15. “Tamudre” by Imarhan

16. “Ameji (douleur)” by Imaran

17. Tumastin by Amanar

• Browse other Holiday at the Sea playlists.

Hope Is A Mood More Than A Color (A Holiday At The Sea Playlist)

I was going through some old files on my computer the other day and I came across the art for a mix called “Hope Is A Mood More Than A Color”. I don’t remember making this mix but I do remember listening to it in the car.

I have racked my brain trying to remember the circumstances of putting together this mix and I can’t. Oh well, because the title and mood of the mix certainly seemed like they would be appropriate for the current coronavirus social distancing experiment. So, no matter where you currently find yourself on the social distancing scale, enjoy some music:

Tracklisting:

• “Distress Signal” by Jeremy Casella

• “Guess I’m Doing Fine” by Beck

• “Don’t Be Sad” by Whiskeytown

• “Fires” by David Ramirez

• “Day O Day (Love So Free)” by Hiss Golden Messenger

• Shelter From The Storm by Bob Dylan

• “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones

• “Everything (Overture")” by Chris Bathgate

• “Hope” by Dirty Three

• “Old Man’s Town” by the Hollands!

• “Keep Your Head Up” by Ben Howard

• “Headache” by Seryn

• “Letting Go And Holding On” by Shawn Skinner and the Men of Reason

• “Western States” by Matt Haeck

• “Good Good End” by Waterdeep

• Browse all the Holiday at the Sea playlists.

McCoy Tyner and Freddie Hubbard (McCoy Tyner Trio at Jazztage Stuttgart 1990)

With the recent passing of jazz legend McCoy Tyner, this seems like as good a time as any to watch the 1990 1990 McCoy Tyner Trio Set from Stuttgart featuring Freddie Hubbard.

The Take The "A" Train blogspot offers the following background for the concert:

“A torrent of notes on keyboard and flugelhorn. Three decades after the photograph above was taken, pianist McCoy Tyner and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard are back together, this time in Stuttgart, Germany.

Freshly digitized from a nearly disintegrating VHS tape (while the image remains amazingly intact, reminding us about the virtues of analogue formats that at least allow for some sort of extraction), this exciting concert is the complete TV broadcast of McCoy Tyner Trio featuring Freddie Hubbard and Ralph Moore.”

Jazztage '90
Stuttgart, Germany
July 13, 1990

• Freddie Hubbard (t, flugelhorn),

• Ralph Moore (ts, ss),

• McCoy Tyner (p),

• Avery Sharpe (b),

• Aaron Scott (d)

Tracklisting:
00:00 Introduction in German
01:08 Dear John
14:20 Twilight Mist [only the trio]
23:30 Embraceable You 
32:40 Reinhold Beckmann interviews Tyner and Hubbard
40:31 One Of Another Kind

• Visit McCoy Tyner’s official website.

• Follow McCoy Tyner’s Facebook page.

• Purchase MCoy Tyner’s music at Amazon.

• Visit Freddie Hubbard’s page at Blue Note Records.

• Purchase Freddie Hubbard’s music at Amazon.

Giant Sand, Live at Mad Dog Studios/The Atlantic Session (01/30/90)

I don’t know if it’s still around, but when we lived in KY (roughly 2002-2005), I was part of The Sandman Series. This was a CDR series of bootlegs organized by Jim Blackman and Howe Gelb. Basically, the way it worked was that CDRs were sent out to “seeders.” I was a seeder. The seeders committed to recording and mailing the CDRs to a certain number of people (I think it was around 10 but I really don’t remember). I seeded several different discs, but the one I still return to most was called The Atlantic Session.

The core group (at that time) of Howe Gelb, John Convertino and Joey Burns recorded this set as a demo for Atlantic Records at Mad Dog Studios in CA. It was never officially released until the Sandman Series helped bring it to the light of day. As the name suggests, this is a studio recording. The band is tight and the tunes are bitchin.

The set is available at the fantastic Archive.org.

Dive right in.

• Visit Giant Sand/Howe Gelb’s official website.

• Follow Giant Sand at Facebook.

• Follow Howe Gelb at Facebook.

• Visit the Archive.org page for the show.

• Browse all posts marked “Giant Sand” here at Holiday at the Sea.

• Purchase Giant Sand music at Amazon.

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

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"

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:

“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.

Holiday at the Sea's Favorite Music of 2019

2019 has been a great year for music. From 30-minute mind-melting jams to Tuareg guitar and all kinds in between. I LOVE year-end lists. I love seeing what other people loved, especially if I can find something I hadn’t heard before. And to a lesser extent, who doesn’t like having their tastes confirmed by people much cooler?

But I don’t necessarily like ranking everything. After all, every list is subjective. And is there really any music that is “best”? Maybe you preferred one album to others, but does that really mean it’s “better”? Excuse me while I step off of my soapbox.

And I don’t like not hearing what people recommend. So, as you already know, I made a four-volume mix of some of my favorite music of the year, which I hope you’ve already checked out. If not, feel free to do so here and here and here and here. Also, just one more time of review, I chose 50 songs this year but only 49 albums since ‘Sideways’ by Seryn was released as a single.

Now that you’ve had a chance to to hear the songs, here is the complete list in alphabetical order.

• I Was Real by 75 Dollar Bill

• Mandatory Reality by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society

• Ancestral Recall by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah

• U.F.O.F. by Big Thief

• Sahari by Aziza Brahim

• RE_CORDIS by Bruno Bavota

• i,i by Bon Iver

• V by The Budos Band

• African Giant by Burna Boy

• Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest by Bill Callahan

• Ghosteen by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

• All My Relations by Cochemea

• A Good Time by Davido

• Grow Towards The Light by Dire Wolves

• Sun Cycle / Elk Jam by Elkhorn

• Pianoworks by Eluvium

• Blue Values by Eamon Fogarty

• All Time Present by Chris Forsyth

• Gold Past Life by Fruit Bats

• One Of The Best Yet by Gang Starr

• One Step Behind by Garcia Peoples

• The Unseen In Between by Steve Gunn

• Back At The House by Hemlock Ernst and Kenny Segal

• The Gospel According to Water Joe Henry

• Terms of Surrender by Hiss Golden Messenger

• More Arriving by Sarathy Korwar

• Miri by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba

• Sauropoda by L'Eclair

• Ilana (The Creator) by Mdou Moctar

• Stars Are The Light by Moon Duo

• Three Chords and the Truth by Van Morrison

• All Mirrors by Angel Olsen

• Desire Path by One Eleven Heavy

• Phoenix by Pedro the Lion

• Rainford by Lee “Scratch” Perry

• Purple Mountains by Purple Mountains

• Rose City Band by Rose City Band

• ‘Sideways’ by Seryn

• Out of Darkness by Some Dark Hollow

• Illegal Moves by Sunwatchers

• Amankor / The Exile by Tartit

• Amadjar by Tinariwen

• Preserves by Matt Valentine

• Father of the Bride by Vampire Weekend

• Remind Me Tomorrow by Sharon Van Etten

• Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits by Various Artists

• Water Weird by Wet Tuna

• Ode To Joy by Wilco

• The Sisypheans by Xylouris White

• Walk Through The Fire by Yola

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

• Listen to Volume 01 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 02 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 03 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 04 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Holiday at the Sea’s Favorite Music Label of 2019

My Favorite music label of the year would have to be, without a doubt, Brooklyn’s Beyond Beyond is Beyond. Self-describes as: "“Music for Heads, by Heads,” which just about sums it up. More a vibe than a genre. A way of thinking than a particular style.

With five out of my favorite 49 albums of the year; (Dire Wolves, Garcia Peoples, L'Eclair, One Eleven Heavy, and Matt Valentine (plus, if I had expanded my list or included an “Honorable Mentions” section, this list would have expanded even more. That De Lorians is really good to mention only one more), no other single label presented as much music that I wanted to hear this year.

I can’t wait to hear what’s next.

• Visit the Beyond Beyond is Beyond website

• Visit Beyond Beyond is Beyond’s Bandcamp page for all the goodies

• Follow the label on Facebook

• Follow them on Twitter