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Another interesting African music genre: Desert Blues [1], which mostly comes out of the Western Sahara. I like this example (Title: Tinariwen (+IO:I) - Ténéré

Another interesting African music genre: Desert Blues [1], which mostly comes out of the Western Sahara. I like this example (Title: Tinariwen (+IO:I) - Ténéré Tàqqàl (what has become of the Ténéré) ) [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_blues https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_blues [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boiiiVh52v4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boiiiVh52v4

dendrite9 4y ago
I was introduced to this music in 2009 or so and it's been a consistent part of my musical diet since then. I remember reading the blog post about Music from Saharan Cellphones and the method of getting the songs. I found this relevant comment on the Sahel Sounds post from 2010: "In the effort of cultural exchange, I traded for a few Townes Van Zandt albums; we’ll see if they’ve survived next time I’m back in Kidal." https://sahelsounds.com/2010/10/tracklist-from-music-from-saharan-cellphones/ https://sahelsounds.com/2010/10/tracklist-from-music-from-sa...
- lelandfe 4y ago
  https://sahelsoundscompilations.bandcamp.com/ https://sahelsoundscompilations.bandcamp.com/ Sahel's Bandcamp is full of such compilations! Including the recently released "Music from Saharan WhatsApp" https://sahelsoundscompilations.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-saharan-whatsapp https://sahelsoundscompilations.bandcamp.com/album/music-fro... These little vignettes into music communities brings me a lot of joy.
  - dendrite9 4y ago
    I just saw that! I wish I hadn't missed those sessions. I recently wrote about finding music communities through the internet in 2000 or so. One of the fascinating views into completely foreign places was through the punk music found by Tam89 records. https://tam89records.bandcamp.com/ https://tam89records.bandcamp.com/ https://www.maximumrocknroll.com/blast-from-the-past-luk-haas-and-tam-89-records/ https://www.maximumrocknroll.com/blast-from-the-past-luk-haa...
- jamal-kumar 4y ago
  Yeah the region has some incredible stuff. If you've never heard it before the master musicians of jajouka are pretty great. The way it builds up is just amazing [1] Sub-saharan music with similar influences like Ghanaian Hi-life is also really cool [2]. I think the first time I heard any of it was actually starting off a DJ set of mostly electronic stuff, but it fit really well [3] There's a pretty good curation of stuff over at Awesome Tapes From Africa as well [4] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjQefHjLSTo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjQefHjLSTo [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0KPmzb9gHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0KPmzb9gHY [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEyWIqQCTWk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEyWIqQCTWk [4] https://www.youtube.com/c/AwesomeTapesFromAfrica https://www.youtube.com/c/AwesomeTapesFromAfrica
  - eezurr 4y ago
    I'll add my own favorite to the list. I dont like dancing but this song makes me want to dance: [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLLU6bzks7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLLU6bzks7A Some more: [2, live] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIUbWnxxfuM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIUbWnxxfuM [3, live] https://youtu.be/0s6WjkNlzK4?t=67 https://youtu.be/0s6WjkNlzK4?t=67
twelvechairs 4y ago
Worth noting Ali Farka Toure (the first name mentioned in the 'Desert Blues' link) didn't like people calling his music 'blues' at all - for instance see [0] [0] https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/mar/08/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/mar/08/guardianobituar...
- jamal-kumar 4y ago
  From your linked article: His work certainly echoed the blues - and, in particular, the playing of John Lee Hooker - but it was a comparison that first boosted his career, and then infuriated him. He told me that he played African music, not blues, and that "this music has been taken from here. I play traditional music and I don't know what blues is. For me, blues is a type of soap powder." Haha wow, that's definitely worth noting
gokhan 4y ago
Also check Bombino https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B9z17eZv5WA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B9z17eZv5WA
Biologist123 4y ago
Loved that, thanks!
shellfishgene 4y ago
Still one of my favourite "music videos": https://vimeo.com/83776166 https://vimeo.com/83776166 (unfortunately need to login to Vimeo to view). Music from Mali ist really nice.

dendrite9 4y ago

I was introduced to this music in 2009 or so and it's been a consistent part of my musical diet since then. I remember reading the blog post about Music from Saharan Cellphones and the method of getting the songs. I found this relevant comment on the Sahel Sounds post from 2010: "In the effort of cultural exchange, I traded for a few Townes Van Zandt albums; we’ll see if they’ve survived next time I’m back in Kidal." https://sahelsounds.com/2010/10/tracklist-from-music-from-saharan-cellphones/ https://sahelsounds.com/2010/10/tracklist-from-music-from-sa...

lelandfe 4y ago
https://sahelsoundscompilations.bandcamp.com/ https://sahelsoundscompilations.bandcamp.com/ Sahel's Bandcamp is full of such compilations! Including the recently released "Music from Saharan WhatsApp" https://sahelsoundscompilations.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-saharan-whatsapp https://sahelsoundscompilations.bandcamp.com/album/music-fro... These little vignettes into music communities brings me a lot of joy.
- dendrite9 4y ago
  I just saw that! I wish I hadn't missed those sessions. I recently wrote about finding music communities through the internet in 2000 or so. One of the fascinating views into completely foreign places was through the punk music found by Tam89 records. https://tam89records.bandcamp.com/ https://tam89records.bandcamp.com/ https://www.maximumrocknroll.com/blast-from-the-past-luk-haas-and-tam-89-records/ https://www.maximumrocknroll.com/blast-from-the-past-luk-haa...
jamal-kumar 4y ago
Yeah the region has some incredible stuff. If you've never heard it before the master musicians of jajouka are pretty great. The way it builds up is just amazing [1] Sub-saharan music with similar influences like Ghanaian Hi-life is also really cool [2]. I think the first time I heard any of it was actually starting off a DJ set of mostly electronic stuff, but it fit really well [3] There's a pretty good curation of stuff over at Awesome Tapes From Africa as well [4] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjQefHjLSTo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjQefHjLSTo [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0KPmzb9gHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0KPmzb9gHY [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEyWIqQCTWk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEyWIqQCTWk [4] https://www.youtube.com/c/AwesomeTapesFromAfrica https://www.youtube.com/c/AwesomeTapesFromAfrica
- eezurr 4y ago
  I'll add my own favorite to the list. I dont like dancing but this song makes me want to dance: [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLLU6bzks7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLLU6bzks7A Some more: [2, live] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIUbWnxxfuM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIUbWnxxfuM [3, live] https://youtu.be/0s6WjkNlzK4?t=67 https://youtu.be/0s6WjkNlzK4?t=67

twelvechairs 4y ago

Worth noting Ali Farka Toure (the first name mentioned in the 'Desert Blues' link) didn't like people calling his music 'blues' at all - for instance see [0] [0] https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/mar/08/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/mar/08/guardianobituar...

jamal-kumar 4y ago
From your linked article: His work certainly echoed the blues - and, in particular, the playing of John Lee Hooker - but it was a comparison that first boosted his career, and then infuriated him. He told me that he played African music, not blues, and that "this music has been taken from here. I play traditional music and I don't know what blues is. For me, blues is a type of soap powder." Haha wow, that's definitely worth noting

gokhan 4y ago

Also check Bombino https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B9z17eZv5WA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B9z17eZv5WA

Biologist123 4y ago

Loved that, thanks!

shellfishgene 4y ago

Still one of my favourite "music videos": https://vimeo.com/83776166 https://vimeo.com/83776166 (unfortunately need to login to Vimeo to view). Music from Mali ist really nice.