A somewhat revisionist glance at a few of the big names in Mauritanian song

Anyone who's heard (the sadly out-of-print) Moorish Music of Mauritania (1990) by Dimi Mint Abba and Khalifa Ould Eide can attest to the marvelous music contained within.

The highlight: her trademark vocals--strikingly hoarse yet as nimble and graceful as you can imagine, easily gliding over top of the craggiest of melodic terrain (full of tic-like ornaments and flickering appregiations).

As the anthropological title suggests, the record is relatively traditional and largely acoustic featuring percussion (tabl), qawwali-esque clapping and group vocals, the four-stringed tidnit, the buzzing harp (ardia) and electric guitar. It was recorded, however, in the studio and not "the field".

The songs reference her griot(te) roots, as well as devotional themes but incorporate some more modern elements. It could be considered the culmination of her worldwide exposure, which spread across all of Africa and the Arab world (in 1976 she won a Gold Medal at the Oum Kolthoum Festival in Tunisia for her vocal talents!) , to Europe and then elsewhere.

Then there's also the equally brilliant singer Ouleya Mint Amartichitt, who, hot on the heels of the aforementioned album also managed to make a bit of splash in the World Music industry with her album Praise Songs, now also out-of-print (and also fetching similarly exhorbitant approaching-three-digit prices in Amazon's marketplace).

Both artists were embraced early on by the then-young World-Music machine, (seemingly looking for the next "big" thing). Now a few years on, you'll have to look to music forums, blogs and Youtube to get a hold of their music.

When I was poking around on Youtube though I caught some interesting glimpses into the less- Westernized (in terms of its production and target audience) yet, not necessarily more traditional stuff that also goes on in Mauritania. I decided to look around more and share some of my findings.

Here's a few from Dimi...

Dimi nasi7a
Uploaded by cheikhdidi

Dimi minte aba
Uploaded by cheikhdidi

Dimi minte aba
Uploaded by cheikhdidi

This one is notable for the absense of percussive rhythmic drive, but for the presence of the woozy psychedelia emanating from the guitars and synths. Note the guitar player's built-in effects!


Here's a guitar solo from the same excerpt. Who the hell said phasers are over? Awesome!






Here's what looks like an old-school clip of Dimi...



Now on to Ouleya Mint Amartichitt




Here's a video from singer Enima Mint Sheik.


Here is another singer whose name I am not sure of. She has a smoother less fiery voice than her peers but still gracefully executes the rapid melismas.


Another...

ida3t mauritane musique
Uploaded by aitoussya

Here's two real old ones by Hadrami Ould El Meydah:




Enjoy! And if you have any tips on the singers, or any links to downloads of this music (or spots for purchasing it) feel free to comment!

Wannabe Indian Music from South East Asia.

I can definitely see why one might want to be Indian. Indian culture is rich, diverse and multifaceted and its roots run deep.

Another thing is it's one of the best countries, musically in the world, so it's no wonder musicians feel compelled to imitate their styles! And it's not just goras like George Harrison who were inclined that way. In South East Asia, there's been a longstanding obsession with Bollywood in particular. Two fellow bloggers have been kind enough to provide us with interesting examples of such musics.

Over at monrakplengthai we have a great record by Chatri Sichon which demonstrates a nice fusion of Thai sensibilities to 1950's-70's Bollywood-style arrangements.

Meanwhile, at Madrotter we hear a peculiar fusion of Jaipongan, Dangdut and old-fashioned Bollywood which even includes a cover of Lata Mangeshkar's early hit "Aayega Aanewale" from the 1949 spookfest Mahal (check track 4!).

Madrotter also features this strange soundtrack(?) which contains songs in what sounds like Hindi and in bahasa Indonesia. The arrangements and vocals are largely derivative of Bollywood while, still maintaining a certain detectable Indonesian-ness.

Anyway... Enjoy!

Byungki Hwang - Kayagum Masterpieces

Byungki Hwang is one of the foremost performers on the kayagum, a multi-stringed zither from Korea (similar to the koto or guzheng). While rooted heavily in tradition, however, he has been one of the primary forces of innovation in Korean art-music. According to the liner notes of The Labyrinth - Kayagum Masterpieces Vol. 3, he can be attributed to bridging the gap between folk and court music traditions in korea, as well as pushing the role of composer to the fore, without pursuing more Westernized directions. Hwang has long been engaged in the music of Korea but also contributed to the academic discourse of Western art music (including essays on John Cage).

My limited description above only offers a glimpse into the unique soundworld of Hwang's music. Admittedly my own explorations have been just a taste too... but enough to fall in love with his unique voice within an already incredible rich vocabulary (I love Korean classical music!). While some of his works (as heard on, for instance, 2007's Darha Nopigom - (Vol. 5 of the masterpieces series)) exhibit a exquisite, restrained approach to a more tradition sonic palette, the music on The Labyrinth (particular the titular piece) offers a contrasting image with wild colours abound including bowing the instrument and eerie vocal interjections.

Here on this mysterious number-domain (which appears to be a massive repository of Korean music), you can hear volumes 1-4 of the series. And here you'll find Darha Nopigom (which has apparently been reissued by the ARC Music, hence making it not quite eligible for the blog... oh well. Enjoy!

Another wonderful aural friend! Mon Rak Pleng Thai

Recently I got a really lovely email from a fellow blogger, Peter, who appreciated my enthusiasm for Thai music, and recommend I check out his blog. And what a great blog it is. It's called Mon Rak Pleng Thai.

Peter's got quite a few excellent albums of delicious Thai music--covering everything from Molam Sing to old Luk Krung n'Thung, to Thai dancehall. I haven't checked it all out yet, but what I have heard was really stellar. Peter is also, fortunately for his readers, very knowledgeable about the music and has graciously translated (I think he's the translator?) and/ or transliterated things, and provided insightful notes to accompany each selection.