West Africa

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Electroacoustic Soundscapes // Saharan Sandscapes

Genius or madman?

Genius or madman?

In this episode, we take a journey through the strange and wonderful world of electroacoustic music.  If extraterrestrials bothered to make music, it would likely sound like this..

Curated by Cameron Catalano, president of avant-garde composers guild Vancouver Pro Musica, the first hour bridges the gap between early pioneers of electronic wisdom, and the far out pop music that appropriated the style and brought it into the mainstream.

Hear the electronical sonical mayhem {{HERE}}

Group Doueh: Electric Desert Blues

The second hour takes us to a land split in two..  One of the most sparsely populated territories on the planet, in the north-western Sahara: Western Sahara.  While the majority of this former Spanish colony is still claimed by Morocco (when the Berlin Wall was beginning to crumble in the 1980s, the Moroccan government was busy building a fresh 2,700 km wall of sand to claim their territory) an independence movement has been simmering for decades, and many musicians featured on this program are supporters of the Polisario Front, the main organization fighting for a free nation.

Whether recorded in the Liberated Territories, the Southern States, or in exile, Saharawi soul transcends borders and breathes timelessness…

Hear the Western Saharan soundscape {{HERE}}

Playlist:: HERE

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You looooook so good…

…Fantastic Maan!

Check out this new mini-doc about the magical and mysterious world of renegade electronic musician William Onyeabor —  a fascinating little homage to 1970s Nigeria, the quirky culture of record collecting, and the idea of true innovation.  However, expect more questions than answers; the man is a true enigma.

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Sounds) Suppress)) Struggle)))

guineabissau-dance

¡Música!  It will manifest inner strength and help transcend troubles of the material world.  In the case of Guinea-Bissau, a small, perpetually politically-handicapped nation of only 1.5 million humans, the odds against a music industry’s very existence have been overwhelming. ((Manecas Costa’s Paraiso di Gumbe (2003) is considered the first album recorded in the country.  Before then, Bissau-Guineans mostly recorded in Portugal, and neighboring countries Sénégal and Guinea))

Despite the hardships that the people have faced since independence from Portugal in 1974, Bissau-Guineans have created beautiful, culture-unifying music to express their quest for shared emancipation.  Some of the most exceptional music came out of the push for nationhood, as bands such as Super Mama Djombo provided the soundtrack for revolution.

This week’s program features nearly an hour of music spanning the first four decades of Guinea-Bissau’s existence.  The groups display many different degrees of blending between Portuguese and ethnic African influences (chiefly Mandinga and Fula).  I hope you hear something that moves you.

Listen to the sounds of Guinea-Bissau here.

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Sénégal, the Wild West

Found on the farthest western tip of the African continent, this small country packs just as big of a punch as its neighbors.  Mbalax music, also native to Gambia, is the popular form of dance music and Kiara (who is unfortunately alone again!) will be playing some of the most popular Mbalax musicians including Youssou N’Dour, Thione Seck and Baaba Maal (who is more popular globally for his adventures in other styles of music).