★Sahel Sounds
Les Filles De Illighadad
Sublime recordings from rural Niger. Two very different sides of Tuareg music - dreamy ishumar acoustic guitar sessions, and the hypnotic polyphonic tende that inspires it. Guitarist Fatou Seidi Ghali and vocalist Alamnou Akrouni lead the troupe, named after the village. Recorded in the open air studio of the desert.
Namian Sidibé
Big Tip! Another side of modern Malian praise songs: an intimate, stripped down, acoustic session from Namian Sidibé. From a rising generation of young Malian divas leveraging social media, Namian has built a following, publishing videos and dedications in song, accompanied by her cousin Jules Diabaté on acoustic guitar. Recorded at her home, with powerful yet restrained vocals that drift over melancholy acoustic guitar, Namian explores epic generational songs and poetry, brought into the Tik To…
Music From Saharan WhatsApp
In 2020, Sahel Sounds hosted a project called Music from Saharan WhatsApp. This series consisted of ephemeral digital EPs, documenting live performances by some of the most exciting acts in the Sahel playing music, including Nigerién techno, wedding rock, Woodabe guitar, WZN, traditional music, Mandingue music, and more. Responding to an open call from our network of artists, musicians recorded a handful of tracks on their cellphone and sent them over the popular mobile app WhatsApp. Each sessi…
At Pioneer Works
At Pioneer Works' documents a 2019 performance from Tuareg band Les Filles De Illighadad (the daughters of Illighadad). Their music is a smart blend of Tuareg's desert guitar sound that originated from young men in exile in Libya and Algeria in the 1970s, and tende, a form of folk music that was traditionally dominated by women. The band was founded in Illighadad, a commune in Niger, by vocalist and performer Fatou Seidi Ghali, one of the only Tuareg women who plays guitar, and vocalist Alamnou …
Ilana: The Creator
Born in a nomad camp in Niger and now a leading figure of desert rock, Mdou Moctar stands out as the most innovative artist in contemporary Saharan music. His unconventional interpretations of Tuareg guitar have pushed him to the forefront of a crowded scene. In contrast to polished “world music” fare, Mdou trades in unrelenting grit and has no qualms about going full shred. A long time coming, “Ilana:The Creator” is Mdou Moctar's first true studio album. Recorded in Detroit at the tail end of …
Oyiwane
Sweet and sublime recordings from Elementary school group in Northern Niger from the 1980s. All-girl group accompanied by their instructor on the acoustic guitar, recalling Guinean folk and early Ali Farka Touré. Troupe École Tudu takes their name from a small neighborhood of Agadez, Niger. In 1985, the city hosted a musical competition between various schools. École Tudu, lacking a choir, sought out a young Tuareg guitarist Kader “Barmo” Balla to create a new style of music. The guitar was new…
Zerzura
Original soundtrack recording to the film Zerzura, the first ever
Saharan acid Western, telling the story of a nomad’s search for a magic
city of gold. Evoking the desert journey with free form guitar
improvisations, the soundtrack is a meditation on the mysteries of the
Sahara. Composed by writer and actor Ahmoudou Madassane, the
instrumental score takes the familiar Tuareg guitar tradition into new
directions, transforming desert blues into ambient soundscapes.
Recorded in studio while w…
Sousoume Tamachek
Music for desert picnics. Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar delves into his more sensitive side with a minimal studio recording of dreamy ballads. Thumping calabash, droning guitars, and vocal overdubs evoke an imagined desert soundscape. All instruments and vocals performed by Mdou only, creating a very personal and auteur sessions. Emotive and introspective, exploring themes of religion, spirituality, and matters of the heart. After his underground success on the pirate mp3 networks of West Africa …
Music from Saharan Cellphones Vol.2
2017 repress. "Contemporary pop music from the Sahara desert, where songs are stored on cellphones. Collected in Northern Mali in 2010 (since taken over by extremists who've banned music on cellphones) the second volume expands into new sonic territory - from dreamy Niger guitar ballads, Bamako club juke, and hi energy Moroccan child Raï - with a focus on the Autotuned DIY creations circulating the desert." Includes insert with liner notes.
Music from Saharan Cellphones
2017 repress, originally released in 2012. "A compilation of the most popular music circulating the Sahara desert on the unofficial network of cellphones -- where mp3s are stored, played, and traded in very literal peer to peer bluetooth transfers. The contemporary West African sound from the new school of DIY production with little or no commercial release outside of their locales, from spaced out Tuareg autotune, Ivorian club jams, Mauritanian synth, and Malian hip hop electro. Collected from …
Agrim Agadez: Musique Guitare de la Republique du Niger
Agrim Agadez is a compilation of contemporary field recordings of guitar music from the Sahelian empire of Niger. Focusing on guitar music throughout the country, from meditative starlight ballads, fuzzy Hendrix covers, rag tag wedding bands, to political minded folk guitarists. A beautiful encapsulation of the diversity of guitar as it exists today, recorded over years of travels. Like most of the Sahel, the guitar is found in every corner of Niger. Whether acoustic, electric, or built …
Waande Kadde
Dreamy instrumentals from Fouta Toro. Improvisational session of acoustic guitar and hoddu, drawing on regional folklore, ancient praise songs and epic ballads. Recorded in a fishing village in Northern Senegal, with an ever present backdrop of children's voices culminating in a clapping and stomping rhythm section. Debut release on Sahel Sounds & Mississippi Records new international imprint "Songs from Home."
Fasokan
New age music from West Africa. Lush and hypnotic dreamscapes combine traditional instrumentation with sweeping electronics, field recordings, and soothing affirmations in these original compositions. Cut up Kora and Balafon are layered over software percussion, flute, horns, and synthesizer. Meditative and cosmic, Fasokan guides the listener through ways of living, from the village life into the modern world. Luka Productions is Luka Guindo, rapper, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. One of t…
Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai OST
The first ever Tuareg language fictional film, based on the legendary rock-u-drama “Purple Rain,” Akounak or “Rain the Color Blue with a Little Red in it” explores the world of a musician trying to succeed in the raucous subculture of the Niger guitar scene. The protagonist, real life musician Mdou Moctar, must battle fierce competition from jealous musicians, overcome family conflicts, endure the trials of love, and overcome his biggest rival – himself. Carried by stunning musical performances …
Yamedan
"Self produced album from Niger Tuareg rock outfit TisDass. Looping electric guitar and thumping two chord rhythms. Led by singer songwriter Kildjate Moussa Albadé, former bassist for Group Bombino, his solo project draws on his vast repertoire of influences, inspired from his years on the road. Covers and some original compositions, paying homage to desert origins of assouf music, while ushering in a new global sound."
Nouakchott Wedding Songs
Raucous and electrified wedding songs from the desert kingdom of Mauritania. Luxurious overload of microtonal scales, phaser pedals, and unpredictable polyrhythms. Documentation of a little known music scene where disparate influences meet in beautiful permutations. This is desert music as it's performed - loud and unfiltered. Comes with 12 page full color booklet. Limited to 1000.
Sahel Sounds :"In 2011, I traveled to Nouakchott, the capital city of Mauritania to record wedding music. Over the …
Unreleased Tapes 1981-1984
Experimentation in early electronic music in the Sahara from the singular Mamman Sani. Dreamy organs and droning melodies reinterpret ancient folk tradition into sublime fantastical soundscape. Never before released recordings from the very beginning - unreleased tracks from his first album, recordings of a short lived trio, and a cover of an American folk ballad.
Mammane Sani Abdullaye is a legendary name in Niger's avant garde. A pioneer of early West African electronic music, for over 30 yea…
Abba Gargando
Low-fi Tuareg guitar from renowned Timbouctou musician Abba Gargando. Original compositions and folklore classics from hypnotic electrified weddings to quiet fireside recordings in the refugee camps. Collected and recorded on cellphones, sparse recordings in the medium where he is best known. Limited edition of 500 with handmade covers.
Uchronia: Field Recordings from Alternate Realities
Uchronia : The Unequivocal Interpretation of Reality, is a multi-dimensional project realized in Bamako by photographer Maciek Pozoga and musicologist Christopher Kirkley. This body of work juggling between folklorism, science fiction and social documentary is presented at Galerie 12 Mail from September 4th to October 16th 2015 and it will be accompanied by Uchronia, field recordings from alternate realities, a vinyl edition to be released on the American label Sahel Sounds and by a publication …
Isswat
Few copies available, sold out at source - Tuareg drone recordings from Azawad region of the Sahara desert. Music of nostalgia, longing, and revolutionaries, sung by Fadimoutou Wallet Inamoud in her debut recording, a local production from 2008. Sparse rhythms and hand claps punctuate the meditative hypnosis, accompanied by a the signature vocal drone of her group. Lyric translations insert, some of the first ever translated isswat. Comes in beautiful printed and hand glued covers. Edition of 50…