Belgium's Radio Martiko, reissue label, DJ collective and provider of "global eclectic supersounds", has been on our radar ever since we started this 'greedy' little platform of ours back in 2015 and we already had the pleasure to share their fabulous 2016-released all-vinyl mixes of hard-to-find Turkish treats and rump-shaking Egyptian rarities. Needless to say, even though the Ghent-based collective has been anything but idle, we haven't reported on them in a while. Last week, while reading up on Egyptian legend Oum Kalthoum/Om Kalsoum, aka "The Rose of the Nile", we chanced upon their 2018-released vinyl/download compilation "Zaaman Ya Sukkar" and felt the strong urge to share, so here goes. 

Radio Martiko have spent the past five years travelling back and forth to Cairo, digging for records. Obviously, the material collected set the tone for this fantastic compilation of Egyptian music from the 60s, featuring remastered original 45s produced by state-run label Sono Cairo and "some forgotten souls of the Egyptian music scene and cinema world." The glamorous and uplifting selection is exotic in many ways. Of course, from a Western point of view, the term 'exotic' relates to music from faraway places, i.e. Oceania, Asia, Africa, Latin America or, last but not least, the Orient. Places that "provided a way for the listeners to wander off to an imaginary paradise and escape from their grey, daily routine."

What we in the West or Central Europe sometimes fail to realise is that for those faraway places mentioned above, the musical West often provided the same type of escape and "you can find examples of composers who approached music in a similar way as their Western counterparts. They created their own imaginary paradise by adopting musical influences from other cultures." Such are the musical crossover examples unearthed by Radio Martiko on "Zaaman Ya Sukkar". "What makes it interesting is that the Egyptian interpretations of the music from other ‘exotic’ countries are very similar in sound, then again very far from the musical traditions of the original country." We absolutely love this selection, but you best listen for yourselves.

Widely heralded as one Israel's best live bands, Tel Aviv's Hoodna Orchestra is a musical force to be reckoned with. Last Friday, the brassy collective, composed of 11-14 members, officially released its second studio album "Ofel" on trusted German imprint Agogo Records and we are absolutely, positively dazed. The album was recorded live in the group's self-built home studio with guitarist and composer Ilan Smilan in charge of the entire production (recording, mixing and mastering). 

Established in 2012, the group has meanwhile become an integral part of the Tel Aviv groove scene. Early on, they focussed mainly on elements from afrobeat and afrofunk, while fusing different musical styles and developing a wall of sound that speaks for itself. Following the release of their 2015 debut album "Let Go", the orchestra went on to launch a new show entitled "The Ethiobeat Orchestra" and ventured even deeper into the "study of East African music and the rich culture of Ethiopian music in particular". Then, in 2017, they dropped their 7" single "Yelben (featuring Tesfaye Negatu)", the "first in a series of collaborations with Ethiopian singers and musicians", and subsequently released "Alem", a collab with singer/poet Demisu Belete. 

"Ofel", meaning darkness in Hebrew, "is a concept album that includes nine instrumental pieces written and arranged by Ilan Smilan," one of which happens to be a brilliant cover of Prodigy's "Breathe". The album further explores the potent combination of African/Ethiopian music, afrobeat and ethiojazz with nuances of rock, funk and Israeli/Mediterranean music. The orchestra expertly employs Ethiopian minor scales, i.e. Anchihoye "associated with religious singing" or "songs of war" and Tezeta, "used to express wishes, dreams and feelings of nostalgia and sentimentality". That and the method of recording on analog equipment makes for an ominously intense atmosphere that will engage listeners from start to finish. Head over to Bandcamp for the full experience and/or check out the video to title track "Ofel" below. 

Hoodna Orchestra are: 
Elad Gelert (baritone saxophone) 
Rom Shani (alto saxophone) 
Eylon Tushiner (tenor saxophone) 
Uri Selinger (trombone) 
Asaf Oseasohn (trumpet) 
Sefi Zisling (trumpet)
Arthur Krasnobaev (trumpet)
Tomer Zuk  (keyboards)
Amir Sadot (bass guitar) 
Ilan Smilan (electric guitar) 
Matan Asayag (drums) 
Rani Birenbaum (percussion) 
Shahar Ber (percussion) 
Raz Eytan (percussion) 

Back in 2017 Brighton's Hive Mind Records posthumously released an 8-track album of studio recordings by the late and great Maalem Mahmoud Gania, master singer and guimbri player. Now following in his footsteps, 23-year-old Houssam Gania is set to continue his father's legacy and recently released his own 6-track album on the UK imprint.

"Mosawi Swiri" features indigenous sounds from the "Gnawa ceremonial repertoire", including "a number of songs from the Musawiyin Suite, the blue section of the trance ritual durch which they invoke Sidi Musa, the master of the spirits of sea and sky." Accompanied by his brother Hamza Gania, Mohamed Benzaid, Khalid Charbadou and Amine Bassi (on qraqabs), Maalem Houssam Gania plucks his guimbri and contributes his "earthy vocals" to the insitent, recurring grooves. 

This album is somewhat of a beautiful understatement, that doesn't force itself on listeners but rather invites them to revel in its undeniable glow as it slowly unfolds its charm. Head over to Bandcamp to buy/stream "Mosawi Swiri" in full, which is also available on cassette in a very limited edition of 100. If you are looking to hear more from Maalem Houssam Gania, you may also want to check out his 2018 collaboration with UK electronic music producer James Holden in the SoundCloud player above.

Last Friday, German leftfield record label Pingipung teamed up with Romanian imprint Future Nuggets to present a hot new 7" release by Bucharest-based artist Cosima Opârtan, or simply Cosima, aka one half of proto-manele duo Raze de Soare.

Cosima – a trained architect, sound designer and co-founder of Queer Night (a local LGBTQ+ party series) – dubs her music widow pop, a melancholy blend of contemporary styles beckoning both to the past and the future, as if addressing a distant memory or a beloved person, who is beyond reach. Her voice has an ethereal yet unwavering quality and her music has thoroughly cast a spell on us. 

Lead-single "Ploaia" (Rain) features a catchy beat composed of steel-drums, a menacing bassline and what might be a sitar to accompany Cosima's siren call. "Ploaia" is definitely our favourite of the two tracks, which you can listen to in the clip below. On the flipside is a song called "Mai e și altfel de-a iubi" (There is another way to love), which is more of an electronic pop ballad but also strangely appealing. You can buy/stream the full release on Bandcamp.

Their self-released 2018 debut was an absolute sensation and quickly sold out on vinyl, while "Mara" went on to become one of the most streamed jazz albums of the year. And rightfully so. The Munich-based jazz quintet's organic sound thrives on spacious arrangements, as they move freely and effortlessly between composition and improvisation, producing beautiful melodies over polyrhythmic drum patterns and dubby basslines. 

Mathias Lindermayr (trumpet), Paul Brändle (guitar), Martin Brugger (bass), Simon Popp (drums) and Sebastian Wolfgruber (drums) met as jazz students at the Munich Academy for Music and Theatre (Akademie für Musik und Theater) and decided to create their own, rich tapestry of sounds, drawing from a wide range of influences, including British pop/post-rock formation Talk Talk, Berlin techno-duo Rhythm & Sound and experimental US rock group Tortoise, as well as Fela Kuti, Indonesian Gamelan and classical music from India. 

Fazer's second album releases today and is entitled "Nadi", a term from traditional Indian medicine, describing the channels through which energies flow and connect at special points of intensity called chakras. As do the new album's eight tracks, recorded in London in just four days by Benedict Landin (Nostaligia 77). Though slower in pace than "Mara", "Nadi" is nonetheless blissfully stunning. Fazer's creativity seems boundless. Their music is at once sophisticated and accessible and quite simply a pleasure to listen to.

Watch the 'offishal' music video to album track "Wasi" below, directed by Johannes Brugger, or head over to Bandcamp to buy/stream "Nadi" in full. 

Fazer live: 
May 14th D-Cologne, Artheater
May 16th D-Berlin, Kantine am Berghain
May 17th D-Leipzig, Moritzbastei
May 18th D-Munich, Ampere

Several years ago Gianna Greco and François R. Cambuzat travelled to the Saharan Djerid desert of Tunisia to document the ancient, religious Banga ritual of Sidi Marzûq. With a background in the undergound post-punk scene of continental Europe and after months of studying, recording, filming and bonding, the two proceeded to integrate their findings into their own musical output, which was to become the contemporary five-piece Ifriqiyya Électrique.

"Their original intention was not to join in the ritual but rather to research how this unique ceremony delivered 'pure elevation' to its participants. This state of elevation or trance, is something that they had experienced in their own music, and they were searching for instructive parallels and new perspectives."

We first reported on this extraordinary project of conjuring the ancient spirits with modern-day electronics back in 2016. In 2017, Greco and Cambuzat along with three musicians from the Banga community, aka Tarek Sultan, Yahia Chouchen and Youssef Ghazala, successfully released their debut album "Rûwâhîne" (Spirit), which "deftly brought together the hypnotic chants and metallic hand percussion of traditional Banga music with brutalist electronics and sheer rock volume." Following the album release, the group brought their up close and personal performance to stages throughout Europe for the next eighteen months.

"It quickly became clear that the Banga had not been pointlessly retooled for western consumption, but rather through the deep commitment of the five Ifriqiyya Electrique musicians – it had been transformed into something contemporary and unexpected. Ifriqiyya Électrique cryptically call this transformation a 'post-industrial ritual' and the actual experience of hearing this music certainly echoes this moniker. The band create a fertile space where ecstatic electronics and rock levitation intersect with timeless ceremony and community."

Last week, the group released its gripping and equally relentless second album "Laylet et Booree" (Night of the Madness) on Glitterbeat Records, referring "to the last part of the annual gathering of the adorcist ritual from the Bang of Tozeur – the night when the spirits actually take possession of the bodies." But as wild and frantic as the album may appear, "its purpose is to heal; with sweat, spirituality, electricity and trance being central to the almost overwhelming sensory experience." On "Laylet et Booree" Ifriqiyya Électrique join forces with new band member Fatma Chebbi, who adds her vocals and tchektchekas to the conversation. Head over to Bandcamp to read more and immerse yourself in a haunting world of sound.

Over the past years, Saharan rock has become one of the African continent's biggest musical exports, due to the popularity of meanwhile world-renowned desert blues artists the likes of Bombino, Tinariwen and Mdou Moctar. The latter would appear to be "one of the most innovative artists in contemporary Saharan music" and has steadily been making a name for himself with "his unvonventional interpretations, original compositions and verbose poetry."  Master of the Tuareg guitar, Mdou Moctar was born in a small village in central Niger, where it was strictly forbidden to play foreign music. So he built his own wooden guitar and taught himself. 

"In 2008, Mdou traveled to Nigeria to record his debut album of spacey autotune, drum machine, and synthesizer. The album became a viral hit on the mp3 networks of West Africa, and was later released on the compilation 'Music from Saharan Cellphones.' In 2013, he released 'Afelan,' compiled from field recordings of his performances recorded in his village. Then he shifted gears, producing and starring the first Tuareg language film, a remake of Prince's 'Purple Rain.' Finally, in 2017, he created a solo folk album, 'Sousoume Tamachek,' a mellow blissed out recording evoking the calm desert soundscape. Without a band present, he played every instrument on the record." 

Now, Mdou Moctar returns to Christopher Kirkley's Sahel Sounds imprint to release his first actual studio album "Ilana: The Creator", accompanied by an all-star band, including Ahmoudou Madassane (Les Filles de Illighadad) on guitar, Aboubacar Mazawadje on drums and Michael Coltun on bass. The nine-track effort really stakes Mdou Moctar's claim as a relentless innovator in loud and shredding fashion, while remaining true to his sound. "I don't know what rock is exactly, I have no idea," he says. "I only know how to play in my style." Said style draws on modern and more traditional influences such as Tuareg folklore, hypnotic loops of takamba griots or vocal patterns from polyphonic nomad songs, all brought to frenetic fruition on his signature guitar. 

You can buy/stream "Ilana" via Bandcamp or watch Mdou Moctar's full 2018 for KEXP Seattle below.

As news reaches us about the ongoing decline of corals on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, we move to the other side of the globe to the Mascarenes, a small group of islands in the Indian Ocean, consisting of Mauritius, Réunion and Rodrigues. A native of La Réunion, French producer Sébastien Lejeune, aka Loya, has spent the past years researching his own cultural heritage as well as the music he grew up listening to before moving to metropolitan France in the mid-90s. It was there that he first encountered electronic music from artists the likes of Autechre or Boards of Canada. 

Loya soon began to create his own music, "drawing from Intelligent Dance Music [IDM] and bleep techno to build complex rhythm arrangements and ethereal melodies [as he] gradually managed to tame the erratic nature of his machines to summon states of trance [and eventually] developed a trademark sound based on triple time beats, pointillist sound design and a taste for experimentation." He released his first self-produced album "Eruption" in 2014 and followed that up in 2016 with his "Indian Ocean" EP. 

Last September Loya unveiled his latest full-length "Corail" on Paris-based imprint Mawimbi Records and it is as just as beautiful as its namesake. On "Corail" Loya establishes "a fine balance between the soft, velvety ripples of modular synthesizers, the rawness of frantic percussion motifs and local field recordings". While exploring the sounds of his native archipelago, he produces "a myriad of sounds" both electronic and natural that are nothing short of breathtaking and recently inspired a stellar remix album. 

Tunisian producer and avid science fiction fan AMMAR 808, aka Sofyann Ben Youssef, just dropped our latest workout track, for free. The self-proclaimed "interstellar soldier on a quest for mean grooves and the lowest bass possible" has slowly been making a name for himself, as the "sonic mastermind behind Tunisian sensation 'Bargou 08'" (2017, Glitterbeat Records) and last year unleashed his debut solo release "Maghreb United", collaborating with several vocalists from the region, i.e. Mehdi Nassouli (Morocco), Sofiane Saidi (Algeria) and Cheb Hassen Tej (Tunisia). And, what's more, he has a vision:

"The past is a collective heritage," explains AMMAR 808. “It’s what we all call on, what we all share. [...] I’m trying to weave threads from folklore and mythology into futurism. And I’m not necessarily projecting a positive image; from all we can see, things aren’t going in the right direction. What I hope is that it will raise an alarm.” And so he works his Roland TR-808 drum machine magic to merge "pan-Maghreb beats, timeless voices and futurist visions", connect the past with the future and offer up "a radical, electronic reinvention of ancient North African music."

His new single entitled "Zawali Fitness Club" is available on a name-your-price basis via Bandcamp and features Cheb Hassen Tej. "Zawali in Tunisian dialect means 'the poor man.' This song is for them. People who are in extremely impoverished life (or survival) situations, are not a reality that the world is interested in. They are the first to be hurt, they are the first to be stamped on, they are the first to feel the economic crisis when it hits, they are the first and the last to taste the uncertainty of a system that is not made for them," writes AMMAR 808. Indeed, the relentless track cuts straight to the chase behind a furious beat and what might be the deliriously winding sounds of a zukrah. Watch the companion video below.

Sydney-born violinist Daniel Weltlinger (The Asthmatix, Karsten Troyke) moved to Berlin in 2013, where he has since established himself as a regular, playing in different musical constellations such as the Gypsy-jazz collective Radio Django. We first saw Daniel perform at Ballhaus Berlin in 2017, for the release of his album "Samoreau" (aka part three of "his trilogy of recordings celebrating the musical legacy of the influential Belgian-born French Manouche guitarist/composer Django Reinhardt"), alongside world-renowned guitarist Lulo Reinhardt and other members of the Reinhardt family. The group's all-out musicality and jovial spontaneity were contagious and utterly engaging. We even received a copy of the album to take home, but simply never got around to show our heartfelt appreciation.

Fast forward to 2019 and Daniel Weltlinger is about to release his new project "Szolnok", a deeply personal affair. The album tells the incredible true story of his grandfather's violin and "guides the listener through time and across the continents. It is a story about an escape, an arrival and a return", named after the Hungarian city his grandfather was born in and the violin was built in. On "Szolnok", accompanied by the Daniel Weltlinger Quartet, Daniel retraces the instrument's and his family's history. And he does so, playing that same violin his grandfather "carried with him from Budapest to Vienna to Marseilles to Casblanca to Sydney," which now resides with Daniel in Berlin. 

Late last year, he took his Opa's violin out for a stroll through the neighbourhood of Wedding, an area that had initially inspired his move to Berlin. There, under a bridge, he paused to play a short yet meaningful tune called "Estrellita", which happens to be the closing track of his forthcoming album. "'Estrellita' by Manuel María Ponce is a song that is deeply etched within my being and is absolutely a part of my story of how I was inspired and entranced by my grandfather's violin playing before I could even talk, as he had played this piece of music on the violin more than any other," Daniel recalls. The album version was recorded as a field recording earlier last year in Budapest as well as in Szolnok along the banks of the Tisza river, morphing with the tranquil sounds of its native landscape and thus bringing a remarkable story full circle.

"Szolnok" releases May 3rd on DMG Germany/Rectify Records. In the meantime, go ahead and watch the video to "Estrellita" below, which merges into the pizzicato opening riff of album track "1921". 

Hailing from The Gambia and now residing in Denmark, kora player Dawda Jobarteh is the heir to a long line of Gambian musical royalty. His grandfather was Alhaji Bai Konte, one of the country's most famed kora players. His father was Amadou Bansang Jobarteh, an equally respected kora player and the favoured musician of Gambia's first president. (He also happened to be the uncle of Sidiki Diabaté, father to Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté.) And the list goes on, as Dawda is also the nephew of the late Malamini Jobarteh who, together with Dembo Konte, formed the first kora duo to tour outside of Africa and whose album "Jaliya" released on Sterns Music back in 1985. But enough of the family accolades.

Sterns Music recently released Dawda's third solo album "I Met Her By The River",  which yet again yields a brilliant display of his melodic mastery: "Although his technique is prodigious, it's always subservient to the song. Although there are beautiful moments of contemplation, they are never saccharine or facile," reads the description. And indeed, Dawda's kora takes center stage as he is backed by fellow musicians and friends Preben Carlsen (bass), Salieu Dibba (percussion), Stefan Pasborg (drums) and Jacob Andersen (percussion). His choice of repertoire, meanwhile, reflects both his newfound home as well as his rich musical heritage:

"Jeg Gik Mig Ud En Sommerdag" (I went out on a summer's day), for instance, "is a Scandinavian melody that dates back to at least the 17th century", while "Afro Blue" and "Hello" are wonderfully arranged nods to Mongo Santamaria and Adele respectively. The most noteworthy track in terms of its message, however, would have to be Dawda's social commentary on "Begging Boys", a track that brings to attention the saddening and precarious condition of the so-called talibés. This is not a new phenomenon and extremely worrying to say the least, but it is true that in some countries in the West African region, parents are so poor, they are forced to give away their most precious 'possession': their child. 

"In Senegambia some parents send their boys to a certain kind of Quran school where they live and where part of their daily activities is to beg on the streets for food and money. In some places, you find these boys sleeping in the streets at night – hungry, dirty and wearing clothes full of holes. This song is for these boys, generally called talibé. I spent 10 days with talibés in 2018. They agreed to be filmed by me in their daily activities. During those 10 days I also spoke to adults who supported my attempt to shed light on the conditions of the talibés through this song and music video," Dawda recounts.

His hauntingly beautiful lament hits close to home as does the rest of the album, which we currently have on repeat. Frank Odenthal recently sat down with Dawda Jobarteh for the independent news outlet FAIRPLANET.org to find out more. Read the full story here. As for the album, you can stream/buy it via Bandcamp. And make sure to watch the video to “Begging Boys”, featuring the vocals of Souleymane Faye, below.

The Somali port city and capital of Mogadishu used to be home to a bustling music scene from the late 1960s up until the early 1990s, "teeming with pop and folk musicians whose influences spanned several genres of Somali traditional music alongside influences from abroad". Perhaps one of the most renowned groups of the era was the Dur-Dur Band who, free of government constraints, decided not to address politics or spread subversive messages, but rather concentrate on emphasising love and culture in their music, combining funk, disco and soul to a unique whole.

After going through several lineup changes, the Dur-Dur Band was most popular in the late 1980s and had released almost a dozen recording by the time civil war broke out in Somalia in 1991. The group disbanded and emigrated first to Djibouti and later to America.

"Today, only the audiotapes from the radio archives in Mogadishu and Hargeysa – saved from the war years and the music ban – testify to this rich musical heritage." In 2013, for instance, Awesome Tapes From Africa reissued the band's 1987 tape recording "Volume 5", which you can buy/stream in full on Bandcamp. While in 2017, Ostinato Records released its Grammy-nominated compilation "Sweet as Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa".

Now building on the Dur-Dur Band's legacy is the London-based Dur-Dur Band International, composed of musicians from the Somali diaspora and reviving the legendary sounds and the vibrant spirit of the pre-war Somalia's golden era. The band is set to perform live in Berlin this Saturday, March 23rd, at Haus der Kulturen der Welt as part of the current "Find the File" festival. 

To get you into the mood, we would like to call your attention to a great new mixtape by Nicolas Sheikholeslami for Ostinato Records, which you can listen to in the SoundCloud player above. Entitled “Import / Export Mogadishu – Up & Down The Pentatonic” the selection features, among others, the voice of Xabib Sharaabi, "a key Somali figure of the 1990s", who will also be performing live on Saturday.