Matir Gaan
Breathe in, breathe out, as the waves ebb and flow and our minds travel. It's stories like these that purvey deeper meaning in artistic production and resonate with us, both spiritually and sonically. Brighton's Hive Mind Records has released a truly divine new record, featuring a stirring collaboration between young Bengali migrant Mohammed After Hussain and Italian electronic artist Andrea Rusconi, aka PAQ. "Matir Gaan: Songs from the Earth" sees the two "delightfully combining the ancient folk songs of Md. After's homeland with PAQ's cosmic synth exotica," as they reimagine and amplify mystic Baul traditions.
In 2015, Md. After Hussain fled Bangladesh and set out on a perilous and even violent two-year journey that led him from Libya to Italy. Finding refuge with Rimini's Associazione Ardea migrant aid network, he crossed paths with Andrea Rusconi, who happened to be there working on Ardea Recordings, "a project aiming to create an archive of songs, stories and sounds" by refugees enrolled in the programme. The two eventually joined forces, with After Hussain singing and playing "the folk and village songs he knew on the harmonium and pakhawaj (two-headed drum)" and Rusconi adding Crumar synth and Veena drones to the mix.
The result is an "album of totally unique renditions of [...] Baul folk songs known so well by people across the Bangla speaking regions of India." The Baul are "a group of [wayfaring] minstrels [...] whose culture is derived from the teachings of the early Sufi mystics and Hindu Fakhirs. [Their] devotees are considered to be mad, or possessed, with the love of God [...] seeking to access divinity through music and dance." To this day, they continue to be a presence in rural Bangladesh, "wandering from village to village offering ecstatic sound waves in exchange for sustenance."
Having grown up in the region After Hussain is well familiar with their songs although he does not consider himself part of their "ascetic tradition". The effect of these sonorous reinterpretations, however, is no less cathartic, inviting listeners to reconnect with their own spirituality or simply find peace in song. Though repetitive in their mantric, devotional nature, these psychedelic recordings still retain wondrous melodic depth and emanate infinite warmth, a welcome sonic haven for knots to unravel, thoughts to meander and worn souls to regain their footing.
"Matir Gaan" is easily absorbed in one session and definitely a record to diversify the collection. Plus, it comes with gorgeous artwork by Theo Payne. Now available to stream/buy via Hive Mind.
More posts
Yellah, Let's Go
It's been a long, long time and a lot has happened in the world since London-based Sudanese collective The Scorpios released their critically acclaimed debut album on Afro7. Five years is it? Luckily for us, we first heard of the band via Astrid Engberg's Palmspree Mix and thus had a somewhat shorter wait.
"Let's Go" is the title of album number two by The Scorpios and it does not disappoint. Having added Japanese keyboard legend Izumi Kobayashi to the already [...]
Life Is A Heavy Burden
"Life is a Heavy Burden" is the title of the latest release on Strut Records, as the always stellar London-based imprint launches its new United Sounds of Asia series, a "project celebrating musical routes, journeys and histories across Asia [that is] helmed by the Paradise Bangkok founders Maft Sai (Zudrangma Records) and Chris Menist (Awkward Corners)." This is a special one, seeing as it is "the first compilation of legendary Afghan Ghazal singer Dr. [...]
Feminina
Eleven minutes and twenty-five seconds of pure samba jazz spirit led by Brazilian icon Joyce Moreno, aka Joyce, or, as Antônio Carlos Jobim put it, "one of the greatest singers ever." With Record Store Day 2022 ahead, Far Out Recordings have just unveiled one of the finds of the year and although we no longer support the event itself and what in our eyes has become a sort of major label slugfest, this forthcoming release to us represents, what collecting and [...]
Oasi (Deserto Remixed)
Flashback to 2020, when Bologna-based three-piece Oké, alias veteran producer Andrea "Katzuma" Visani, William Simone (percussion, FX) and Andrea Calì (keys), released their lush 18-track double album "Deserto" on Original Cultures, blending influences from library music and cosmic jazz with afrohouse rhythms and outernational hues. Despite never getting around to actually reviewing the album, "Oasi (Deserto Remixed)" now presents us with a second chance. [...]
The Intifada 1987
December 1987 marked the First Intifada, a series of Palestinian protests and violent riots against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. A week into the popular uprising, Riad Awwad, "an electrical engineer specialising in musical equipment," got together with his sisters Hanan, Alia and Nariman and began recording an album in their living room "on equipment he had made himself."
Fast forward some 34 years to Jenin, a Palestinian city in the West [...]
Frigya
Master percussionist and composer Imed Alibi is a household name in Tunisian music, who began his career at an early age, playing alongside several popular and classical North African/Middle Eastern orchestras, and has since collaborated with renowned artists the likes of Rachid Taha, Natasha Atlas, Emel Mathlouthi and more. After relocating to Montpellier, France, in the early 2000s, he joined French 'rock 'n' raï' group Les Boukakes, released his first solo [...]
IRE
A resounding "Oyaaa, Oyaaa" heralds Combo Chimbita's roaring return to the global circuit with a resplendent new album on ANTI-. Briefly titled "IRÉ", the lush and vibrant 12-tracker yields 45 minutes of divine blessings, while, more importantly, taking a stand, "a brazen propulsive affirmation of revolutionary futures in the making." On it Carolina Oliveros (vocals, guacharaca), Niño Lento es Fuego (guitar), Prince of Queens (bass, synthesizers) and [...]
Djawla
This is a first for us, in the sense that it is the first of February, the first we've heard of Switzerland-based multi-instrumentalist Anouar Kaddour Chérif, but also the first time we get to feature the Algerian mandole, an instrument resembling the more widely known mandolin. It also happens to be Chérif's first solo album, drawing on his Algerian roots yet written and recorded in exile, accompanied by Clément Meunier on bass clarinet, Hannes Junker on [...]
Chicha Popular
Rise and shine! And we mean that quite literally. Music has always been akin to uprisings, be it on the dancefloor or on the daily rollercoaster of life. Likewise, "musical revolutions are often born from the people," a point vibrantly brought to fruition on the latest 24 (+2) track compilation by Belgian imprint Rebel Up! Records, in collaboration with iconic Peruvian labels Magnética and Discos Horóscopo. Together, they just released the resplendent "Chicha [...]
Canciones De Isaac
The versatile Venezuelan singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Isaac Sasson returns to Olindo Records, to unveil his brand-new, debut full-length release, intimately titled "Canciones de Isaac" ('Songs of Isaac'). Released last Friday, the shapeshifting collection presents 14 heartfelt compositions, inspired by Sasson's native Venezuela and his new-found home in Barcelona, Spain. Channeling the voices of his ancestors and juxtaposing them with sounds [...]
The Rootsman
Let's go back to the roots, or rather The Rootsman. Visionary Bradford-based musician, producer and, meanwhile, documentary photographer John Bolloten is a household name on the global dub circuit, whose track record speaks volumes and who gained international acclaim and recognition for a string of releases in the mid-to-late '90s and early '00s. Early last year, trusted French independent label Akuphone went about compiling a high-quality selection of his [...]
Doose Mam / Gure Yose Me
As families settled in around the tree in many parts of the world, Ghana's "number one Frafra gospel artist" returned with an upbeat and versatile 7" on Max Weissenfeldt's always stellar, Berlin-based Philophon imprint. The joyous release brings us two super and very much upbeat tracks with Alogte Oho leading the way, accompanied by explosive choruses from his powerful female choir of Lizzy Amaliyenga, Patricia Adongo and Florence Adooni (see below), alias his [...]