Berber Music / ⵜⴰⵏⵎⵎⵉⵔⵜ
March 23, 2023 11:59 AM   Subscribe

In pursuit of music to study/work/live to, may I present this 1.5 hr spotify playlist of north African music featuring bands such as Bombino, Imarhan, and Ali Farka Toure.
posted by rebent (12 comments total) 47 users marked this as a favorite
 
Is there a way to import this list to Bandcamp or Napster?
posted by splitpeasoup at 12:36 PM on March 23, 2023


Thank you -- this is wonderful! For those who enjoy this sound, you may also enjoy Tinarewen's album Elwan, which I've been playing on repeat lately. There's also an excellent music video for one of the tracks, Nànnuflày.
posted by ourobouros at 12:41 PM on March 23, 2023 [5 favorites]


Yes. Thank you. Also, 100% agree, Tinarewen deserve to be heard by as many as possible. Also Mdou Moctar also Mulatu Astatke.
As much as Spotify is kind of crap, it has presented to me so - many - amazing - musicians which I probably would never hear otherwise : I’ve bought more albums lately just off this.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:20 PM on March 23, 2023 [2 favorites]


Similar Spotify playlist. Thank you, I am really enjoying this style lately.
posted by Keith Talent at 1:42 PM on March 23, 2023 [2 favorites]


I can't wait to enjoy this!
posted by mumimor at 3:40 PM on March 23, 2023


Just because more information is better than less: Although it's labeled "Berber music," this appears to actually be a "Desert Blues" (or "Desert Blues adjacent") playlist with some Berber musicians in it. Many of the artists aren't Berber, and there are many other styles of music that Berber musicians play.

And "Desert Blues" itself isn't a singular genre either - more a marketing convenience for overseas markets. For example, Tinariwen are Tuareg, which is a Berber subgroup, but Ali Farka Touré was Songhay and Fula, and drew drew from many non-Berber influences and collaborated with many non-Berber musicians. Lots of important similarities, but also lots of important differences.

If you like this sound, some other Tuareg "Desert Blues" musicians:

Atri N'Assouf
Alhousseini Anivolla
Etran Finatawa (a collaboration between Tuareg and Wodaabe musicians)
Groupe Inerane
Kel Assouf
TisDass
Tartit (not all Desert Blues, some more traditional arrangements)

Some Tuareg musicians who aren't (usually) Desert Blues:
Idassane Wallet Mohamed
Fadimoutou Wallet Inamoud
Groupe Oyiwane

Some other Malian musicians who you might like if you're into Desert Blues:
Khaira Arby
Anansy Cissé
Lobi Traoré
Ibrahim Hama Dicko
Petit Goro
Alkibar Gignor
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 3:58 PM on March 23, 2023 [17 favorites]


khrouangbin guitarist and son of ali, vieux farka toure is on tour rn - and i have tix for two shows!
posted by j_curiouser at 4:08 PM on March 23, 2023


Is there a way to import this list to Bandcamp or Napster?

There are various conversion services (with free levels that will probably be OK for smaller playlists) such as https://www.tunemymusic.com/ but how well they work depends on what's available, guessing probably not much in this case.

There is a lot on YouTube (including a tiny contribution to the genre I recorded a couple of years back - and yes, a truncated water/milk carton with the bottom cut off placed over a lamp is still my all-time favourite gig lighting).

Tishoumaren* for e.g.

There's also contextualising vids with scales and stuff like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQyQ-vYpyAE
posted by Buntix at 4:13 PM on March 23, 2023 [2 favorites]


In addition to Kutsuwamushi's excellent suggestions, Les Filles de Illighadad and Etran de L'Aïr also deserve a mention, as does Sahel Sounds in general (previously), and Sublime Frequencies' Guitars from Agadez series.
posted by ASF Tod und Schwerkraft at 6:02 PM on March 23, 2023 [5 favorites]


Wow! I've been listening to this playlist for almost six months and I had no idea the genre was so deep! I can't wait to dive in
posted by rebent at 4:52 AM on March 24, 2023


Fantasic stuff. Wonderful playlist!
posted by kinnakeet at 6:31 AM on March 24, 2023


I like this album from Donso -- especially give it a listen if you're already a fan of Amadou & Miriam.
posted by polecat at 10:55 AM on March 24, 2023 [1 favorite]


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