Sahel Sounds HHV Records 21 Items

LP | 2022 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2019 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Born in a nomad camp in Niger and now a leading figure of desert rock, Mdou Moctar has enjoyed one of quickest rises to success. In contrast to the polished style of Imarhan or Bombino, Mdou Moctar trades in unrelenting gritty rock and has no qualms about going full shred. But Mdou's success is not confined to guitar theatrics alone. From his experiments in autotune, DIY field recordings, to a starring role in a Saharan remake of Purple Rain, Mdou stands out amongst his peers.Tuareg guitar has rock music in its genes, owing as much to traditional desert ballads as 70s classic rock. Mdou doubles down on these origins, pushing Tuareg guitar into an ever louder direction. If early innovators looked to Mark Knopfler, Mdou has an affinity with Eddie Van Halen.Recorded in Detroit at the tail end of a tour, the band jumped right into frenetic non-stop sessions. Accompanied by an all-star band with Ahmoudou Madassane's lighting fast rhythm guitar, Aboubacar Mazawa dje machine gun drums, and Micheal Coltun's supportive low-end bass, Ilana (English: The Creator) captures the spirit of an Agadez wedding, a studio recording with just the right amount of grit.

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Mamman Sani

Taaritt

Music From Saharan Whatsapp

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Cosmic synth. Polyphonic analog synthesizers and drum machines interpret ancient Saharan folk ballads in an imagined science fiction future. A proposed relaxation guide, sonically lying somewhere between ambient library music and minimal wave. Recorded in Niger and France in the late 1980s.All Recordings by Mamman Sani Abdoulaye.Recorded 1985 - 1988 at Studio Samira in Niamey, Niger and Studio Kham Mai in Paris, France.Instruments include Crumar Bit 99, RCA Victor 70, Yamaha RX5, and Roland TR-505.Painting by Maria Joan Dixon.Layout and design by Christopher Kirkley.

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V.A.

LP | 2022 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

LP | 2019 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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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 session was hosted for a month on Bandcamp and sold on a sliding scale, with all profits wired directly to the musicians. After a month, the EP would disappear, replaced by another one. Now, some of the label's favorite tracks from this series are collected for the first time outside of Bandcamp as the Music from Saharan WhatsApp compilation LP. This LP features tracks by established Sahel Sounds artists such as Etran de L'Aïr, Hama, Alkibar Jr, Amaria Hamadaler (of Les Filles de Illighadad), and artists new to the label like Bounaly and Andal Sukabe.

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Les Filles De Illighadad

Eghass Malan

100% Sahara Guitar Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2019 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Les Filles de Illighadad present their first ever studio album "Eghass Malan." The female led avant rock group hailing from the village of the same name bring their new genre of Tuareg guitar mixed with traditional rural folk. Versed in tradition, Fatou Seidi Ghali and her band have created contemporary studio versions that are unlike anything ever before recorded, transporting rural nomadic song into the 21st century.Les Filles are all from Illighadad, a secluded commune in central Niger, far off in the scrubland deserts at the edge of the Sahara. The village is only accessible via a grueling drive through the open desert and there is little infrastructure, no electricity or running water. But what the nomadic zone lacks in material wealth it makes up for deep and strong identity and tradition. The surrounding countryside support hundreds of pastoral families, living with and among their herds, as their families have done for centuries.

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Etran De L'Air

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

27,99 €*

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Etran de L'Aïr the STARS OF THE AIR, the longest running wedding band inAGADEZ, capital of Tuareg guitar, return with a new album of sun-schlazeddesert sound! Their first album, No.1, brought their music to critics and fans.Their second album, Agadez, sent them into the international touring circuit.And now they're back with 100% SAHARA GUITAR, ready to take on theworld, with those swinging melodies, like a sandstorm blowing in fromacross the sea.Etran de L'Aïr are 100% SAHARA, and that goes same for the band, all sonsof AGADEZ, including brothers Moussa, Abdoulaye, and Abdourahamane,and their dear friend, the youngest of the group, Alghabid. All the brotherswrite and play guitar, swapping out instruments while Alghabid keeps theFOUR ON THE FLOOR.In 100% SAHARA GUITAR, Etran de L'Aïr are back to claim the throne, withtheir first studio album! And what a sound it is. Recorded in sunny studios onthe WEST COAST, the brothers take that old Agadez sound to new levels,adding even more guitars into the mix, weaving layers of reverb-ladenmelodies and shimmering harmonies into a tapestry of sound. How muchguitar can they fit into one record? The answer is 100%.

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Tidiane Thiam

Africa Yontii

27,99 €*

Tape | 2023 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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"It's time. Africa, it's time. It's time that Africa changes. It's time our leaders change. Everything that happens in Africa is extraordinary. We have everything: water, earth, sun, fields of oil, gas. We have all this in Africa, but Africa is still poor. It's time we change our way of thinking. It's time for Africans to take their destiny into their own hands. If not, others will take it."This is the message instrumental guitarist Tidiane Thiam hopes to convey with his new solo album, Africa Yontii, a Pulaar title that translates to "Africa Time." To a casual listener, Thiam's bold statement starkly contrasts with his melodic playing. But a closer listen to Thiam's expressive playing reveals a thoughtful voice that stands out from the crop of contemporary guitarists. "What I should be singing (with words)I'm instead saying with my guitar," he says. Hailing from the sleepy fishing Senegalese fishing town of Podor, home of the great Baaba Maal, Thiam taught himself guitar by playing along to late-night radio broadcasts of Manding music. He soon developed his style, often reworking Pulaar folk themes into his compositions. On Africa Yontii, Thiam's third album for Sahel Sounds, he teamed up with hip-hop beat maker Ndiaye Moctar from studio M.N. Records to provide accompaniment, integrating unexpected elements such as field recordings and electronic sounds.In the liner notes for Africa Yontii, Thiam voices his concerns about the lack of opportunities for Africa's youth and the lonely road that can come with leaving behind loved ones in the hope of a better life. He also sprinkles in a philosophical query about the eroding state of the world alongside two more hopeful, traditional offerings in the form of wedding and river songs. Despite the sometimes heavy subject matter, Thiam's love for his homeland and heritage shines through. Tidiane Thiam's Africa Yontii reclaims the maligned "world music" genre within a sonic space that has long been dominated by others telling the story. As the title suggests - It's...

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Babsy Konate

Tounga

16,99 €*

LP | 2022 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Coming from the city of Gao, on the edge of the Saharan desert,Malian producer Baba `'Babsy'' Konate is one of the key figures in thedevelopment of "Gao Rap", a regional genre of modern autotunedSonghoi music.Tounga is Babsy Konate's debut mixtape, collecting a decade oftracks that merge sweet autotuned vocals, crunchy drum loops andplucked digital harpsichord, in a playful testament to 2000s PC music,with the sample packs of a modest FruityLoops project. The result isfamiliar yet otherworldly, drawing from an abundance of distinctcultural expression: folkloric takamba from the Songhai, Hausa filmsoundtracks from Northern Nigeria, Hip Hop from Bamako andRagga from Niamey.

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Wau Wau Collectif

Mariage

LP | 2021 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2022 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Wau Wau Collectif's second album, Mariage, is instilled with a newfound sense of purpose. Expanding upon the inspirational themes of their acclaimed 2021 debut, Yaral Sa Doom (Educate The Young), this long distance collaboration from musicians in Senegal and Sweden's Karl Jonas Winqvist is an even more stylistically expansive affair Joyful children's songs collide with fuzzy guitar solos and thumping hip-hop beats. Shimmering synths lift off from the plunky percussion of the balafon and versatile sounds of the 22-string kora. Familiar voices from the first album return with more explicitly political lyrics, while the music feels both rhythmically dense and sonically weightless, flowing from one spellbinding moment to the next. For Mariage, band members from each country were inspired to include a wider array of instrumental flourishes unique to their cross-continental collaboration. "Yay Balma" revolves around the cycling riffs of Jango Diabaté's xalam guitar, as this song's fuzzy tones and soaring sax solos open side two with a bang. "Pitchi Goubidi" provides a stark contrast, with the kora played like a harp and Gilbert Badji's gravelly lyrics about "the bird of the night" disappearing into dubbed-out chamber pop. Winqvist's omnichord hovers back into focus on "Yonou Natangue," a free-floating jam that maintains the messages of Wau Wau Collectif's debut, promoting youth education to address the social issues facing contemporary Senegal: "Peace is the better wealth / The way to wander."

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Mamaki Boys

Patriote

At Pioneer Works Black Vinyl Edition

Release: 2021 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Traditional village music transformed into fiery and frenetic underground Hip Hop. Emerging from the digital cultural renaissance of the early 2000s, where DIY studios sprung up throughout West Africa, "Patriote" is a shining example of localized global music. Hypnotic and driving rhythms built from sampled percussion and chopped-up instruments combine with syncopated staccato "ragga" inspired flow into infectious hammering tracks that sound like nothing before. Mamaki Boys was formed in 2002 by Aziz Tony, Bachou Issouf, and Salif André, when a local Hip Hop movement was exploding in the capital of Niger. "Patriote" was recorded to address a trend in the scene they perceived as too derivative. Produced at Studio BAT, one of the first studios in Niamey, Mamaki Boys sought to merge modern Hip Hop with traditional music. They invited elder musicians into the studio to play Nigerien instruments like duma and kalango, which were sampled and looped over their compositions. "We wanted to put tradition in the rap, ancestral dances, the things that our grandparents did in the village," Aziz explains. "Our mission was to re-value the culture, put it into Hip Hop, and to show all the colors of our country." Self-describing their music as "tradi-moderne", a Nigerien movement of folk revitalization, their cultural manifesto presents through every aspect of their work. Each track relies heavily on traditional instruments, and each rhythm is based on a dance from Niger. Their mission extends to the urgency of their lyrics: Takai challenges the population to preserve their culture, Kagani Kagani is a demand to take back mineral, oil, and uranium rights from their colonizers, while Komando uses war cries to inspire artists to keep speaking out. A strong entry in 21st-century global music, Mamaki Boys "Patriote" takes back the tools of globalization, repurposing them in the fight for cultural identity. Originally self-released in 2009 on limited edition CDR in Niger.

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Les Filles De Illighadad

LP | 2021 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2021 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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The first new album from Les Filles de Illighadad in four years At Pioneer Works is the highly anticipated new album by the Tuareg Avant-rock group. Les Filles de Illighadad recorded the album in Brooklyn at the tail end of a two-year-long world tour. At Pioneer Works finds Les Filles at the height of their powers, creating a sound that transcends all known genres. This is a heavy and meditative set of music from one of the world's most exciting bands. "If you listen long enough, and make yourself open enough, it is possible to reach a kind of holy place while experiencing the music of the Tuareg quartet." - The New Yorker // "Les Filles de Illighadad are taking the world by storm" - The Guardian // "Les Filles de Illighadad is Revolutionizing Traditional Tuareg Music" - She Shreds

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El Wali

Tiris

21,99 €*

LP | 2019 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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An amazing and rare studio recording of 1990s Polisario music! The album is a standout example of the Sahrawi political folk style that mixes traditional modes with Western scales and instrumentation. response vocals, The repertoire of El Wali is fiery and inspirational, a call to arms - with national anthems, celebrations of political anniversaries, and religious pleas for peace, with call and response duets, backed with a synthesizer, programmed drums, and electric guitar.Nomadic inhabitants of Western Sahara, the Sahrawi movement for liberation began in the 1970s and has continued until today. Sahrawi political folk music dates back to the origins and has played an integral role in the struggle, with political anthems creating a national identity. One of the first Saharan music to incorporate the electric guitar, the style was hugely influential on the better know Tuareg guitar genre. The later addition of synthesizer and programmed rhythms further transformed the sound, becoming a foundation of Sahrawi music.Recorded in Belgium in 1994 while on tour, this version of El Wali performed a style reflecting the popular music of the refugee camps. "Tiris" is a refreshing production with none of the typical World Music polish of the 90s. This evidently led to its unsuccessful release in the West. Originally released only in as a small run CD for OXFAM Belgium, the CD quickly disappeared and is impossible to find. In West Africa, however, it became a viral success and the defining representative Sahrawi music. In 2012 a track was released on "Music from Saharan Cellphones Vol 2" and only after an arduous search over 8 years (leading through Spain to the Canary Islands to Tindouf and eventually to Belgium) the artists, the studio, and the original recording were tracked down. A co-release with Badawi Archives, the first Sahrawi run record label led by dj/producer Bedouin Sahrawi.

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Ahmed Ag Kaedy

Akaline Kidal

21,99 €*

LP | 2019 | EU | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2019 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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In exile from his city in Northern Mali, singer/songwriter Ahmed Ag Kaedy returns to the origins of Tuareg folk with sessions of stripped down solo acoustic guitar. Mellow pentatonic notes dance over plaintive vocals, intimate and close mic'd, endearing in their simplicity. Drifting from melancholic ballads and pleas for peace, "Akaline Kidal" is a politically charged and poignant recording for a community ripped apart by division and civil war.

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Hama

Houmeissa

LP | 2018 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2019 / EU – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Nigerian composer Hama presents a groundbreaking album of traditional electronic desert folk songs, hovering somewhere between early 90s techno and synthwave. Nomadic herding ballads, ancient caravan songs, and ceremonial wedding chants are all re-imagined into
pieces seemingly lifted from a Saharan 1980s sci-fi soundtrack or score to a Tuareg video game. With a deep love and respect, Hama effortlessly takes back and re-appropriates fourth-world ethnoambient music.

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Tallawit Timbouctou

Hali Diallo

23,99 €*

LP | 2017 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2018 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Tallawit Timbouctou are champions of takamba, a hypnotic traditional music from
Northern Mali. Built around the tehardent, the four stringed lute and pre-cursor to
the American banjo, takamba's droning distortion comes from signature handmade
mics and blown out amplifiers. Accompanied by percussion pounded out onto an
overturned calabash with mind boggling time signatures, the combined effect is
trance inducing. This is the music that long ruled the North of Mali, performed at
festivities, blasting out of dusty boomboxes, and beaming out from village radio
stations. Its origin is shrouded in mystery, and though purportedly dating back to the
Songhai Empire of the 15th century, takamba's heyday was in the 1980s, with the
introduction of amplification. Musicians found a lucrative circuit, performing in
elegant weddings, creating cassettes on demand, and writing songs for their wealthy
patrons. Today takamba has fallen out of popular fashion with the youth, but
continues to thrive in a small network of die-hard traditionalists. Band leader Aghaly
Ag Amoumine is one of the remaining renowned takamba musicians. Descended
from a long line of praise singers, he spent decades traveling across the Sahel,
performing in remote nomad camps and crowded West African capitals. His
compositions continue to circulate today and have become part of the folk
repertoire. His group Tallawit Timbouctou, based in the city of the same name,
continues in the family tradition, and has featured both his brother and nephew as
accompanying members. Recorded at home in Timbouctou, "Hali Diallo" is a
relentless and nonstop recording, true to the form of takamba. Tracks blend
seamlessly into one another, instruments are tuned mid-song, and Aghaly only
pauses singing long enough for the occasional shout-out or dedication. Unfiltered
and direct as it's meant to be heard, Tallawit Timbouctou is a shining example of one
of the last great takamba bands.

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Luka Productions

Fasokan

35,99 €*

LP | 2013 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2017 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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New age music from West Africa. Lush and hypnotic dreamscapes combine traditional instrumentation with sweeping electronics, field recordings, and soothing affirmations. Bamako based composer Luka Productions delves into avant-griot, transforming ancient music into the 21st century. The songs are meditative and sage, as voices guide the listener through ways of living, from the village life to the modern world. Inspired from early electronic music, library records, and new age, this is easily one of the most left field recordings to ever come out of Mali. In Bambara. Limited to 500.

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Pheno S.

Kani

16,99 €*

LP | 2018 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2013 / US – Original

Genre: Hip Hop, Organic Grooves

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Used Vinyl

Medium: Near Mint, Cover: Near Mint

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Tallawit Timbouctou

Hali Diallo

16,99 €*

100% Sahara Guitar Transparent Blue Vinyl Edition

Release: 2018 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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Used Vinyl

Medium: VG, Cover: VG+

Side 2 has a visual mark that causes backgroud noises for a few minutes, but does not skip.

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Etran De L'Air

LP | 2024 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

29,99 €*

LP | 2015 | US | Reissue (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2024 / US – Original

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Transparent Blue Vinyl. Etran de L'Aïr the STARS OF THE AIR, the longest running wedding band inAGADEZ, capital of Tuareg guitar, return with a new album of sun-schlazeddesert sound! Their first album, No.1, brought their music to critics and fans.Their second album, Agadez, sent them into the international touring circuit.And now they're back with 100% SAHARA GUITAR, ready to take on theworld, with those swinging melodies, like a sandstorm blowing in fromacross the sea.Etran de L'Aïr are 100% SAHARA, and that goes same for the band, all sonsof AGADEZ, including brothers Moussa, Abdoulaye, and Abdourahamane,and their dear friend, the youngest of the group, Alghabid. All the brotherswrite and play guitar, swapping out instruments while Alghabid keeps theFOUR ON THE FLOOR.In 100% SAHARA GUITAR, Etran de L'Aïr are back to claim the throne, withtheir first studio album! And what a sound it is. Recorded in sunny studios onthe WEST COAST, the brothers take that old Agadez sound to new levels,adding even more guitars into the mix, weaving layers of reverb-ladenmelodies and shimmering harmonies into a tapestry of sound. How muchguitar can they fit into one record? The answer is 100%.

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Abba Gargando

LP | 2023 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2015 / US – Reissue

Genre: Rock & Indie

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Lo-fi Tuareg guitar from renowned Timbouctou singer songwriter Abba Gargando. From fireside guitar with drum machines, field recordings of hypnotic electrified weddings, and impromptu collaborations with friends, from original compositions to folkloric interpretations.Recorded in refugee camps during theMalian conflict of 2012, produced oncellphones and distributed viaWhatsApp across the Tuareg diaspora,Abba Gargando's debut recording is aglimpse into the self-recordings andDIY culture in the Sahel.

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Bounaly

Dimanche A Bamako

27,99 €*

LP | 2023 | US | Original (Sahel Sounds)

Release: 2023 / US – Original

Genre: Organic Grooves

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First heard by global audiences on Sahel Sounds' Music fromSaharan WhatsApp series, Malian guitar hero Bounaly (thestage name of Ali "Bounaly" Traore) makes his full-length debutwith "Dimanche à Bamako" ("Sunday in Bamako"). Recordedlive on location, the music on "Dimanche à Bamako" is a mix ofregional favorites, traditional standards, and originals. Longsongs with looping rhythms, pounding kick, and electricshredding guitar, punctuated by shout outs to the guests ofhonor. A raw and frenetic take on Northern Mali desert sound,playing for the diaspora at a Bamako wedding.

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Namian Sidibé