Jun 20/06
Uplifts from Niger
I would like to post some Tunisian music today to round-off the African World Cup theme, but admittedly I don’t own much. There are only a couple Tunisian albums in my collection, both of which I’m not too into. We’ll have to wait for a Benn loxo listener to step forward with a Tunisian guest post or trade. Anyone?
I saw both Côte D’Ivoire and Tunisia play these past few days. Unfortunately both teams failed to advance. The Ivoirians played well but couldn’t seem to make the goals happen. As a colleague of mine said, it’s tough for a group of individual goal scorers to play a cohesive team game. But that said, Brazil seems to be doing fine. Tunisia blew several goal chances in the first half against Spain last night after taking an early 1-0 lead. Spain was clearly the better team, especially during the second half, so it came as no surprise when they eventually came back to win. All we can do now is rally behind the Black Stars. Go Ghana!
In the meantime let’s take a side-trip from our world cup African countries and listen to Mamar Kassey, a great Afropop group from Niger led by singer and flautist, Yacouba Moumouni.
Mamar Kassey have that cool Wassoulou sound that we’ve heard here before mixed with some modern instrumentation and a pinch of Arabic influence. Popular both at home and abroad, Mamar Kassey’s 9-piece band delivers quick rhythms and an original sound. They might just might be the perfect soundtrack to my humid, Baden-Wurttenberg day.
Both of these tracks are off Mamar Kassey’s 1998 release, Denké Denké.
Mamar Kassey – Compoulé
Mamar Kassey – Yacouba
Great tunes! I have been enjoying the World Cup immensely; for the first time, all the games are available live here in the US, though my work schedule doesn’t permit me to see them all. I was thrilled by Ghana’s victory over the Czech’s, but national loyalty compels me to back USA this week. I like the African and Asian teams very much as they seem to retain more of the spirit of football being a game and they often look like they are having fun.
It’s thrilling to feel a part of a genuine international community brought together by this fine event!
Amina is from Tunisia. I love her ‘92 record Wa Di Ye but her next (Annabi) left me a bit cold (it’s still good, though) and I lost track of her afterwards. If you don’t know her (or she’s not the one you’re not too into) I could send you a couple of mp3s.
BTW, great blog. You’re on my “daily check” list!
I just discovered Anouar Brahem, an oud player from Tunisia. ‘Astrakan Cafe’ is a really good chill down album.
I’m also working on a serie about musicians and football. My intention is to cover ALL countries. I’m at #14 now. It’s witten in Dutch (can’t help it – my mother tongue), but music is an universal language… (there are some sounds on it.) Check it at http://www.teps.nl
Great songs! Thanks!