Shows
meltdown – Moin – 1/23/2023
Valentina Magaletti is maybe the most underrated drummer in the world. PUT RESPECT ON HER NAME PLEASE
continental drift 1/18/23: mauritania
This week we are drifting (in a continental fashion) to Mauritania! Find the playlist here, and listen back to the episode here.
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a country in Northwest Africa, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Western Sahara, Algeria, Mali, and Senegal. The name Mauritania is derived from the dominant ethnic group, the Moors. Its official language is Arabic, though pulaar, soninke, wolof, and french are also officially recognized. Its signed language is Francophone African Sign Language. Since independence from France in 1960, Mauritania has been culturally, linguistically, and politically part of the Arab world; they belong to the Arab League and the official religion is Islam.
Moorish music can be roughly divided into ‘folk’ music and ‘classical’ music. Folk music includes lullabies, work songs, game songs, courting songs, shepherd songs, and religious praise ‘songs’, and the classical music is of the Iggawen, or griots. The music industry in Mauritania is limited: the first professional studio opened in 2003, and they are only now starting to develop a nightlife where popular music is played.
The tidinit
Jakwar is a style of dance music that was created in 1976 by Jheich ould Abba, a blind musician from Atar in Northern Mauritania. It was named after the fast French fighter jets, “Jaguar,” that often flew over northern Mauritania during the Saharan war. It was made by amplifying the tidinit, a traditional 5-string lute.
Jakwar sample:
“Guera” // Idoumou ould Jheich ould Abba (surge of wedding)
Iggawen started playing Jakwar on the electric guitar instead of the tidinit, and Hammadi ould Nana is credited as the first to do so. Hammadi learned tidinit from his father and was also influenced by his paternal grandmother, who led a group of three female singers. Hammadi was trained on the traditional tidinit music but was more interested in the Haratin folk music.
Hammadi ould Nana
In the late 1960s, one of his cousins had brought a guitar with him. When his cousin left Tidjikja several months later, the guitar did not leave with him. Over the next couple of years Hammadi started to develop a unique repertoire of guitar melodies; a repertoire that both conformed to the strict modal structures of Moorish music, and drew on Haratin folk rhythms. Running his acoustic guitar through a radio amplifier, and accompanied by his sister, several percussionists, and a chorus of female singers, Hammadi was starting to develop the sound that would make his name. When he was gifted an electric guitar, his distinctive style took form.
Electric jakwar sample:
Hammadi ould Nana, live recording July 2000
This next recording features two young sisters, Hudho mint Abba (16 years old) and Guine mint Abba (14 years old), accompanied by their mother Mukhtara mint Nana on Ardin, an eleven string harp, and their cousin Idoumou ould Jheich ould Abba on Tidinit. This recording was made in a “small blue-walled room at 11 pm.”
Small Blue Walled Segment:
Hudho mint Abba, Guine mint Abba, Mukhtara mina Nana, & Idoumou ould Abbba
Malouma
Female musicians are considered rare in Mauritania, though, paradoxically, the most popular musicians are often female. Dimi Mint Abba is known for her ‘salon music.’ Both of her parents were musicians, and her father was commissioned to compose the national anthem.
Malouma is a singer, politician, and activist. She’s been exiled from Mauritania (and since let back in) for her views on women’s rights and caste inequality. She’s earned the recognition of Knight of the Legion of Honor from France for her activism.
Female musician segment:
Hassaniya Song for Dancing // Khalifa Ould Eide, Dimi Mint Abba
Biyé // Ooleya Mint Amartichitt
Yarab // Malouma
Ghlana // Noura Mint Seymali
The Orchestre National De Mauritanie was created in 1968 following independence from France, but they were shut down in 1975 after a military coup overthrew the Daddah regime. All of their recordings were nearly destroyed in the coup when the radio archive was looted by loyal military forces. During the chaos, one heroic radio engineer snuck into the archives and salvaged the reels of the music which were sequestered in his home for the past decades.
Orchestre segment:
Mauritanie Mon Pays, Que J’aime (Mauritania My Country, Which I Love) // Orchestre National de Mauritanie
La Mone (The Monk) // Orchestre National de Mauritanie
Modern Music segment:
Kar // Ahmedou Ahmed Lowl
AR NJEHEN // ADVISER, DJ Mansoul
Zina // Babylone
100 wreks #38
Thanks for joining us tonight on 100 wreks! Here’s tonight’s tracklist:
Donuts – Namasenda
You’re So Pretty – Petal Supply
Heart In 2 (Cecile Believe Remix) – caro
Digital Affection – Holliday Howe + Himera
God (Evian Christ Remix) – Bladee
Good Ones (DJ Hristos Remix) – Charli XCX
The Way I Feel (Life Sim Remix) – DOSS
Dysmorphia (feat. Fauness) – Escha + Ytem
Poignant Cleansing [katharsis: The Flow of Water] – jjacob
How To Save One Life (The Fray x Malibu x Evian Christ) – estoc
keepsake (it’s alright) – t0ni + Antonia XM
Brave – TAAHLIAH
For Now (Doss Remix) – ZSELA
high on lyfe – angelus
BIPP – Casey MQ (SOPHIE Cover)
Girl Rock! 1/17/23
girl rock!’s hit crew continues to bring you the best of female and nonbinary artists. playlist here, picks below.
“Dazed” by Bleached
When You’re Around // Water From Your Eyes
Hate U // MEMI
Cool and Bendable // Kalbells
Kaneko Ayano
Dazed // Bleached
Repent // girlfriend.
You vs. My Self-Esteem // Club Sofa
Kill Courtney // Ting Tang Tina
Cross Me Out // Sweeping Promises
Hello Kitty Knife // Peach Kelli Pop
Break! // Fazerdaze
Silver Line // Sheer Mag
The Brown Snake // Thelma Plum
Ladyflash // The Go! Team
Pulp // Lime Garden
Socks, Drugs, and Rock ‘N’ Roll // Buffalo Daughter
Drive // Laundry
In M’n Hoofd // So-Fi
Gold Soundz 1.17.23: DUOS
For the second show of the semester we decided to appreciate our favorite duos in indie rock! I hope y’all enjoyed this collection of the peanut butter to their jelly, the salt to their pepper, and the Bonnie to their Clyde.
Here is the playlist for the show:
Smithereens // Boyish
Like I Used To // Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen
Cocoon // Milky Chance
Silver Into Rain // Luna Li, beabadoobee
On Script // Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile
The Ghost Inside // Broken Bells
object permanence // Sydney Sprague, Danielle Durack
Dylan Thomas // Better Oblivion Community Center
You Might Be Sleeping // Jakob, Clairo
Crying in Public // Chairlift
Spinal Tap // Okay Kaya, deem spencer, Michael Wolever
Overslept // Faye Webster, mei ehara
You Know What I Mean // Cults
California Here We Go // The Garden
Good Morning, Hypocrite // Electric President
Back To Oz // Sufjan Stevens, Angelo De Augustine
