tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81928155913530279682024-03-15T18:09:10.571-07:00Moroccan Tape StashAs time allows, I'll post some of my favorite tapes here. Hope you enjoy them.tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.comBlogger198125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-27413938663259401132024-02-03T23:10:00.000-08:002024-02-03T23:12:58.036-08:00People Doing Whatever and Calling It Gnawa, Part One<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWPl829MOvU98pHdTrnDp7CfGqbLnoDVSheiTbYq2jWAmC0Z_slVoujbhbWO9Cg1vd8nJ5daZLiXPPdKDdf6-GKGS7s36j4iHl0jK06TdFCJckl1NiBIWndw2TeJLo7NdN86fVpWh_Hr-bYj5aE5phVocDyIetr-BusZkR0JfTf5Zu-EV0OH3g6ASeRs7/s2158/Gnaouas%20MB797%20sleeve%20front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2158" data-original-width="2123" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrWPl829MOvU98pHdTrnDp7CfGqbLnoDVSheiTbYq2jWAmC0Z_slVoujbhbWO9Cg1vd8nJ5daZLiXPPdKDdf6-GKGS7s36j4iHl0jK06TdFCJckl1NiBIWndw2TeJLo7NdN86fVpWh_Hr-bYj5aE5phVocDyIetr-BusZkR0JfTf5Zu-EV0OH3g6ASeRs7/s320/Gnaouas%20MB797%20sleeve%20front.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><p></p><p>When "Gnawa" is on the package, you never know what you'll find inside.</p><p>I recently obtained this 45 rpm 7" record. It likely dates from the early 1970s. Sure, it looks like it would contain a recording of a Gnawa group from a performance at the storied Festival des Arts Populaires (commonly known as the Folklore festival). Gnawa groups perform regularly at this Marrakech festival, including the Ismkhan - Amazigh-speaking Gnawa groups, always clad in white <i>foqia</i> robes, like the group pictured on the sleeve of this record.</p><p>Like these guys:</p>
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<p>Sure, that would be logical. But who is this, and why is he on the back of the sleeve?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZHMtlEhOHl8l0VTaNGaprM1lU2L5Fj46mcZ1IZhpvft0mYpYRG8RWoYmPtjQI9I7a3OwlyAztP-8FpA3JCv5S6KW5l_ImZN_XDYbc6gsLe0oNb3VOzMF5hXU_jrDTG9asUfDBou6vWlV0EW0txwEKN3M2N71RaEMRCGb5gYsY8yujnZ5ViSYBqp-9Tw6U/s2161/Gnaouas%20MB797%20sleeve%20back.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2161" data-original-width="2125" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZHMtlEhOHl8l0VTaNGaprM1lU2L5Fj46mcZ1IZhpvft0mYpYRG8RWoYmPtjQI9I7a3OwlyAztP-8FpA3JCv5S6KW5l_ImZN_XDYbc6gsLe0oNb3VOzMF5hXU_jrDTG9asUfDBou6vWlV0EW0txwEKN3M2N71RaEMRCGb5gYsY8yujnZ5ViSYBqp-9Tw6U/s320/Gnaouas%20MB797%20sleeve%20back.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><p>Saddik Jaghalef? Who is this man? Why is he pictured in dapper fashion with cuff links, bow tie, and cigarette? One assumes he's not part of the Gnawa troupe. Is he on the flip side of the record? Gnawa on side A and Saddik on side B? Why does the front list catalog number MB 797 while the back lists MB 798? Maybe the labels on the record will clarify?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3WA9zigC2hMvRHi41z7fl_8R2TYlv9RKdRVzzHYyXiTzthnWfLgtqSaBJepLBZSGCvLBwgw7AlcSWR_Lhn4PPQTdmvBFebFGe0JaluVC3WgQaiN-ncWevVDCV9A1R-Qh3JYJv6oHmGEVsvlRCP4PQTGCBkkwkBiylIYXTXIBJiZ8i6VksHE5JGi7NgXwp/s4416/Gnaouas%20MB797%20disc%20A+B.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2209" data-original-width="4416" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3WA9zigC2hMvRHi41z7fl_8R2TYlv9RKdRVzzHYyXiTzthnWfLgtqSaBJepLBZSGCvLBwgw7AlcSWR_Lhn4PPQTdmvBFebFGe0JaluVC3WgQaiN-ncWevVDCV9A1R-Qh3JYJv6oHmGEVsvlRCP4PQTGCBkkwkBiylIYXTXIBJiZ8i6VksHE5JGi7NgXwp/w400-h200/Gnaouas%20MB797%20disc%20A+B.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Side A reads اڭناوة - أهازيج مغربية which translates as <i>Gnawa - Moroccan Songs</i>. Side B reads just أڭناوة Gnaoua. And both sides show catalog number MB 797, so maybe this is simply the Gnawa folkloric troupe from the festival and this Saddik Jaghalef is on another disc MB 798. Let's take a listen...</p>
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<p>The opening announcement says <i>Istouanat Boussiphone, Jghalef Sddik</i> - that's the name of the record label, Edition Boussiphone, and the vocalist's name, Jghalef Saddik. A group of people shout out something unintelligible, and what follows is possibly the worst excuse for a Gnawa record I've ever heard. </p><p>There's one <i>qarqaba </i>player and one person playing a <i>tbel</i> barrel drum. And there's a call and response vocal between Saddik and a mixed-gender group of vocalists. Saddik sings all the lyrics on the same pitch, and the group responds on the same pitch, when they even sing in pitch. When the "singing" stops and the drums keep going, the vocalists become audience members cheering on the action. At some moments the <i>qarqaba</i> and drum accent a note, then rest for a couple of beats as if they were responding to the movements of Gnawa dancers.</p><p>This is a fake Gnawa record. That is, it is a recording of people pretending to be Gnawa musicians pretending to perform in front of an audience at the Folklore Festival in Marrakech. The "song" features a couple of lyrics that can be found in Gnawa songs: <i>Lalla takul lhayma/Sidi yakul chhayma</i> comes from "Khali Mbara Meskin", and the choral reply "<i>a bam bam bara" </i>comes from the song "Sudani Minitara"<br /></p><p><i>Sudani Minitara</i> might be the perfect song for a fake Gnawa record - it features arguably the most exotic aspect of Gnawa lyrics - the fact that some words are the remnants of non-Arabic languages spoken by the sub-Saharan forbears of the Gnawa. Jghalef Saddik doesn't sing the main lyrics one typically hears in <i>Sudani Minitara</i>, but it doesn't matter much, since most people who hear the song receive its lyrics as nonsense. <i>"A Bam Bam Bara" </i>does make an easy singalong for crowd participation:</p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZDMejdr_hvY?si=5W8fuJyzzRzrNG1g" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe>
</p><p>By the second song of this 4-track EP, all Gnawa pretenses have been dropped, and we are simply listening to a novelty record. "Dyal Ba" sounds like something a Marrakchi <i>tkitikate</i> group might sing if they only had one <i>tbel</i>, one pair of <i>qarqabas</i>, and nobody knew any real songs so they just started saying the googly things that adult humans say to babies. And by side B<span> we've moved on to pseudo-Latin Dance singalongs <i>Baila La Bamba</i> and <i>Cha Cha Cha Malika</i>. The group is singing actual pitched notes now, but it doesn't really improve the vibe. Saddik does throw a "<i>Sudani" </i>or "<i>Gnawi"</i> into the lyric here and there, but it's still just nonsense. By the end of side B he is singing a romantic melody in Arabic, French and English: <i>Ya Habibi, Mon Amour, Ya Habibi, I Love You...</i></span></p><p><span>This was still early days in the endeavor of recording sounds onto physical media and calling them Gnawa, and apparently you could get away with releasing something like this and calling it Gnawa.<i> </i>What was Boussiphone thinking when they put this out? What was the intended audience for the record, and would this have satisfied their expectations? A clue may be the fact that it is marketed as a recording from the Folklore "Fistival". I don't know the exact date of this record's release, but I would place it sometime in the early-to-mid-1970s</span><span>. According to the <a href="https://www.fnap.ma/le-festival/" target="_blank">website of the </a></span><a href="https://www.fnap.ma/le-festival/" target="_blank">Festival des Arts Populaires</a>, Gnawa groups only began performing at the Festival in 1974. So perhaps this record is trying to capitalize on that recent addition.</p><p>[Aside - it blows me away that Gnawa groups were not featured in the Folklore Fest before 1974. By that year, Nass el Ghiwane and Jil Jilala had raised awareness about the cultural value of Gnawa music by incorporating the <i>sintir</i> and Gnawa melodies into their highly popular music. I wonder whether Gnawa's entry into the Folklore Festival was a <b><i>response</i></b> to this popular reevaluation!]<br /></p><p><span>I could find no mention of Jaghalef Saddik anywhere online, outside of these 2 EPs on Boussiphone. According to what has been catalogued at Discogs, two discs were released with the same sleeve: MB 797 and MB 798. So if you seek more from this recording session, there's more to be had. Also, there is an alternate sleeve shown on Discogs - it looks like Saddik wearing some sort of Gnawi headgear, yet also sporting a turtleneck sweater. <br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.discogs.com/JWD9l_TkEg_p-wxqgiLTxiOzK9i016r5ThQv1PnUhqM/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:329/w:400/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEyNzQx/ODAzLTE1NDEwODc3/NDItNTkwNS5qcGVn.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="400" height="329" src="https://i.discogs.com/JWD9l_TkEg_p-wxqgiLTxiOzK9i016r5ThQv1PnUhqM/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:329/w:400/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEyNzQx/ODAzLTE1NDEwODc3/NDItNTkwNS5qcGVn.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>By the way, the photo of the Gnawa group on the sleeve appears to be from the 1940s, according to the <a href="https://maisondelaphotographie.ma/nr-135/?lang=en" target="_blank">Maison de la Photographie de Marrakech</a>.</p><p>This blogpost is Part One - I have at least one other example to share of a recording that purports to be of Gnawa but which is also a fake recording. I'll get around to it eventually. Don't worry, there's more actual good music coming too.</p><p> 😂<br /></p><p><b><u>Saddik Jaghalef<br />Gnaouas ڭناوا<br />Fistival De Marrakech - Folklore Marocain</u></b><br />Boussiphone MB 797<br />45 RPM, 7"<br /><br />Side A label reads:<br />اڭناوة<br />أهازيج مغربية<br /><br />Side B label reads:<br />أڭناوة<br />Gnaoua<br /><br />From listening, here is my breakdown of tracks:</p><p>announcement : "Istouanate Boussiphone, Jghalef Sdik"<br />A1) Bam Bam Bara<br />A2) Dyal Ba<br /><br />announcement: "La Bamba!"<br />B1) Baila La Bamba<br />B2) Cha Cha Cha Malika<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/82egn4ibcvqp3jb/SJG-B-MB797_CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/rlsfum7pno547ub/SJG-B-MB797_3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-55159605927718789792023-12-26T20:59:00.000-08:002023-12-26T20:59:28.182-08:002003 Pop Culture Snapshot in Dqiqi From - Dakka El Marrakechia Nou Nou - Youm Wara Youm <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmSqjpmn24sfpBbsTu8BLCCMEnv4MQg5JcFmfcfwkLgy_LIt92eq2I9jYfQjc1rXKYokPwCFYuoDT3C-37q-hi1ohhRxCWR-PjMfSUpo9nGF9HNHSbZmp7qURbk9KbXOMSqgdxkqbbdq1w_XZbJcL0CbqIqlzVgUEU6aAeWQ90IY0lw2VFhCszsgljUOgo/s1190/Dakka%20El%20Marrakechia%20Nou%20Nou%20-%20Youm%20Wara%20Youm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1185" data-original-width="1190" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmSqjpmn24sfpBbsTu8BLCCMEnv4MQg5JcFmfcfwkLgy_LIt92eq2I9jYfQjc1rXKYokPwCFYuoDT3C-37q-hi1ohhRxCWR-PjMfSUpo9nGF9HNHSbZmp7qURbk9KbXOMSqgdxkqbbdq1w_XZbJcL0CbqIqlzVgUEU6aAeWQ90IY0lw2VFhCszsgljUOgo/s320/Dakka%20El%20Marrakechia%20Nou%20Nou%20-%20Youm%20Wara%20Youm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>I've extolled the virtues of <i>dqiqiya</i> (a.k.a. <i>tkitikate</i>) men's percussion and vocal groups in these pages before, most comprehensively in the post <a href="https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2021/11/tkitikate-tkitikate-party-time-excellent.html" target="_blank">Tkitikate! Tkitikate! Party Time! Excellent!</a>.<i> </i>I went as far as to posit the genre as "an active repository of Moroccan musical memory... like a jukebox". </p><p>To be clear, I meant to say that A GOOD, LIVE <i>DQIQIYA</i> GROUP functions like that. </p><p><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pu82ZHsaQk0/TvQ5Q_dME7I/AAAAAAAAAGM/CN4LQCcm-gU/s593/Klun+Kaighenni+3la+l-Bukimun3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Clown Sings About Pokémon cassette j-card" border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="592" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pu82ZHsaQk0/TvQ5Q_dME7I/AAAAAAAAAGM/CN4LQCcm-gU/w199-h200/Klun+Kaighenni+3la+l-Bukimun3.jpg" width="199" /></a>On the other hand, there is a variety of commercial cassette that while exhibiting some sonic similarities to <i>dqiqiya</i> is primarily a cash-in on whatever is floating around in pop culture at the moment. This type of cassette does have the potential to be awesome, depending on how you feel about global pop hits, novelty tunes, and theme songs to TV programs. A prime example of this is the unforgettable <a href="https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2011/12/klun-kaighenni-3la-l-bukimun-clown.html" target="_blank">Clown Sings About Pokémon</a> cassette I shared here many moons ago.</p><p>However, this sort of cassette should not be taken as representative of the genre of <i>dqiqiya. </i>And it CERTAINLY should not be taken as representing the genre of <i>Daqqa Marrakchia</i>. (For my explication of the confusion between <i>Daqqa Marrakchia</i> and <i>Dqiqiyya</i>, see my post <a href="https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2013/11/ashura-in-marrakech-daqqa-marrakchiya.html" target="_blank">Ashura in Marrakech - Daqqa Marrakchiya</a>.)</p><p>All of this is a preface to talking about today's offering a 2003 cassette credited to a group called Dakka El Marrakechia Nou Nou. It is not a recording of the folkloric genre of <i>Daqqa Marrakchiya</i>, and it is not a recording of a standard <i>dqiqiya </i>group. It is a studio creation with some of the sonic trappings of <i>dqiqiya</i>, presenting itself with the name <i>Daqqa Marrakchiya, </i>and trying to have some fun (and cash in) on the latest pop culture trends.<br /></p><p>For full disclosure, I had to shed a lot of baggage before writing about this novelty cassette <span style="font-family: inherit;">because it pushed so many of my musical and musicological buttons. Here's what I scribbled down while I was listening to the tape:</span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">I know I should get over it, but it bugs me that men's percussion and vocal ensembles, more properly known as <i>tkitikate</i> or <i>dqiqiya</i>, are typically sold under the name of <i>Dakka Marrakchiya</i>.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Real <i>tkitikate</i> keep the groove going and the crowd interested by using actual songs with actual lyrics, not by </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">inserting singalong soccer-type chant melodies with no lyrics - that just seems lazy to me. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">. [egad, the blogger as arbiter of <i>tkitikate </i>authenticity 🤦🏻♂️]<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">God, who thought that a synth bass and a little keyboard flute would be a good thing with this music. It's already defanged from having much bite by the boring drum machine replacing real drums. [note: the blogger identifies as a bass player and is particularly allergic to synth basses and drum machines from actual gigging]<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The
backup vocals are too smooth. I mean, I really need to shut up. What do
I expect from commercial <i>chaabi</i> from Casablanca trying to brand itself
as dakka marrakchia.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Why the f--- would you do this sort of
music with a drum machine and not with real drums. Again, I am a f---ing
hypocrite, 'cos I DO LIKE drum machines if they're AS IN YOUR FACE AS
ACTUAL DRUMS. I mean this sounds like the beats you'd put to some of
that smooth casablanca <i>chaabi</i>, which sort of works when your lead
instrument is a scratchy viola. BUT WHEN YOUR MAIN INSTRUMENT IS THE
DRUMS, WHY NOT MAKE THE DRUMS DRIVE THE GROOVE INSTEAD OF REMAINING
EXACTLY THE SAME THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE TRACK.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Wow, so much vitriol for a harmless novelty cassette. Once I calmed down, I was able to enjoy it on its own flawed terms as a fun <i>chaabi</i>-rhythm time capsule of pop </span>culture items that were "viral" in 2003 (before we were using the term viral). Here's some of what you get:<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><i></i><p>The album is named Youm Wara Youm, a reference to the SMASH 2002 HIT of the same name by Samira Said with Cheb Mami. </p><p>I still ADORE that song:</p>
<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4aBxNH6ODc8?si=FwBGlkcPJjgjQKDN" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></p>
<p>The Dakka el Marrakchia Nou Nou song is nothing close to being a cover version of Youm Wara Youm. It does retain the lyrics</p><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><i>Youm wara youm<br />Habibi ma gani noum<br />Habibi wa dini git</i><br /></div><p>But it's not sung in anything similar to the melody of the original. </p>
<p>Track 2 appears to be based on the theme song to a Moroccan TV program from 2002, Dar Mwi Hniya (Mwi Hniya's House)</p>
<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9XGhQsfS8y0?si=HoIahExKkqp6lz_y" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></p><p>There are some entertaining verses where the singer is hurling curses at his cell phone for dropping the signal while he's talking to his sweetheart. And there's a silly solfege singalong. <br /></p><p>And the final track seems to be based on the Egyptian novelty song from 2002 "Baba Fein", here called by the recurring lyric "Âmmu Âmmu"</p>
<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wyOJfLSeZIE?si=5l4npnsRYlsV_R4l" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></p>
<p>If you're in the mood for it, it's sort of entertaining in the way that the original was, that is, it's cute to hear kids delivering clever rhyming couplets making excuses to the Uncle (Âmmu) about why their father isn't at home.</p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBRa2YvvCtaO4ntbrZZqZjzQpTC2kV9YP8k1eJiaE1oIiPDUkYbz9Y7tCRjSCOaHZ1kLfymkm6sCNgvjB2heC5AUeQgZdaZyOkTgT7yVoPrr2lOI0bfSjKiPB-rI8tf_cBNMwl6luEnffQHonbcDw4lrGXpmd7zxoFNuiIlQv2NQixydWoK_XI2GjmPJ-R/s2248/Screenshot%202023-12-26%20at%206.53.35%E2%80%AFPM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1782" data-original-width="2248" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBRa2YvvCtaO4ntbrZZqZjzQpTC2kV9YP8k1eJiaE1oIiPDUkYbz9Y7tCRjSCOaHZ1kLfymkm6sCNgvjB2heC5AUeQgZdaZyOkTgT7yVoPrr2lOI0bfSjKiPB-rI8tf_cBNMwl6luEnffQHonbcDw4lrGXpmd7zxoFNuiIlQv2NQixydWoK_XI2GjmPJ-R/w200-h159/Screenshot%202023-12-26%20at%206.53.35%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Si Mohamed Aguir (right) wearing a <i>taguia</i></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>One thing I can't figure out, though, is the cover art for the album. What are the cone-shaped things superimposed on top of these ladies' heads? Are they supposed to resemble the <i>taguia </i>hats worn by actual <i>tqitikate</i> groups? Nobody I showed this to has any idea what is going on. The general consensus is that it's <i>tkharbiqa</i> (great Moroccan term meaning something like "nonsense", "junk" or "whatever")<p></p><p></p><p>Best Wishes to all for a better 2024. Ceasefire Now.<br /></p><p><u><b>Dakka El Marrakechia Nou Nou الدقة المراكشية نو نو<br />Youm Wara Youm يعم ورا يوم</b></u><br />Edition Safi cassette SD 2003 انتاج الصافي</p><p><b>A1 Youm Wara Youm يعم ورا يوم<br /> and the best current songs وأروع الأغاني الحالية</b><br />
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<br />B1 Mwi Hniya مي هنية<br />B2 Âmmu Âmmu عمو عمو<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/zv0uf2d23uq5dc8/DEMNN-YWY-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/n6sxjhhqe3p30yc/DEMNN-YWY-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a></p><p><br /></p><p></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-70525976698305717272023-12-03T19:13:00.000-08:002023-12-07T13:03:15.694-08:00Fatima Tamrrakchit<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HOqMJtzif_rhxOZFjVdLPHr9fxsIa7IwB58QI_yj2uLwLUKwY8RBFoi58fRoWF6ZsZ2XWuCEwMU-B54X2_y9bZTidppJ1s5qZwuXAXJVkJ3aSYzM6R_ebC4gmPgIM2s2hcyPx7oBqOHM3gbliBqSGVt5oJHFzbs7SnKDHHe_1hJH1QbY-D-X7N0jXg_6/s1211/Fatima%20Tamrrakchit%20PD47.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Fatima Tamrrakchit cassette j-card" border="0" data-original-height="1211" data-original-width="1210" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HOqMJtzif_rhxOZFjVdLPHr9fxsIa7IwB58QI_yj2uLwLUKwY8RBFoi58fRoWF6ZsZ2XWuCEwMU-B54X2_y9bZTidppJ1s5qZwuXAXJVkJ3aSYzM6R_ebC4gmPgIM2s2hcyPx7oBqOHM3gbliBqSGVt5oJHFzbs7SnKDHHe_1hJH1QbY-D-X7N0jXg_6/w320-h320/Fatima%20Tamrrakchit%20PD47.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>This tape comes to us from... well, down the street in El Cerrito, California, where I found and purchased it! This is a swell album from singer Fatima Tamrrakchit. The texture on every song is a bit different - there's always some combination of the typical Soussi <i>amarg</i> ensemble (<i>rrbab</i> fiddle, <i>lotar</i> lute or banjo) with additional instruments (electric guitar, a violin, maybe that was a sythn banjo, and some sort of bass instrument - it's a bit deep in the mix (which is fine), it could be a keyboard, or it might be a big Gnawa <i>guinbri</i>). The percussionists keep things lively and at times wild.</p><p>I found very little information about Fatima Tamrrakchit online. From what I gather from YouTube and TikTok comment, she died at a young age in April 1998. </p><p>There is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@FatimaTamrrakchit" target="_blank">another singer with the same name</a> who is currently active but who should not be confused with the first Fatima Tamrrakchit.</p><p>Digital Mastering Note: I used the new "Mastering Assistant" that was released in the latest update of Logic Pro X. Part of the tool is an AI-driven analysis that can produce a custom EQ for whatever you're working on. Sort of freaks me out, but it's also kind of amazing. I used it here, and I think it sounds pretty good. You can find <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m4-hH3ev8Te7F9uV7nvV1L5woziV0YQK8" target="_blank">all of these tracks on YouTube</a>, if you don't like this. (The YouTube clips are probably from a better source than my tape here anyway, but y'all come here for a bit of that analog patina, right?)</p><p>Hope you and your loved ones are well. Praying for a just peace.</p><p><b><u>Fatima Tamrrakchit فاطمة تمراكشيت<br />تهراركتف</u></b><br />Production Disco cassette PD47</p><p>A1 Takat Ah Igh Trgha Dora<br />A2 Dounit Ra Tzri<br /><b>B1 Or Sarn Orrigh Lhob</b><br />
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<br />B2 Awino Samhiyi Samhaghak<br />B3 Lhem Ortn Sol Nra</p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/4po56r0xxs1t8w2/FT-PD47-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/3ytv4n3qzpuf905/FT-PD47-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> <br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-2823638105054658612023-11-04T10:24:00.002-07:002023-11-04T10:24:41.433-07:00Aziza El Menkassia - Special Gnawa II emoluV<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2I_b0HpfSnJEQgMezcuB7O2YBYWlro5dmciYRCFBUBvg36ZXF_JpCKQygHOYlh8kIBOkMExgolNbaiIe_micfQ_ThzeVc3q-92x9ln4NWat_f2sK0Hew9xYOwHH2kqyRHS2gShSH1-DajVA0zCLLRVjiTN7tdb2fN559ir4YvrlkMlGDB2b7hPGJ267Lv/s1190/aziza_jcard.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="1173" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2I_b0HpfSnJEQgMezcuB7O2YBYWlro5dmciYRCFBUBvg36ZXF_JpCKQygHOYlh8kIBOkMExgolNbaiIe_micfQ_ThzeVc3q-92x9ln4NWat_f2sK0Hew9xYOwHH2kqyRHS2gShSH1-DajVA0zCLLRVjiTN7tdb2fN559ir4YvrlkMlGDB2b7hPGJ267Lv/s320/aziza_jcard.jpg" /></a>I had asked the tape seller if he had any Gnawa tapes. He pulled down this one, popped it in the deck for me, and pushed play. I thought to myself this seems to me like anti-Gnawa. I wanted the warm, woody, resonant rumble of the <i>sintir</i> and call & response vocals of full-throated baritones. What I got was some crazy electro-drum-and-synth driving home the perpetual Moroccan <i>chaabi</i> 6/8 beat, and a young lady leading the call and response vocals. And yet the j-card read "Special Gnawa" and had pictures of Gnawa musicians on it, so I grabbed it, figuring it would at least be interesting to figure out what about this music signified "Gnawa".<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now after many years of thinking and inking about Gnawa music, I return to this tape. What does my Gnawacized (<i>mguennoui</i>) ear tell me about this tape with the benefit of hindsight (hind-hearing? hind-audition?) Well, one of these songs would be heard during the trance part of the Gnawa <i>lila</i> ceremony, namely "Jilali Dawi Hali". (Type that title into the search bar on this blog and you'll find at least 4 Gnawa tapes that feature the song.) Many of the other songs can be heard at the end of <i>lila</i> ceremonies when Gnawa musicians play the fun popular songs they call <i>chaabi</i> or more specifically <a href="https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/search/label/Soussiya" target="_blank">Soussia</a>. Despite the Gnawi connotations of this album's songs, the musical arrangements aren't particularly Gnawa-inflected. They are, however, unusual. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">There's not much information about Aziza El Meknassia online, but the good folks over at <a href="https://moroccantapes.com/" target="_blank">Moroccan Tapes</a> have shared <a href="https://moroccantapes.com/aziza-el-meknassia-sawt-bab-manssour" target="_blank">another tape from this artist</a>. Their description of the unusual rhythmic texture heard in Aziza's recordings is worth quoting here:<br /></div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">"One of her signatures that one can hear across most of her records is a
unique way of arranging the typical Chaabi rhythm... [The] driving hi-hat and tam-tam give us a
double-time 12/8 feel, while the kick and snare create a half-time 4/4
feel, almost like a rock backbeat (if you hear it the wrong way)."</div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Hope you enjoy it! <br /></div><p><b><u>Aziza El Meknassia عزيزة المكناسية<br />Special Gnawa - Volume II</u></b><br />Voix Bab Mansour cassette 38 صوت باب منصور<br /><br />01 Al Mwima Lhbiba الميمة لحبيبة<br /><b>02 Ribou Ya Douk Lejbal ريبو يا دوك لجبال<br /> Ana Lli Dert Khairi Ou Ma Ouella Liya انا لي درت خيري وما ولا ليا</b><br />
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<br />03 Chailah شايلاه<br /> Qalbi Derni<br /> Ana Zayra Moulay Ibrahim<br /> Lalla Chafia<br />04 Marrakech مراكش <br /> Laman Wahia Laman<br /> Jilali Dawi Hali<br /> Touria Laghzal</p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/7cx76xb1yn66tdo/AEM-SGV2-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/7q21s1091zqakt7/AEM-SGV2-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-53911452311556751952023-10-25T19:25:00.000-07:002023-10-25T19:25:48.139-07:00Najat Tazi - Ya Saqi<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhENqLUQZo9WrOpZ0P2p16YaUC0cGDzqSWmBZjnyHxB3rPcfVA8WMQeq7hG60ElBzlutZx5ufSl74-Ql76jDCSolwdoxVfzvGRce5pE1lY7qcLR5P1_Qshs_ujnjxWkCZuA9kG8HgW9DYQ0rC21GhSJ4Hgku4BieRCbnND9srSCUIDyErGAsF8MOdSdb_l-/s1198/Najat%20Tazi%20-%20Fassiphone%2007-4.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1198" data-original-width="1180" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhENqLUQZo9WrOpZ0P2p16YaUC0cGDzqSWmBZjnyHxB3rPcfVA8WMQeq7hG60ElBzlutZx5ufSl74-Ql76jDCSolwdoxVfzvGRce5pE1lY7qcLR5P1_Qshs_ujnjxWkCZuA9kG8HgW9DYQ0rC21GhSJ4Hgku4BieRCbnND9srSCUIDyErGAsF8MOdSdb_l-/s320/Najat%20Tazi%20-%20Fassiphone%2007-4.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><p></p><p>Here's a swell <i>rai</i> album from singer Najat Tazi. This dates to 1992 or '93. Najat hails from the region of Taza in northeastern Morocco. The internet boasts dozens of her albums on international streaming platforms like YouTube, Spotify, etc. On some she sings in Riffian Tamazight (Tarrifit), and on others she sings in Moroccan Arabic. Despite this prolific output, I can find almost no details of her life or career online.</p><p>The one short article I found relates that she was born in the town of Aknoul, north of Taza, began her career singing backup for many artists, gained initial notoriety singing cover versions of songs by rai singers Cheb Khaled and Mimoun al Oujdi, and has subsequently recorded more than 50 albums. The article also links to a 2020 video interview, so if you know Tarrifit and find that she said something noteworthy, please let me know! [1] </p><p>She performed at the big <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_edition_of_Mawazine_Festival" target="_blank">Mawazine festival</a> in Rabat in 2016.</p><p>This album has some great early rai grooves and some unusual keyboard sounds. And Najat's voice is powerful. Dig this opening track:</p>
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<p><b><u>Najat Tazi نجاة التازي<br />Fassiphone cassette 07/4 فاسيفون</u></b><br />c. 1992-93<br /><br />A1 Ya Saqi يا ساقي<br />A2 Tkherrejti Âla Ouladi تخرجتي علی ولادي<br />A3 Démarrez ديماري<br />B1 Kounti Ghalia Kifache Rkhesti كنتي غاليا كيفاش رخصتي<br />B2 Zine Âlah Iseddou Âlia Lbibane الزين علاه يسدو عليه البيبان<br />B3 Ouelli Lia Ya Lâziz ولي ليا يالعزيز<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/6q6tk1vzvhnc8rl/NT-F07_4-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/peaskkw9s2475ot/NT-F07_4-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a></p><p>[1] Najim Al-Sabaa (نجيم السبع). "Gzennaya stars around the world: The capable artist Najat Al-Tazi (نجوم اكزناية عبر العالم | الفنانة المقتدرة نجاة التازي)". <a href="https://gzennayamedia.blogspot.com/2020/11/blog-post_11.html">https://gzennayamedia.blogspot.com/2020/11/blog-post_11.html</a></p><p>Interview excerpt on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdBGdYdcAUc">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdBGdYdcAUc</a></p><p></p><p>Full interview on RADAS TV program "Thawra n Rif": <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RADASTV1/videos/486435888975880/">https://www.facebook.com/RADASTV1/videos/486435888975880/</a><br /><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-83189810392659706862023-10-15T13:41:00.000-07:002023-10-15T13:41:17.444-07:00Capstan Keep a-Spinning - End The Occupation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhjt3IfbkDlGa5GcydzZLsgRLDLsQqQ_U3x5aFyRkGb4IZMlytGmC7B_1o7GXnDBZmHWcSsR_6k6uKh0UfWpTYq8RnwvTxokxKnKZSB7YFoQDrimL4sE-boo6000hinKYC1bpZOUXSfG8cbIgY5JnhJXiz9puYPafRdyBXh3lWrr5b-7e2YPo7nE7RbQjD/s3415/20231014_011402.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2491" data-original-width="3415" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhjt3IfbkDlGa5GcydzZLsgRLDLsQqQ_U3x5aFyRkGb4IZMlytGmC7B_1o7GXnDBZmHWcSsR_6k6uKh0UfWpTYq8RnwvTxokxKnKZSB7YFoQDrimL4sE-boo6000hinKYC1bpZOUXSfG8cbIgY5JnhJXiz9puYPafRdyBXh3lWrr5b-7e2YPo7nE7RbQjD/s320/20231014_011402.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>I'll have some new old music to share in a few days. For the moment, here's an update to some old music I shared before.</p><p>When I first visited Morocco in 1992, Nass el Ghiwane had just released an album whose opening track "Intifada" commemorated the uprising in Palestine. The following year, the Oslo Accords seemed to indicate movement toward justice and reconciliation, but it was not to be. Now here we are thirty years later, seemingly further than ever from justice. </p><p>I shared this album back in 2011. I've added a <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/gokal3ipgqavuvi/NG-VA1030-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a> link in the <a href="https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2011/09/solidarity-with-palestine-1992-style.html" target="_blank">original post</a>. And here's the album as a YouTube playlist:</p>
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</p>Keep your capstans a-spinning, thanks for visiting, and be well. ❤️✊❤️🎵❤️<br /><p> </p><p></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-65546704449597453352022-08-20T21:22:00.000-07:002022-08-20T21:22:08.012-07:00Abdelkader Ariaf - Mlih Mlih<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSNrGj65RG1nWprFKWD2GIG3W1hRqoyfX2R6U7NNGOzEGcPd7HAmjy8XPdsV4pvQ3CKHj5dkrHxhCxC5Rmrjke-craRsXMLKAB8dfhplkv18zimtKEsiG3Cme_YJtn58FgdzRLdiLyG9mrvsh1dy2DiR7lADwwMOUIVupSGrfVQvqoAhDloU_u9Hu_w/s1186/Ariaf%20frong.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="923" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSNrGj65RG1nWprFKWD2GIG3W1hRqoyfX2R6U7NNGOzEGcPd7HAmjy8XPdsV4pvQ3CKHj5dkrHxhCxC5Rmrjke-craRsXMLKAB8dfhplkv18zimtKEsiG3Cme_YJtn58FgdzRLdiLyG9mrvsh1dy2DiR7lADwwMOUIVupSGrfVQvqoAhDloU_u9Hu_w/s320/Ariaf%20frong.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><p></p><p>Here's a nice album of Riffi pop tracks from singer/songwriter Abdelkader Ariaf. I picked this up in Tangier in 2001. </p><p>Ariaf was born in Nador and lives in Rotterdam [1]. His <a href="https://www.facebook.com/abdelkader.ariaf.9/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page indicates that he performs often in Europe, but I could find little biographical information about him online. There are a couple of video interviews with him on YouTube ([1], [2]), but they were in Tarriffit (which I don't speak) and did not appear to address the beginnings of his career or its trajectory. He first traveled to Europe in the year 2000, but I don't know how long he's been living there. </p><p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C3Ogog_yfTU" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe>
</p><p>Ariaf is active on social media (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/abdelkader.ariaf.9/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmX35qKJFnZh8AiH9AS3VnA" target="_blank">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@abdelkader_ariaf" target="_blank">TikTok</a>), and continues to release new music. In addition to YouTube, much of his music can be found on the international streaming platforms (Apple, Spotify, Amazon), including albums that date back to 1996. This particular album doesn't seem to be available anywhere.</p><p>Enjoy!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmduSZV-fb2S9nAQgGzaIGA006dUMjHH7wL12eC1qbDTvCvPRUKEgYpjr-S9W0AQF6NYGTI0o083CIHbOtmot6pLYvISBuwUKXMEwUDTCOo-mnZRHlRwLOmEhMKHROmnkAoETYPMp2n8zLJ-YnACno8s3NO5bK1Oh_sN2y77ig7KhLQDh2s3gR4EoObQ/s1186/ariaf-back.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="762" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmduSZV-fb2S9nAQgGzaIGA006dUMjHH7wL12eC1qbDTvCvPRUKEgYpjr-S9W0AQF6NYGTI0o083CIHbOtmot6pLYvISBuwUKXMEwUDTCOo-mnZRHlRwLOmEhMKHROmnkAoETYPMp2n8zLJ-YnACno8s3NO5bK1Oh_sN2y77ig7KhLQDh2s3gR4EoObQ/s320/ariaf-back.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><p><b><u>Abdelkader Ariaf<br />Mlih - Mlih </u><br /></b>Disco Melilia cassette<br /><br />A1 Wazzay Adhzouigh وزي أذزويغ<br />A2 Amsrqigh أمسرقيغ<br />A3 Adhqsagh Idoudan أذقسغ إضوضان<br />B1 Thite Inou ثيط إينو<br />B2 Allah Ihennik الليهنيك<br />B3 Mlih Mlih مليح مليح<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/ygl7kb3ce8b3spp/AA-MM-DMC-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/vep25vezk4a3ikc/AA-MM-DMC-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></p><p>[1] "Welcome Thamazight ويكلوم تمازيغت" Episode 8 الحلقة الثامنة, Directed by Said Azar إخراج سعيد أزار, SNRT 8 Tamazight 2020. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nJ6pItwLjk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nJ6pItwLjk</a></p><p>[2] "Abdelkader Ariaf عبد القادر أرياف", Episode of "Rqehwa Akd Unazur قهوة مع فنان", Directed by Mourad Mimouni إخراج مراد ميموني, NadorCity 2015. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4SsWDRkamk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4SsWDRkamk</a><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-30385205441150615142022-08-07T00:57:00.000-07:002022-08-07T00:57:48.993-07:00Ahmed Ould Kaddour - Moul El Âloua<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9wz4iwt4IGhPqdbZF0Sto6m82wHP3U_eLt3dpv19vUwpRyeAgplhPuzletPUDjUKjKSvk7AeWqJ69lR4QhUpgvhohkKbrJvbFK_vHsp1Q6W-Faw9-dLgPK2g_bsr-FEGOK6Ku0Fj7W5HotM5ELJ4f6zqDOr6_TQP7VQgklV1q6J0bC4L5PtjYSmeusQ/s578/Kaddour%20Image.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="385" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9wz4iwt4IGhPqdbZF0Sto6m82wHP3U_eLt3dpv19vUwpRyeAgplhPuzletPUDjUKjKSvk7AeWqJ69lR4QhUpgvhohkKbrJvbFK_vHsp1Q6W-Faw9-dLgPK2g_bsr-FEGOK6Ku0Fj7W5HotM5ELJ4f6zqDOr6_TQP7VQgklV1q6J0bC4L5PtjYSmeusQ/s320/Kaddour%20Image.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<p></p>"El Âloua" is one of the most famous and moving pieces of the <i>âita</i> repertoire, a staple at weddings and other parties, performed both by modern <i>chaâbi</i> groups and by traditional<i> </i>groups of <i>chikhate</i>. Like most <i>âita</i> songs, it is not associated with a single performer but rather belongs to the collective patrimony. However, the best version of the song, according to many, is that of singer and <i>lotar</i> player Ahmed Ould Kaddour.<p></p><p>Ould Kaddour was born in 1934 in the town of Ben Ahmed. After performing locally for some years, he began in 1960 to divide his time between Ben Ahmed and Casablanca. Kaddour is sometimes called <i>Moul El Âloua</i>, i.e., owner or master of "El Âloua". </p><p>The term <i>âloua</i> in Moroccan Arabic means "small hill" or "hillock". The lyrics of the song "El Âloua" recount the itinerary of a pilgrimage to a specific hillock near Ben Ahmed where a group of saints' shrines are located. According to <i>âita</i> aficionados and performers, Ould Kaddour's version of "El Âloua" is considered the best because of his knowledge of the geography of the region and the location of the individual shrines [1]. Some say that he was the first performer to introduce this level of detail into the song [2]. Ethnomusicologist Alessandra Ciucci writes that the song is "celebrated for its ability to convey images and emotions stirred by the sacred voyage, and for allowing the audience to have the sense of participating in this experience as if it is occurring." [1] (For a deep dive into "El Âloua", its lyrics, the way it emerges in the course of performance, and the crucial role of women performers in shaping it, see Ciucci's excellent article, cited below.)<br />
</p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6_6z-q747aM" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe><br />
</p><p>I am quite taken by Ould Kaddour's <i>lotar</i> playing. Whereas most <i>lotar</i>
players use a plectrum, Kaddour strums the strings with his fingers,
resulting in a more delicate sound, It reminds me, at times, of the
sound of the Mauritanian <i>tidnit</i>. </p><p>Ahmed Ould Kaddour remains alive and well as far as I can tell. The most recent news I found was about him being honored at the 2017 National Festival of the Lotar. [3] </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIkzxJ801dtIctxkiMSJ_p_tsI31bIQ9mtUaboqenL9CT6mm_VewvWLn56rkgYVgjLw9MJ7QNbUUZBbV8nu5_iZOn-fxBEu5XmE8xejxjaVdZNzLrso6V5fh7cwOOO0GR2HnqpAHUUawtXWe63urzKYRfINPoAHHi8oDVNEVwVjokOKWcn1uRYQ1Wc3g/s1330/Sakhi%20Disque%20shell%201.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1330" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIkzxJ801dtIctxkiMSJ_p_tsI31bIQ9mtUaboqenL9CT6mm_VewvWLn56rkgYVgjLw9MJ7QNbUUZBbV8nu5_iZOn-fxBEu5XmE8xejxjaVdZNzLrso6V5fh7cwOOO0GR2HnqpAHUUawtXWe63urzKYRfINPoAHHi8oDVNEVwVjokOKWcn1uRYQ1Wc3g/s320/Sakhi%20Disque%20shell%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Discographic itinerary (for those who enjoy these things):<p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>A friend gave me this tape many years ago. It came with no j-card - only a a piece of paper with "No. African Folk" written on it.</li><li>Being a human from the cassette era, I have only recently discovered that if I ask my phone to identify a song, Google will often be able to identify it when I stick my my phone near a speaker. This has transformed my last few months of non-playlisted radio listening (I'm looking at you KALX).<br /></li><li>I recently played this tape and, having no clue who the artist was, I half-jokingly asked Google "What is this song?". To my astonishment, the Google lady came back with "Mrida - Aandak Takhlae - Lahssab" by Ahmed Oueld Kadour.</li><li>I searched for the track online and found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5mjxv5yss8" target="_blank">this recording</a> on YouTube. The song wasn't an exact match, but it was definitely the same artist! (I guess the lotar riffing was close enough for Google to consider it a match.)<br /></li><li>Armed with the artist's name, I hit the internet running, scouring for information. The aforementioned YouTube track was uploaded from the now-not-very-user-friendly-and-all-old-links-are-now-dead Yala.fm. However, <a href="https://www.ournia.co/en/artist/ahmed-oueld-kadour" target="_blank">Ournia</a> seems to have all the tracks previously found at Yala. A number of Ould Kaddour tracks can be found at <a href="https://archive.org/details/ahmedOuldKaddour" target="_blank">Settatbladi's page</a> on the Internet Archive - where I found matches and titles for some of the music on my tape. (I wish I could find the title for Track 3 of the tape - the 6-minute unmetered introduction to the track is phenomenal.)</li><li>The long Track 2 begins on side 1 and ends on side 2 of the tape. I was able to stitch them together into an uninterrupted single track.<br /></li><li>Finally, I grabbed the artwork from the only Kaddour tape I saw on <a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/16455372-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D9%88%D9%84%D8%AF-%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B1-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%83%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%83-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%82" target="_blank">Discogs</a>. It's not the same album as mine, but I was able to work with the graphic, so there you go.</li></ul><p>Hope you enjoy this tape. And hope you're all having a lovely summer! <br /></p><u><b>Ahmed Oueld Kadour أحمد ولد قدور<br />Sakhi Disque cassette الساخ ديسك</b></u><br /><br />01 Moul Qoubba - Merchoum Sdar<br />02 El Âloua - Hbiba<br />03 Track 3<p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/gwo65b2gfrqa0j1/AOK-SDC-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/w9laks35ot138it/AOK-SDC-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a> <br /></p><p><b>References: </b><br /></p><p>[1] Alessandra Ciucci (2017) "Performing ‘L-ʿalwa’: a sacred and erotic journey in Morocco", <i>Ethnomusicology Forum</i>, 26:2, 151-170. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17411912.2017.1338595">https://doi.org/10.1080/17411912.2017.1338595</a> <br /></p><p>[2] "Shikh Ahmed Ould Kaddour الشيخ أحمد ولد قدور". Episode of<i> Sounaâ al fourja </i><br /><i><i>صناع الفرجة</i></i>, Directed by Larbi Toto إخراج العربي توتو, Al Aoula 2010. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNMrbKgbcRY">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNMrbKgbcRY</a></p><p>[3] "سطات: مهرجان لوتار في دورته السابعة يكرم الشيخ ولد قدور مبدع «العلوة» (Settat: 7th Edition of the National Lotar Festival Celebrates Shikh Ould Kaddour, Originator of El Âloua)". Article published at Casa 24, December 3, 2017. <a href="https://www.casa24.ma/culture/10429.html">https://www.casa24.ma/culture/10429.html</a><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-61016520584359283262022-03-26T10:26:00.001-07:002022-03-26T10:26:35.134-07:00Al Boudali Ahmed - New Mountain Variety<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DJHVyyhVL2VcR_nRQ9LFcwd6MCWug9ZeWa9pcglMlK1D9On3NXjuu8FjwfE1NQyN_6R2H4QyGXSm4uLq9JzshS5q_VegoP64eDSNFlHf-C4TNnFYvF6rFSCoNvIeraVYIY_CRabLdvWhLlhs41xNS8yrusFjVu3S3f-haMe511UX8IEpUCp2GYhR6Q/s1209/Al%20Boudali%20Ahmed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1209" data-original-width="1199" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DJHVyyhVL2VcR_nRQ9LFcwd6MCWug9ZeWa9pcglMlK1D9On3NXjuu8FjwfE1NQyN_6R2H4QyGXSm4uLq9JzshS5q_VegoP64eDSNFlHf-C4TNnFYvF6rFSCoNvIeraVYIY_CRabLdvWhLlhs41xNS8yrusFjVu3S3f-haMe511UX8IEpUCp2GYhR6Q/s320/Al%20Boudali%20Ahmed.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><p></p><p>New Jeblia Selections is probably a better translation, but New Mountain Variety (which Google gave me as a translation of منوعات جبلية جديدة) sounds like something you'd find in the Stash.<br /></p><p>And a nice variety it is, too, provided by the artist Al Boudali Ahmed, about whom I can find absolutely no trace on the interwebs. Side A is a nice long track of <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/search/label/Taktouka%20Jbaliya" target="_blank"><i>taktouka jabalia</i></a>, and side B contains two tracks of Jbala-flavored <i>chaâbi</i>. Here's a pinch:</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0mrANg7hWWc" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe><p>I picked up this tape during my visit to Tangier in 2001. Find additional varieties from Northern Morocco in my 2013-14 posts <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/search/label/Jbala" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/search/label/Tariffit" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /></p><p><u><b>Al Boudali Ahmad الفنان البودالي احمد<br />Visa Disque cassette 10 ڤيزا ديسك</b></u><br />A1 Taktouka Jbalia<br />A2 Bonus Derdeg<br />B1 Moulay Bouchta<br />B2 Jibouli Ezzine Nchoufou</p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/n5l49di1xb9d5y7/ABA-VC10-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/n57rd32sl8rm2nc/ABA-VC10-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-4739884174783649562022-03-19T21:38:00.000-07:002022-03-19T21:38:10.944-07:00Mahmoud Gania - More from the Crazy Drum Kit Session<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjAt9DcBf-dlBtEOKI90Kbvg8T6fda4pByIQoHg7-va4Bx_-sZxKp5IdssJmaxQxtPzqYl11n_nQG-MtviPC8HAbNrI9Ydbg2WLjxz4ty34WBadutwK-zigOHcBpHNyKnOCkH7GVEMOd0pfb35Irc101rvG1WMLN8J7qQDyN83VaAHDI6dMo-G9IX8d3Q=s1204" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1198" data-original-width="1204" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjAt9DcBf-dlBtEOKI90Kbvg8T6fda4pByIQoHg7-va4Bx_-sZxKp5IdssJmaxQxtPzqYl11n_nQG-MtviPC8HAbNrI9Ydbg2WLjxz4ty34WBadutwK-zigOHcBpHNyKnOCkH7GVEMOd0pfb35Irc101rvG1WMLN8J7qQDyN83VaAHDI6dMo-G9IX8d3Q=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>This post is a sequel to <a href="https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2011/06/mahmoud-guinia-with-insane-drum-kit-aka.html" target="_blank">one of the earliest posts</a> on Moroccan Tape Stash back in 2011. That post shared the tape Voix de Casablanca VDC 53, one of the wildest tapes in the Stash - raucous drum kit rolicking and
punctuating along with in-your-face breakneck qarqabas, and non-stop thumping
guinbri. </p><p>Today I'm sharing VDC 51, which duplicates a fair amount of what's on VDC 53. Of its six tracks, only 3 do not appear completely or partially on VDC 53. These 3 new tracks (A1, B3, and B4) do not feature the outlandish drummer, but from the sound of the mix and the musicians, they sound like they come from the same recording session. Of the 3 overlapping crazy drummer tracks, 2 contain shorter versions of things on VDC 53 (A2 and B1), while one contains extended material not found on VDC 53 (B2).<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTeEkO4Aw3NHNlvlhgDpSdPnAWHQ1Z11z2GHBG8uuePoiBHc2W5VO2rUvRTZS3o5wwdhm5L5wYDZC11r3FnP4BBNawbn8GCof_CUUoS0G9GDGPzAHINXh6vVrN7P8E0cHE-02nlTEKNDUC8xhoSEXQ1JXcZeHYXLgu3aueFz23_0pmovPGpk9Rt-bo1g=s1214" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1214" data-original-width="1203" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTeEkO4Aw3NHNlvlhgDpSdPnAWHQ1Z11z2GHBG8uuePoiBHc2W5VO2rUvRTZS3o5wwdhm5L5wYDZC11r3FnP4BBNawbn8GCof_CUUoS0G9GDGPzAHINXh6vVrN7P8E0cHE-02nlTEKNDUC8xhoSEXQ1JXcZeHYXLgu3aueFz23_0pmovPGpk9Rt-bo1g=s320" width="317" /></a></i></div> So in addition to sharing the full version of VDC 51, I'm also sharing an <i>EXPANDED EDITION </i>of VDC 53, incorporating 4 additional glorious minutes of insane drum kit mayhem not featured on the original tape. I was going to call it The Complete Warren Beatty Sessions since, as I noted before, the gentleman pictured on the j-card, who we assume to be the drummer, does bear a resemblance to the actor. However, one holds out hope that there is a VDC 52 cassette out there
somewhere that may contain even more drum madness from this session.<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdZ1fLuX1vEUD68pqBShBUlIiRlADZvWpDRDw7K4CExF92EOyBJYIOYfBj8VfAywlTtXw0BiVfP8eKVcyYbyyVftmw8463MxOZtdZSPGyYKw3Pdtc3CED2_vOLpQrtu_jiQTgLZuQeMtzt1L1S5yaLTCjymWVTmBmmNIBu1izSweBYT1JhKed8oN0THg=s1416" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="1416" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdZ1fLuX1vEUD68pqBShBUlIiRlADZvWpDRDw7K4CExF92EOyBJYIOYfBj8VfAywlTtXw0BiVfP8eKVcyYbyyVftmw8463MxOZtdZSPGyYKw3Pdtc3CED2_vOLpQrtu_jiQTgLZuQeMtzt1L1S5yaLTCjymWVTmBmmNIBu1izSweBYT1JhKed8oN0THg=w320-h214" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">VDC 51 shell</span></i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Discographic Questions</b>: The two albums VDC 51 and VDC 53 are clearly related - the
cassette company is of course the same, the photos show Mâalem Mahmoud in the
same clothes at the same studio, and the music on the two tapes appears to come from the same session. However, I do have questions. The cassette shells for both
tapes do not read Voix de Casablanca, but rather Fassiphone. The track names listed on each j-card are completely different from the songs featured on each cassette. And the singing doesn't really sound to me like Mâalem Mahmoud. So I have wondered whether in fact these cassettes are matched with the correct j-cards. If it were just one cassette, it would be plausible that the wrong tape ended up in the wrong jewel box at the tape shop one day. However, for the same error to happen to 2 different, clearly related tapes, is a bit much to believe. </p><p>So the questions remain: Is this really Mahmoud Gania? Are these tapes really meant to accompany these j-cards? If so, why are the track names wrong? Who is the funky drummer and where can I hear more of him? Maybe we'll learn more, maybe not. At any rate, I hope you enjoy these, and I wish you all a good Ramadan coming up.</p><p><u><b>L-Gnawi Mahmoud Gania لڴناوي محمود ڴنيا<br />Voix De Casablanca cassette VDC 51 صوت البيضاء</b></u><br /><br />A1) Allahuma Selliw 3la Nbi Ou S7abu Lillah<br /> Sala 3lik Ya Nabi<br /> Marrakchia a Lalla<br /> Aicha ou Mali<br /> Moulay Atferrej 3lia<br /> Salla 3lih<br /> Malika<br />A2) Lalla Mira<br /> Moulati Fatma<br /> Soussi<br /> Malika<br /> Moulay Abdellah Cherif<br />B1) Salbani 'Awju Koman Aliya<br />B2) Galuli Toubi<br /> Wali Moulay Driss<br /> Tijania<br />B3) Allah A Baba Mimoun <br />B4) Mwi A Mwi Wach Qdaw Ila Berhu Bia <br /> Malika<br /></p><div><div><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/ik3n0f635fe3g44/LGMG-VDC51-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/jtz20qayofefyd6/LGMG-VDC51-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a></div><div> </div><div><u><b>L-Gnawi Mahmoud Gania لڴناوي محمود ڴنيا<br />Voix De Casablanca cassette VDC 53 صوت البيضاء</b><br />Moroccan Tape Stash Expanded Edition 2022 </u><br /></div><div></div><div> </div><div>01) Lalla Mira<br /> Moulati Fatma<br /> Soussi<br /> Malika<br /> Moulay Abdellah Cherif<br /> Bouya Ribu<br /> Lemwima Hada Mektab<br /> Llahi blik ma blani<br /> Selliw 'ala Nnbi<br /> Llah Llah Nabina<br /><b>02) Galuli Toubi<br /> Wali Moulay Driss<br /> Tijaniya</b><br />
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<br />03) Jilali Dawi Hali<br /> Lagnawi Baba Mimoun<br />04) Salbani 'Awju Koman 'Aliya<br /> Lalla L'arosa<br /> Mulay Abdellah Cherif<br /> Lalla Fatima Zohra<br /> Lahbib Sidi Rasul Allah<br /> Sla u Salam 'alik a ya Taha</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/cq41kwmmv4emtaw/LGMG-VDC53-EXP-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/idetagprgkn2o66/LGMG-VDC53-EXP-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></div></div>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-55733606196872343782022-02-27T11:21:00.003-08:002022-02-27T16:13:02.066-08:00Rouicha - Rarad Amazan رَارَادْ أَمَزَانْ <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmm-KAAfhml34FciOx6sEbEwwMCJVJijCYrN13HIEkJ6i7hp6GKFwhSC5YOe3pBTwuPBOECDagam3qhvW_8p-oKLBUqexF4sBGEBUvKueQOIBcyJddg5fHjDAD6dbVH1Vbf_xCHNVsenWrvuwa3TcSBvpKP6Je_ZMiyKMNxHY7cizenokzkYs_iVxqrQ=s1232" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="1232" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmm-KAAfhml34FciOx6sEbEwwMCJVJijCYrN13HIEkJ6i7hp6GKFwhSC5YOe3pBTwuPBOECDagam3qhvW_8p-oKLBUqexF4sBGEBUvKueQOIBcyJddg5fHjDAD6dbVH1Vbf_xCHNVsenWrvuwa3TcSBvpKP6Je_ZMiyKMNxHY7cizenokzkYs_iVxqrQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>Here's another Rouicha album that I don't see on any of the streaming platforms. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqbspYi-4l05S3VNkIa0-OpNF7DKPCV9bPXtFCjn_2SQ88BYKgkeyODa-MLL-3nvuZj21fMekdLv3C7FvXBrCqskvvaLdEIGdXzix5yBG6Zkv7gniAp6G83BKhRLZjpaWJCGGiKpu6JI02ScTUQEt0WI8X-h_tWZLsb-1FEP0nAasaOPopRsaGXmXBPQ=s1365" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="939" data-original-width="1365" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqbspYi-4l05S3VNkIa0-OpNF7DKPCV9bPXtFCjn_2SQ88BYKgkeyODa-MLL-3nvuZj21fMekdLv3C7FvXBrCqskvvaLdEIGdXzix5yBG6Zkv7gniAp6G83BKhRLZjpaWJCGGiKpu6JI02ScTUQEt0WI8X-h_tWZLsb-1FEP0nAasaOPopRsaGXmXBPQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div>Rouicha's albums are always sung either completely in Arabic (Moroccan <i>darija</i>) or completely in Tamazight (Middle Atlas dialect). Today's offering is the first one I've shared where he sings in Tamazight. Although the grooves and rhythms are basically the same as on his Arabic songs, the melodies tend to be a little different - less wide ranging, remaining in a narrow ambitus. Interestingly on this tape there are 3 distinct vocal groups - Rouicha singing solo, a female respondent group, and a male respondent group.<p></p><p>Enjoy! <br /></p>
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<p><u><b>Rouicha نجم الموسم رويشة و مجموعته<br />Tichkaphone cassette TCK788 تشكافون<br /></b></u><br />A1 Aghoudeh Labas أَغْدحْ لَابَاسْ<br />A2 Awaroutn Ayoulinou أَوَارُوتْنعْ ايْولِينوُِ<br />B1 Rarad Amazan رَارَادْ أَمَزَانْ<br />B2 Ahidous أحِيدُوسْ <br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/i4qntyzvubgt1o1/R-TCK788-3PM.zip/file">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/p8udfe9tvymkc4g/R-TCK788-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-48223372060216262842022-02-19T13:38:00.005-08:002022-02-27T16:13:32.190-08:00Rouicha - Ouaili Ouaili وايلي وايلي<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUUa6mnvnRamFziRhGbDP-hqmpHLeUdMqdS-MJF_5IkZafYoHc2P373-U-72Ig98kISwhStnZE9ewUP0pYxpRUWtISYkmRgn0QuezJ9LfuHW2dLCOQPiu2NjcA0xYTJ5rION1PytOv2AM_gkLSNs9gu_z0Mil4uARkOP1yJo7k457XPLaXIvRn92KuGg=s1235" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="1235" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUUa6mnvnRamFziRhGbDP-hqmpHLeUdMqdS-MJF_5IkZafYoHc2P373-U-72Ig98kISwhStnZE9ewUP0pYxpRUWtISYkmRgn0QuezJ9LfuHW2dLCOQPiu2NjcA0xYTJ5rION1PytOv2AM_gkLSNs9gu_z0Mil4uARkOP1yJo7k457XPLaXIvRn92KuGg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p>Here's a great album by <i>lotar</i>-master Mohamed Rouicha. It's been a while since I posted anything by Rouicha, though we've recently featured some of his <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2021/12/hassania-awesome-amazigh-artiste-from.html" target="_blank">collaborators</a> and an <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2022/01/pluck-yeah-1980s-electric-guitar-chaabi.html" target="_blank">album of covers</a> of his songs. <br /></p><p>Rouicha's albums rarely differ from the standard format - 4 songs over 2 sides of a cassette, all with <i>lotar</i>, some <i>bendirs</i>, and one or several female vocalists singing the song's refrains. It's a great formula, and there's LOTS of Rouicha's music available online, much of it aggregated at the <a href="https://lazyproduction-arabtunes.blogspot.com/2016/03/mohamed-rouicha.html" target="_blank">Arab Tunes blog</a> and at <a href="https://www.ournia.co/en/artist/rouicha" target="_blank">Ournia</a>. I'd already posted 3 Rouicha albums <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2011/06/mohammed-rouicha-afak-al-hwa-hda-liya.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2012/01/rouicha-rip-1950-2012.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2014/03/rouicha-ayam-essghur-zina.html" target="_blank">here</a>. So I hadn't gone back through my Rouicha tapes for a while.<br /></p><p>Somehow, though, this album didn't appear anywhere online, even on YouTube. I hadn't listened to it in a long time, and didn't remember it being this good. There's a nice organic push and pull of dynamics between the <i>lotar</i> and the <i>bendir</i>s. Some songs alternate between different melodic sections. (Middle Atlas songs often repeat the same melodic material over and over.) And of course Rouicha's touch on the <i>lotar</i> is always a gift. Enjoy!<br /></p><p>
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<br /></p><p><u><b>Rouicha نجم الموسم رويشة<br />Tichkaphone cassette TCK872 تشكافون</b></u><br /><br />A1 Ouaili Ouaili وايلي وايلي<br />A2 Ezzine الزين<br />B1 Mahboubi محبوبي<br />B2 Al Âshqin العاشقين<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/jvmc2277xtugnyv/R-TCK872-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/ztku0qm6whdva30/R-TCK872-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-69628980551682963002022-02-06T13:14:00.000-08:002022-02-06T13:14:27.339-08:00Brahim El Alami<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitqThWANwxlu4JA8cpx_bh2Hzm-M3mkQv_xrKN5lOV61qzAKmQaR25psZD3TNnyaYk_QjgbSBT15SOJUKacz9b4N4wWLjVgKqtTxHsw92BckPV-AG9YpziZXkshu8QP5k1wO8pV5ERJbB1t6xWFuPpMkk0n4DXew1j1GvjLq0rLSsZx8OOdgy9dB2Tpg=s1234" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1209" data-original-width="1234" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitqThWANwxlu4JA8cpx_bh2Hzm-M3mkQv_xrKN5lOV61qzAKmQaR25psZD3TNnyaYk_QjgbSBT15SOJUKacz9b4N4wWLjVgKqtTxHsw92BckPV-AG9YpziZXkshu8QP5k1wO8pV5ERJbB1t6xWFuPpMkk0n4DXew1j1GvjLq0rLSsZx8OOdgy9dB2Tpg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p>Here's a tape of songs by composer, oud player, singer, and conductor Brahim El Alami (1930-2000). I believe they date from the 1960s and were released originally on 7" singles. I picked up this Tichkaphone compilation in the 1990s.</p><p>A native of Casablanca, El Alami is praised for incorporating elements of Moroccan folk music into his <i>chanson moderne</i> / <i>musiqa âsriya </i>compositions. I can't identify those specifically, but I do get the sense that his lyrics and melodies feel natural to the rhythmic flow of Moroccan Arabic. (<i>Âsriya</i> can sometimes feel overly Middle Eastern.)<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHNIQZYVDbm538c8q2D6XwV6q7H2zM4NliyIpMo8gNRCHX63l2BHh2rtIZz8k5ybjZpOHIr3G6xBh7qSgBt_eHFLj0a2RStcetSDqN35_2H8D6i1B0f2iARcC5JGNONPhPBzvXLipQKXDoZAbGOm8dPlMuD4nnkvgvd-aFoWUK_Owm1D7TPHl0G3DVjQ=s1353" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="882" data-original-width="1353" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHNIQZYVDbm538c8q2D6XwV6q7H2zM4NliyIpMo8gNRCHX63l2BHh2rtIZz8k5ybjZpOHIr3G6xBh7qSgBt_eHFLj0a2RStcetSDqN35_2H8D6i1B0f2iARcC5JGNONPhPBzvXLipQKXDoZAbGOm8dPlMuD4nnkvgvd-aFoWUK_Owm1D7TPHl0G3DVjQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div>Apologies - this isn't an ideal copy of the tape. I've edited out the 70 seconds where the kids got ahold of the tape player and pressed the wrong button (beginning of side B); the tape snapped at some point and got repaired (early side A / late side B), and the levels fluctuate here and there (I've tried to adjust that). And the final track "Ait Ourir" sounds like it fades out early. Still, this is an enjoyable, old-school set of songs!<p></p><p>You can find these songs and many others of Brahim el Alami on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%85+%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A" target="_blank">YouTube</a>. More of his music is available at <a href="https://www.ournia.co/en/artist/brahim-al-alami" target="_blank">Ournia</a> as well as on global platforms like Spotify, etc. </p><p><u><b>Brahim El Alami ابراهيم العلمي<br />Tichkaphone cassette TCK 546 </b></u>تشكافون<br /><br /><b>A1 Khellini Bâid خليني بعيد
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</b><br />A2 Ya Lli Sourtek Bin Âinay ياللي صورتك بين عيني<br />B1 Allah Isamhek الله يسامحك<br />B2 Ait Ourir آيت أورير<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/lopp9udbnxzz5t3/BEA-TCK546-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/387rd1pe49sy4q2/BEA-TCK546-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-17969547708911915672022-01-30T13:48:00.002-08:002022-01-30T13:48:29.078-08:00Half of a Houariyat Tape Will Rock You Better Than Most Full Albums<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjUhrqqt03OK62iqXzC8sTfNiu-b1VkrnQ1GXKqKtXPWSUeChelVr-Rk6PZ16g9-3ZHJOKmi68vuyAAyfZ76pJ9vNIFu5PovztMSTncc-Gq_IGvPuEFY9XbgmoYE5eLQUndCY275cTkSWRtW_wXXdAu9RU2IQhdlpoOlXtrgKxOMAZbGHgWqepXNJtBA=s1186" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="1182" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjUhrqqt03OK62iqXzC8sTfNiu-b1VkrnQ1GXKqKtXPWSUeChelVr-Rk6PZ16g9-3ZHJOKmi68vuyAAyfZ76pJ9vNIFu5PovztMSTncc-Gq_IGvPuEFY9XbgmoYE5eLQUndCY275cTkSWRtW_wXXdAu9RU2IQhdlpoOlXtrgKxOMAZbGHgWqepXNJtBA=s320" width="319" /></a></div><p></p><p>Here's some killer Houariyat sounds from Marrakech. This women's vocal and percussion tradition is some of the most joyful, raucous music I know. Sadly, the tape met an unfriendly player at some point over the last 20 years. But this half of a Houariyat tape will rock you better than most full albums.</p><p>
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</p><p>For more Moroccan women's percussion group sounds, check the Stash's offerings from <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/search/label/Houariyat" target="_blank">Houariyat</a> and <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/search/label/%27Aouiniyat" target="_blank">Âouniyat</a> groups. <br /></p><p></p><u><b>Al Houariyat الهواريات<br />Led by Jmiâ Al Marrakchia برئاسة جميعة المراكشية<br /></b>Sawt Al Menara cassette MN.32 صوت المنارة<br /></u>c. 2000<br /><p>A1 Sir Âlia Aymanek (snippet) سير عليى ايمانك<br />A2 Al Âyyadi العيادي<br />A3 Nouri Ya L-Ghaba<br />B1 Ghir Jini Nichan غير جيني نيشان<br />B2 Khurji ya Najat (snippet) خورجي يا نجاة<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/o66fqnmjl08qr44/AH-SEM-MN32-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/bb0hdjjjcv6fzra/AH-SEM-MN32-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-42042338300898344692022-01-22T15:59:00.001-08:002022-01-22T15:59:22.687-08:00Haj Abdelmoghit - Star of the Âita Bidaouia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrKLKhp300tyJhLa_uS0x0-JGffNG4TY-Mk10Yahm-Q2OQK47bZPNkF8ueaflM66JmzAq5d4ELeL0jf2B3vKnqRsrp4PxzPW0qpm9Qf70XLMbm194CT4TXRllEQBvWN_xeSRpzj1FAeceSFOVFTDX0ikhDMCXm-0bs470rsYQXbIJvckH2NuyKHvohSQ=s1195" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1195" data-original-width="1181" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrKLKhp300tyJhLa_uS0x0-JGffNG4TY-Mk10Yahm-Q2OQK47bZPNkF8ueaflM66JmzAq5d4ELeL0jf2B3vKnqRsrp4PxzPW0qpm9Qf70XLMbm194CT4TXRllEQBvWN_xeSRpzj1FAeceSFOVFTDX0ikhDMCXm-0bs470rsYQXbIJvckH2NuyKHvohSQ=s320" width="316" /></a></div><br />2 long tracks of 21st century <i>âita </i>&<i> chaâbi</i> for your pleasure, from the microphone of Haj Abdelmoghit. I know I tend to wax nostalgic for the era of electric guitars and raucous drum kits in <i>chaâbi</i>, but I am not immune to the joys of more recent stylings. This album keeps it real with a viola, some light keyboard (and yeah, a synth bass), heavy on the percussion, and isn't that a drum kit down there in the mix? This works for me. And the album has the flow of an actual live set of music as you'd hear it in performance: begin with something slow and heavy, move through several songs, connected via violin-driven instrumental passages as the tempo speeds up and the sung call/response phrases get shorter and shorter, and ending at blistering speed with a punchy rhythmic phrase to cue the end of the song.<br /><p></p><p>Ah that good <i>âita bidaouia</i> feeling! Abdelmoghit Essaidi (b. 1965, Casablanca) quit his bank job to pursue a career singing it. He's enjoyed great success as a real crowd-pleaser of course at weddings but also at concerts (such as the big <a href="https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2017/04/213481/amazigh-rai-gnaoua-chaabi-and-hassani-artists-to-perfom-at-mawazine" target="_blank">Mawazine Festival in 2017</a>). And he has even become a favorite among the Moroccan royals, performing at the <a href="https://alyaoum24.com/166678.html" target="_blank">wedding of Princess Lalla Soukaina</a> in 2013. <br /></p><p>Several of his albums can be streamed at Ournia: <a href="https://www.ournia.co/artist/el-haj-abdelmoghit#">https://www.ournia.co/artist/el-haj-abdelmoghit#</a><br /></p><p>Official Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hajabdelmoughitofficiel">https://www.facebook.com/hajabdelmoughitofficiel</a><br /></p><p><u><b>Abdelmoghit عبد المغيت<br />Najm al Âita al Bidaouia نجم العيطة البيضاوية</b><br />Moughitphone 20/06/07 مغيت فون</u><br />2007<br /><br /><u>Side A</u><br /> Settat Bladi السطات بلادي<br /> Nti ou Ana انتي وانا<br /><b> Souhaba الصوحابة</b><br />
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<br /> Irjaâ Oulad Bladi ارجع اولاد بلادي<br /> Touachi تواشي<br /><br /><u>Side B</u><br /> Hani Mourak Hani Kdamek هاني موراك هاني كدامك<br /> Moula Âin Ettout مولا عين التوت<br /> Lemouima الميمة<br /> Al Âar al Hbab العار الحباب<br /> Chibani الشيباني<br /> Touachi التواشي</p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/1fcpkb3yr8ya2g4/A-NAAAB-2007-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/gcajmlytqpgtwpx/A-NAAAB-2007-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-55407816022521960842022-01-15T17:38:00.000-08:002022-01-15T17:38:11.577-08:00Orchestre Nassim Bourgogne - Nadia Nadia Bache Bdeltini<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPWtXJ0lOV_z7oLFxeyreujCpHqo2ufrbnTFCsuIm1m7y-R3M1LEVtX7JwUkMq3wqRgn9y68j5KI1NEsVCPytbyeE5aU7XaTWKdfjqZrP_jdHlM2X29_5sKhwbCRb0ifxIVtgpeOS_Nwr_i78ocNOeY3Z5vKiJVRBhYjC_h8JMvfJvDA5Abl921DnKCg=s1179" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1159" data-original-width="1179" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPWtXJ0lOV_z7oLFxeyreujCpHqo2ufrbnTFCsuIm1m7y-R3M1LEVtX7JwUkMq3wqRgn9y68j5KI1NEsVCPytbyeE5aU7XaTWKdfjqZrP_jdHlM2X29_5sKhwbCRb0ifxIVtgpeOS_Nwr_i78ocNOeY3Z5vKiJVRBhYjC_h8JMvfJvDA5Abl921DnKCg=s320" width="320" /></a></div>Here's some of that good early 90s <i>chaâbi</i>! The artist here is Orchestre Nassim Bourgogne - not to be confused with
the famous Noujoum Bourgogne/Mustapha Bourgogne, though one assumes
that they hail from the same neighborhood, namely Bourgogne in
Casablanca. The catchy catchy "Nadia Nadia" was a big hit in the summer of 1993, if my memory is correct. <br /><p></p>
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<p>I thought Nassim was the name of the singer, but in fact it's the name of the group - Nassim Bourgogne means "The Bourgogne Breeze". Facebook and YouTube are my only sources of information about the group. The Facebook page <a href="https://fb.watch/ayZiMLkbJU/" target="_blank">شعبيات شبابية مغربية</a> identifies the 3 members of the group as Majid Meziane (singer), his brother Saïd Meziane (percussion) and Fakir Mohamed (viola). They appear to have gained some success in the 1980s and 90s.<br /></p><p>Many audio and video clips of the group can be found on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/HadjBouidiABDOU/search?query=%D9%86%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%85%20" target="_blank">YouTube channel TV HADJ BOUIDI</a>, including this great extended clip from a 1994 concert. <br /></p><p>
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<br /></p><p>The album we're sharing today has orchestration similar to that in the above live clip - there's a drum kit, an electric rhythm guitar and a keyboard. The guitar doesn't get to play much obbligato, other than the opening to "Nadia". I'd love to hear more of that, but I'm also happy to hear it play rhythm/chords, which I prefer so much more than hearing keyboard string or horn pads. And it does play some nice syncopated rhythmic figures during the <i>âita</i> piece that opens side B (audio clip below) - love it!<br /></p><p><u><b>Orchestre Nassim Bourgogne اوركسترا نسيم بورگون<br />Nadia Bache Bdeltini نادية باش بدلتيني</b><br />Sawt El Farah cassette صوت الفرح</u><br />c. 1993<br /><br />A1 Nadia Bache Bdeltini نادية باش بدلتيني<br />A2 S'hour Ettaleb سحور الطالب<br /><b>B1 Chalini الشاليني<br /> Zaêri زعري</b>
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<br />B2 Qalbi Ouellate<br />B3 Ghebti Ya Hbibi غبتي يا حبيبي<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/bbf4jmmf4fp209z/ONB_NBB_1993_3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/t09eqej42ul7x0r/ONB_NBB_1993_CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-91467398512083697652022-01-08T22:33:00.004-08:002022-02-27T11:30:58.626-08:00Pluck Yeah! 1980s Electric Guitar Chaâbi Orchestre Plays Rouicha<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhpHfY_91r7-dLmIP5LUhXaPdpd89cH4mtt0FpmjKoISZII7-8FGN9V4kbg5fOioWueCtm4o_vaBu_IS6jBxKIEhvHR2uYtaQ6aOhoQYkzeW1pfcJYQIx8WbyQtiaYHW_l9o9dFKJxj2H3TCt7hiavotadZ8clL0T6o79Yjfu-GG_ljcxh3GJJuEzItwQ=s1426" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1426" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhpHfY_91r7-dLmIP5LUhXaPdpd89cH4mtt0FpmjKoISZII7-8FGN9V4kbg5fOioWueCtm4o_vaBu_IS6jBxKIEhvHR2uYtaQ6aOhoQYkzeW1pfcJYQIx8WbyQtiaYHW_l9o9dFKJxj2H3TCt7hiavotadZ8clL0T6o79Yjfu-GG_ljcxh3GJJuEzItwQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p>Well here's something old yet different - it's a tape of songs by <i>lotar</i>-master <a href="https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/search/label/Rouicha" target="_blank">Rouicha</a>, performed by a 1980s <i>chaâbi</i> orchestre - viola, drum kit, and <i>darbuka</i>, and driven by an electric guitar! I was just remarking <a href="https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2021/12/hamid-almou-golden-plectrum-of-meknes.html" target="_blank">a couple weeks ago</a> how Middle Atlas <i>lotar</i> songs work so well in a <i>chaâbi</i> context and vice versa. Here is more evidence (apologies - the audio quality is not the best, but the grooves are so good!):</p><p>
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<br /></p><p>The vibe here ☝️ reminds me somewhat of the âita-based guitar-driven sound of <a href="https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/search/label/Noujoum%20el%20Haouz" target="_blank">Noujoum el Haouz</a>. The drum kit is similarly propulsive, and the <i>darbuka</i> and viola pull the track toward the âita sound world. On another track 👇 however, the âita/chaâbi stylings fall away - there is no viola, the singing is in Tamazight, and the drum kit and <i>darbuka</i> switch from chaâbi propulsion to a laid-back Middle Atlas swing. This foreshadows a bit the flangey acoustic guitar-driven Middle Atlas grooves that <a href="https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/search/label/Moulay%20Ahmed%20Elhassani" target="_blank">Moulay Ahmed el Hassani</a> would popularize a few years later.</p><p>
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</p><p>Unfortunately, I have no idea who are the musicians on the cassette or from where they hail. The <a href="https://www.discogs.com/label/1333166-Sawt-Ennassim" target="_blank">Sawt Nassim</a> label was (is?) based in Casablanca, but that doesn't guarantee that the ensemble was based there. I hope someone in YouTube comments can identify the musicians!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwtivPN7ROSs6iMXbnUZu4xsflPwz9QTLUAPygG8QUsZE0AJZridUBJhatqqIQKvJX8sWijmlmZb9noGFDjrnUiiNsBpKtzqMM9GVJIY6ahSA4aqWFocl8vfTpje0pBj2gieQlqzn8pHROf11dsr0AlMYu8zExSScu7_F7-DDI4JmOzAc-EE8X9_Ee8A=s1215" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="1215" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwtivPN7ROSs6iMXbnUZu4xsflPwz9QTLUAPygG8QUsZE0AJZridUBJhatqqIQKvJX8sWijmlmZb9noGFDjrnUiiNsBpKtzqMM9GVJIY6ahSA4aqWFocl8vfTpje0pBj2gieQlqzn8pHROf11dsr0AlMYu8zExSScu7_F7-DDI4JmOzAc-EE8X9_Ee8A=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p>By the way, this cassette came to me from Essaouira (shukran T!) with the j-card pictured at right. I was looking forward to hearing it - the duo Arouiha and Oulad Cherif were featured in <a href="https://www.awesometapes.com/arwiha-and-ouled-sherif/" target="_blank">this old post</a> over at Awesome Tapes From Africa. Was disappointed that the tape did not match the j-card. Luckily, the Sawt Nassim tape it housed is pretty great. Still - that leather tie!<br /> </p><p>The songs on side B of this album are both featured on Rouicha's fabulous album TCK790, still available here: <a href="https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2011/06/mohammed-rouicha-afak-al-hwa-hda-liya.html">https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2011/06/mohammed-rouicha-afak-al-hwa-hda-liya.html</a>. I couldn't identify the first track on side A, but the second track, 'Mani L3ahd Mani L3zazit' (featured in the YouTube clip above) can be found on YouTube in several versions, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKW9yVBp-eU" target="_blank">one of which</a> is attributed to Rouicha. (There's no discographic information, but a YouTube commenter claims it was recorded by Rouicha in 1981). It clearly remains a well-known song, as one can find versions of it performed by many artists on YouTube.<br /> </p><p></p><p>Editing note: Side A and Side B of the tape both end with instrumental intros, and both sides begin with intros cut off. So I grafted the intro from the end of each side to the first track on the other side.</p><p><u><b>Pluck Yeah! 1980s Electric Guitar Chaâbi Orchestre Plays Rouicha<br />Unknown Guitar-Driven Chaâbi Orchestre</b></u><br /><u>Sawt Nassim cassette</u> </p><p>A1 Piste 01<br /><b>A2 Mani L3ahd Mani L3zazit ماني العهد ماني العزازيث (video embedded above)<br />B1 Toub Toub A Rasi توب توب اراس (audio embedded above)</b><br />B2 Lawah a Lawah Ammi Lhubb Iâddeb لواه امي لواه الحب يعدب<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/dlxjn9r759plzj6/PY%2521-1980s-EGCOPR-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/dr0glbf64uzbjun/PY%2521-1980s-EGCOPR-CALF-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a><br /><br /></p><p></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-13501597321930808452021-12-31T01:23:00.005-08:002021-12-31T01:36:24.677-08:00It's Been A Weird Year - You Deserve Some Great Gnawa Music from Essaouira<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLBBZmjvN5DidiJ_ZYPrST40BpjyJCiIK88bTDNueOhQBK28kw5B1VYIl-2HaTwusimdczSX-om_I6S3pO8ZS-_Tf5lFBcyTuP32XWxxBJAEOsjZQPVxHOYFaVdNtCyHDNZ2gY9ifrIL_K3W7MFt2WJEwrQTcyhjuqo1Zw_R_-QkJZHVlQnYHMP1mT0Q=s1186" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="1186" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLBBZmjvN5DidiJ_ZYPrST40BpjyJCiIK88bTDNueOhQBK28kw5B1VYIl-2HaTwusimdczSX-om_I6S3pO8ZS-_Tf5lFBcyTuP32XWxxBJAEOsjZQPVxHOYFaVdNtCyHDNZ2gY9ifrIL_K3W7MFt2WJEwrQTcyhjuqo1Zw_R_-QkJZHVlQnYHMP1mT0Q=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p>A Gnawa offering to round out the strange year that was 2021. Here's a lovely album from Mokhtar & Zaida Gania. Mokhtar and Zaida are the brother and sister of the late mâalems Mahmoud and Abdellah Gania, and I believe they are the last surviving children of Mâalem Boubker Gania. <br /></p><p></p><p>Zaida is a <i>mqaddma</i> ritual leader in Gnawa ceremonial life, and of course grew up in a family of Gnawa musicians and ritual practitioners. In addition to performing music with her male Gnawi family members, she also leads all-female <i>haddarat</i> percussion groups:</p><p>
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</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhscxef_jeh02fkq0Szn92DhK-T7mpgaYJMlBBpIWhKnEQNMDCyVwCihQpcRSlNtXTSGaPiXDThYyPOb4WY3sBm0IZt_X4NBphY8PTH6ng4A1hAVcajXyRMtypkDK1I_UfdjGOrA1DG0d45orN1tE1sWyRqq3s3V8oc4t__HhLLdHWJ8fKQySQmtQThtw=s1616" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="mokhtar_with_badass_guinbri" border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="1454" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhscxef_jeh02fkq0Szn92DhK-T7mpgaYJMlBBpIWhKnEQNMDCyVwCihQpcRSlNtXTSGaPiXDThYyPOb4WY3sBm0IZt_X4NBphY8PTH6ng4A1hAVcajXyRMtypkDK1I_UfdjGOrA1DG0d45orN1tE1sWyRqq3s3V8oc4t__HhLLdHWJ8fKQySQmtQThtw=w288-h320" width="288" /></a></div><p></p><p>Mâalem Mokhtar has performed in traditional and fusion Gnawa settings. His singing voice is deeper and more resonant than that of his late brother Mahmoud. And he plays this badass <i>guinbri</i>:</p><p>The tracks of this album feature an appealing variety of textures. Gnawa music in its traditional form stays pretty uniform in terms of texture (a <i>guinbri</i>, some qarqabas, and some male call/response vocals). It's a great texture, and sometimes that's exactly what the doctor ordered. But sometimes it's nice to change things up too. On this album you get: songs with added percussion (A2, and especially B5), songs with Zaida singing lead (A1, B1, B2, B5) or along with the male chorus (A1, A3, A5, B4), and songs with a tenor sax (A4, B2). </p><p></p><p>Female and male voices together in Gnawa music don't always work for me, but in this instance the combination sounds great - perhaps the fact that it's family makes the blend organic. Men and women of the Gania family can also be heard singing together on Maâlem Mahmoud's 1994 album with Pharoah Sanders <a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/395993-Maleem-Mahmoud-Ghania-with-Pharoah-Sanders-The-Trance-Of-Seven-Colors" target="_blank"><i>The Trance of Seven Colors</i></a>, and the blend there is likewise wonderful.<br /></p><p>The use of tenor sax on this album also hearkens to <i>The Trance of Seven Colors</i>. In fact, it's the only other recording I can think of that features a full Gnawa group augmented only by a saxophone. Typically when you hear a saxophone with Gnawa, you are also hearing other instruments like a drum kit, keyboards, guitars and other percussion. I wish I knew who was playing the sax here - the approach is nice, and somewhat reminscent of the way Pharoah played with Mahmoud's group.<br /></p><p>Mokhtar remains active as one of the elders of Gnawa music in Essaouira. His performance with his nephew Houssam was one of many highlights of the huge Gnawa concert that was broadcast on Christmas day on Moroccan TV. The concert, which was filmed in Essaouira, featured dozens of Gnawa mâalems and koyos from across Morocco. You can watch the entire show, which was very good, on YouTube:</p><p>
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</p><p>Thanks to all of you who continue to visit Moroccan Tape Stash after all these years. May 2022 bring goodness and joy to you all, and may humans across the planet join hearts, hands, and minds in love and mutual respect to confront the formidable challenges we continue to face. <br /></p><p><u><b>El Moukhtar & Zaida Kania المختار و زايدة كانية</b><br />Azza Production AP-03/03</u><br />2003<br /><br />A1 Tsarkou Wallah Kobayni تسركو والله كوبايني<br />A2 Foufou Danba فوفو دنبا<br />A3 Jabriyi جابريي<br /> Moulandi مولاندي<br />A4 Jankriyi خانكريي<br />A5 Barkiou باركيو<br /> Kobayli Bralf كوبايلي برالف<br />B1 Yallah Foulane Essaadi يالله فولان السعدي<br /><b>B2 Yallah Yamani يالله يماني</b><br />
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<br />B3 Sidi Sma Samaoui<br />B4 Allah Allah Samaoui الله الله السماوي<br />B5 Allah Allah Moulana الله الله مولانا<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/57in7lbyszk32jy/EM%252BZK_AP-03-03-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/wwl6j3b5j6721lm/EM%252BZK_AP-03-03-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></p><p><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-35003212773196363262021-12-24T15:35:00.003-08:002021-12-24T16:01:46.569-08:00Hamid Almou المو حميد - The Golden Plectrum of Meknes<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-an-9lMXO4eSA0GEJxzymKRLUSsffT_SZuuHdlfWbL32MlClm_9zlcmS9rzNgAmIKubbNfq_UAvfNjj6d4Zqv7TROedkmy0pbMC6bRpNVoj52qajHG-F3LXan0W2ZlJOsRXYk6fRziO4EvSYAPCCpI03tRzbZkM4DsaTdEW4g5bUSQDDjBre1UujXcg=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Hamid Almou - Lachkar 4" border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="600" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-an-9lMXO4eSA0GEJxzymKRLUSsffT_SZuuHdlfWbL32MlClm_9zlcmS9rzNgAmIKubbNfq_UAvfNjj6d4Zqv7TROedkmy0pbMC6bRpNVoj52qajHG-F3LXan0W2ZlJOsRXYk6fRziO4EvSYAPCCpI03tRzbZkM4DsaTdEW4g5bUSQDDjBre1UujXcg=w320-h319" width="320" /></a></div><p></p>A pair of albums this week, from <i>lotar</i> player and singer Hamid Almou. Like Rouicha, Almou has a groovy touch on the <i>lotar</i>, has a smooth, low baritone voice, and has had success recording in both Arabic (<i>darija</i>) and Tamazight. There's not much information about him online, but I gather from YouTube comments that he hails from Meknes, specifically the Toulal neighborhood. <p></p><p>These two albums feature Almou singing in Arabic. I dubbed them from original copies in 1992 or 1993 in Marrakech. The song "Tfah Jnane Bghitou" that opens the first of these albums is somewhat well known. Several other recorded versions of it can be found online, including one by famed <i>âita</i> singer Khadija al Bidaouia (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7I-aX2jwPU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7I-aX2jwPU</a>). I don't know whether Almou is the originator of the song or whether the song existed before he recorded it. It works remarkably well as both a viola-driven <i>âita</i>-styled <i>chaâbi</i> song and as a <i>lotar</i>-driven Zayane-styled <i>chaâbi</i> song.<br /></p>
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<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigUafBsKSKnxfPZA_zoJTy3wseOB71w-WEiVSww3vMpkuR-U5_gcPO6dN7CXKjfJ439nW545dQCYD4D_RV48Kx2YdSnFIPbqi05zgALwVCJxNurb8YdvnrRk-_bOCBb0wFy4xSPyB0sE_XR7yUdcRVhKCsgRbwMWwypEf5xBSwJQpr7BOjIxe2SwqrxA=s300" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Elmo" border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEigUafBsKSKnxfPZA_zoJTy3wseOB71w-WEiVSww3vMpkuR-U5_gcPO6dN7CXKjfJ439nW545dQCYD4D_RV48Kx2YdSnFIPbqi05zgALwVCJxNurb8YdvnrRk-_bOCBb0wFy4xSPyB0sE_XR7yUdcRVhKCsgRbwMWwypEf5xBSwJQpr7BOjIxe2SwqrxA=w200-h112" width="200" /></a></div><p>Digital research note: As with any Arabic or Amazigh name, there are many different ways of transcribing المو حميد with Roman letters. A Google search for the name returned results that included Hamid Almou, Hamid Al Mou, Hamid El Mou, and Hamid Alemmou. it also returned this image: <br /></p><p>Iconographic note: Since I didn't have images of the original j-cards, i
went fishing on the internet to find something appropriate. I did find
an entry on <a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/14529092-%D8%AD%D9%80%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%80%D8%AF-%D8%A3%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88-Hamid-Almou-%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B4%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B0%D9%87%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9" target="_blank">Discogs</a>
for an album by Almou, also on the imprint Enregistrement Lachkar,
though it's not the same album as either of my dubs. The album refers to
Almou as الريشة الذهبية "The Golden Plectrum" (<i>richa</i> being the Arabic word for both 'feather' and 'plectrum'). Anyway, I pilfered the image of the j-card and tweaked the colors to create mock j-cards for these 2 albums, shamelessly adding Moroccan Tape Stash branding in English and Arabic. Thanks and apologies to the original uploader Hackente. <br /></p><p>More fun facts from Discogs: The Spanish rock band Les Conches Velasques adapted a song of Almou's in their song "Cosas de usar", the opening track on their 2021 album <a href="https://spindarecords.bandcamp.com/album/celebraci-n-del-trance-profano" target="_blank"><i>Celebración del trance profano</i></a> (which also includes a version of Nass el Ghiwane's "Mahmouma").<br /></p><p></p><p>Hamid Almou does not appear to have a web presence on either Facebook or YouTube. As far as I can tell, he is still active and performing. He sounds good in this live clip from 2014:</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kd5MfgfqZwo" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe>
<p>More Hamid Almou at <a href="https://www.awesometapes.com/hamid-al-mou/" target="_blank">Awesome Tapes From Africa</a> and at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/SuperElmekki/search?query=%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%20%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%AF" target="_blank">Fazaz Arts YouTube channel</a>.</p><p><u><b>Hamid Almou المو حميد</b><br />Enregistrement Lachkar 4</u><br /><br />A1 Tfah Jnane Bghitou<br />A2 Ya Lli Nasini<br />B1 Mal Hbibi Malou Ma Jache<br />B2 Chawerni Alfraq Chawerni<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/spwuinogh1vv5fx/HA-TJB-L4-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/6mkfrujg51qjj4n/HA-TJB-L4-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a></p><p><u><b>Hamid Almou المو حميد</b><br />Enregistrement Lachkar 14</u><br /><br />A1 Âchiri Lli Wellfou Guelbi Ya Hasra<br />A2 Min Zinek Ya Lil Ch'hal Dlamek Khwaf<br />B1 Had Denb A L-Hbiba Machi Denbi<br />B2 Tir Tir Bnit Lu Chebbak Hrir<br />B3 Galt Lbniya L-Baha Lach T'hdini<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/saqz87wghr1zq9j/HA-AEWGYH-L14-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/blo2b6r045k5gd8/HA-AEWGYH-L14-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-46151929914947681392021-12-11T15:00:00.000-08:002021-12-11T15:00:33.572-08:00Cherifa Kersit, Mohamed Maghni, and Omar Boutmazought<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gsu3xApnDV8/YbL0YqhR6MI/AAAAAAAADf0/-UWO-LDSf_8Td33mC6YMe1ryaR8EbtbVgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1392/Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1384" data-original-width="1392" height="318" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gsu3xApnDV8/YbL0YqhR6MI/AAAAAAAADf0/-UWO-LDSf_8Td33mC6YMe1ryaR8EbtbVgCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/Cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Here's a beautiful album by a trio of great artists from Khenifra (Magni and Cherifa) and Khemisset (Boutmazought). I love the sparse texture of this recording - just the <i>lotar</i>, a single bendir, and verses sung in rotating fashion by each of the three distinctive singers. In the clip below, the first singer is Maghni, followed by Cherifa and then by Omar:<br /></p>
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<p>We wrote about Maghni in our <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2021/12/mohamed-maghni.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>. The fiery Cherifa Kersit is among the most celebrated singers of the Middle Atlas region. You can find her biographical sketch and more of her music at the <a href="http://lazyproduction-arabtunes.blogspot.com/2016/03/cherifa-kersit.html" target="_blank">Arab Tunes blog</a>. The deep-voiced Omar Boutmazought is a singer and <i>lotar</i> player whose career dates back to the 1990s. You can find more of his music at the <a href="https://moroccantapes.com/omar-boutmazought-voix-bassatine-95" target="_blank">Moroccan Tapes site</a>.<br /></p><p>This album comes not from my physical media stash but from my hard drive (aka my file stash). It was shared 11 years ago by AbdelSMB at his long dormant site
The Silence Has a Voice, and the Real Music Teach You the Silence. Shout out and well wishes to Abdel, wherever he may be - he has disappeared from Facebook and Twitter. I've uploaded his audio and image files and retagged the songs to include their titles. The CD appears to have been issued in 2007, but an image of the cassette issue of the album indicates a 2003 release date (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZPy1D_kImg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZPy1D_kImg</a>).<br /></p><p><u><b>Cherifa (Kersit), (Mohamed) Maghni, and Omar Boutmazought<br />الشريفة و مغني و عمر بوتمزوغت<br /></b>Edition Wislane CD 09/01/07</u><br />2003<br /><br />1 intro 1<br />2 Khetrou Yathna خترو ياثنة<br />3 Tousid Oulench توسيد أولنش<br />4 intro 2<br />5 Awdid Echilach أوضيد الشيلاش<br />6 Chouf Ayerzikh Asmouninou شوف ايرزيخ أسمونينو<br /></p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/bcyx95vqm3idvf3/VOTA-CKMM%252BOB-2003.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a><p></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-52125457367687118302021-12-09T20:56:00.003-08:002021-12-09T21:04:26.684-08:00Mohamed Maghni<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2LAKvrJERtY/YawYDxHyppI/AAAAAAAADfU/Ncx4EqclibQYJR_fKqTtGJ6DW4VxvbOyQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1199/Mohamed%2BMaghni.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="1186" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2LAKvrJERtY/YawYDxHyppI/AAAAAAAADfU/Ncx4EqclibQYJR_fKqTtGJ6DW4VxvbOyQCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/Mohamed%2BMaghni.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><p></p><p>Back to Khenifra this week for a tape by the renowned Amazigh singer, songwriter, and <i>lotar</i> player Mohamed Maghni. Born in 1950, Maghni comes from the same generation and milieu as Rouicha. Though he is less well known than Roucha, Maghni's songs are considered by aficionados of Amazigh song to be of higher artistic stature. <br /></p><p>I'm not able to find many sources of information about Maghni's career and music, though all sources note the sensitivity and deep feeling of Maghni's poetry and melody. Two articles ([1] and [2]) state that Maghni's songs directly address social issues related to the experience of Imazighen, and that his uncompromising artistic stance led to his marginalization for many years outside of the mainstream of Moroccan music. (His <a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF_%D9%85%D8%BA%D9%86%D9%8A" target="_blank">Arabic Wikipedia entry</a> states that worse things happened to him as well.) <br /></p><p>Maghni has worked with other great singers of the region such as Hadda Ouakki and Cherifa Kersit. I don't know who is singing with him on this particular tape.</p>
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<p>Maghni appears to be alive, well, and celebrated today. He was honored at the 2014 National Festival of the Lotar [3], and was even fêted in an episode of the Moroccan celebrity tv program Masar in 2016 (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezPGoN0Ffqo" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezPGoN0Ffqo</a>).<br /></p><p>There's not much of Maghni's music at the usual streaming sites like izlan.fr or izlanzik.org. There are, however, many clips of Maghni on YouTube, though with little documentation as to provenance or historical period, The YouTube channel Fazaz Arts has an extensive collection of these: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/SuperElmekki/search?query=%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF%20%D9%85%D8%BA%D9%86%D9%8A" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/user/SuperElmekki/search?query=%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF%20%D9%85%D8%BA%D9%86%D9%8A</a><br /></p><p><u><b>Mohamed Maghni محمد مغني<br />Studio Fassiphone cassette 176 استوديو فاسيفون</b></u><br /><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/o1rxvx5kt0pdfdw/MM-SF176-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/9rtdeorv48uzgtz/MM-SF176-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>[1] 2018 article in Hespress by <span class="VIiyi" lang="en"><span class="JLqJ4b ChMk0b" data-language-for-alternatives="en" data-language-to-translate-into="ar" data-number-of-phrases="1" data-phrase-index="0"><span>Youssef Lakhdar: <a href="https://www.hespress.com/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D9%85%D9%8E%D8%BA%D9%86%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A3%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%BA%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D8%B5%D9%8A%D8%BA%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9-%D9%82-465611.html" target="_blank">https://www.hespress.com/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D9%85%D9%8E%D8%BA%D9%86%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A3%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%BA%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D8%B5%D9%8A%D8%BA%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9-%D9%82-465611.html</a><br /></span></span></span></p><p>[2] 2011 article in Amazigh World by Ali Alhassan Obaisha: <a href="http://www.amazighworld.org/arabic/studies/index_show.php?id=2198" target="_blank">http://www.amazighworld.org/arabic/studies/index_show.php?id=2198</a></p><p>[3] <a href="http://www.marocpress.com/hibapress/article-442707.html" target="_blank">http://www.marocpress.com/hibapress/article-442707.html</a><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-54713514867971502262021-12-02T15:30:00.001-08:002021-12-02T21:13:33.683-08:00Hassania - Awesome Amazigh Artiste from Azrou<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DMjn7KFKZy8/Yacn9EXdRnI/AAAAAAAADeI/VycMsqy7ZDkMLXUL_08tjY1DuEYmeqb9ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1193/Hassania%2B-%2BMasterone%2B2011.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="1181" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DMjn7KFKZy8/Yacn9EXdRnI/AAAAAAAADeI/VycMsqy7ZDkMLXUL_08tjY1DuEYmeqb9ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Hassania%2B-%2BMasterone%2B2011.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><p>Continuing with another Tamazight tape this week, this one by the powerhouse singer Hassania. Born in Errachidia, she grew up in Azrou, where she continues to perform. This album is on the imprint Masterone out of Fes. In the late 2000s/early 2010s, the great Rouicha Mohamed was also recording for Masterone, and Hassania was featured as a vocalist on 4 of his albums during this period. [1]<br /></p><p>Tracks A1 and B1 are more pop-oriented, featuring prominent use of keyboard and other instruments as well as wider sung melodic ranges, while tracks A2 and B2 stick more closely to the bendir and viola format, with the narrower melodic ambitus typical of Middle Atlas Amazigh song. I wish I could understand the lyrics, but even without that, the expressive power of her singing is formidable.<br /></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eoZy3ry9_5Q" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe>
<p>Another track from this album was uploaded to YouTube by Izlan.fr. The clip includes the Tamazight lyrics transcribed in both Roman and Arabic letters. It also credits the track to Hassania along with the viola player El Mansouri Houssa. You may also enjoy the accompanying video of someone driving around northern Bretagne.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4DsCh3wizJA" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe><p>Hassania is still active performing. Here is a great live clip from a party in Azrou just before COVID, accompanied by a nice band with drum kit, several <i>bendir</i>s, viola, and an unobtrusive keyboard.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UCtfGLi2GFU" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe><p>Hear more of Hassania's albums at izlan.fr: <a href="https://izlan.fr/artiste/el-hassania/">https://izlan.fr/artiste/el-hassania/</a><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><u><b>Hassania - الفنانة الحسنية<br />Masterone cassette ماستر وان</b><br />BMDA 15-365-11</u><br />2011<br /><br />A1 Amari Ayayinghan أماري أيينغان<br />A2 Mamiqarkh مميقارخ<br />B1 Adhouritsal Dhiiy أذورتسال ذييي<br />B2 Mmi Mmi ممي ممي<br /><br /><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/vat183vkn4varp7/H-MO-2011-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/r484s8z51nx0wfr/H-MO-2011-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a> <br /></p><p>[1] 2018 Interview with Hassania on Amazigh Scoop (in <i>darija</i>) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhX5PrUY_80">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhX5PrUY_80</a></p><p></p><br />tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-81306610990079012342021-11-26T18:31:00.000-08:002021-11-26T18:31:38.496-08:00Said Akchmir - More Amazigh Viola and Vocals<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1_7tY78TQfI/YZ8_KbBsc5I/AAAAAAAADdY/0YuuXS0l-5g_6qia1sy-AU4ZEyDbLuLEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1197/Said%2BAkchmir.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="1185" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1_7tY78TQfI/YZ8_KbBsc5I/AAAAAAAADdY/0YuuXS0l-5g_6qia1sy-AU4ZEyDbLuLEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Said%2BAkchmir.jpg" width="317" /></a><br /></div><p>Here's another viola driven Middle Atlas Amazigh album for ya. Said Akchmir is a viola player and singer, I believe from Khenifra. I don't know who is the female singer on this tape, but her opening autotuned solo vocal passage blew my socks off. I also love the syncopated pattern the <i>bendir</i> is holding down.</p><p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/53RFg0AKxP4" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></p><p>As with Ouaboud Mohamed, whose <a href="https://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2021/11/ouaboud-mohamed-have-bendir-will-sing.html" target="_blank">tape was featured here last week</a>, Said Akchmir appears to use studio synth instruments in his albums, but not in live performances. Here is a video clip of him, doing the live thing with the typical ensemble of several <i>bendir</i>s and male singers, one viola, and a female singer (plus a quartet of dancing ladies):</p>
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<p>Izlanzik has a few of Said Akchmir's albums: <a href="https://www.izlanzik.org/sgr/said-akchmir_178.htm">https://www.izlanzik.org/sgr/said-akchmir_178.htm</a>. And it looks like he created a YouTube channel this past summer: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzTxbWTAQGkfAOZBRyWCebA/videos">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzTxbWTAQGkfAOZBRyWCebA/videos</a><br /></p><p><u><b>Said Akchmir سعيد اقشمير<br />Isourishtab Oumâcharench إسورييشتب أومعشارنش </b><br />Amnay Music cassette 28/2012 </u>أمناي موزيك<br />2012<br /><br />01 Isourishtab Oumâcharench إسورييشتب أومعشارنش <br />02 Mghar Itroukh مغار أثروخ<br />03 Tharbat أثربات<br />04 Ayounourikh Anmoun أينوريخ انمون<br />05 Tahidoust تحيدوست<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/ar4bdsh60odrce1/SA-I0-2012-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/zi2ilnnpmjn7dl9/SA-I0-2012-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a></p><p><br /></p><p></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-57467478658302036292021-11-20T08:18:00.001-08:002021-11-20T08:51:44.319-08:00Ouaboud Mohamed - Have Bendir, Will Sing, Syncopate, and Support<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JmbXJW7QGcE/YZGLdLRsWWI/AAAAAAAADco/Ygv9I0RyVrAKZ_wip1VqnCQkPYMqPUAjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/Ouaboud%2BMohamed.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="1200" height="318" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JmbXJW7QGcE/YZGLdLRsWWI/AAAAAAAADco/Ygv9I0RyVrAKZ_wip1VqnCQkPYMqPUAjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Ouaboud%2BMohamed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Ouaboud Mohamed is a singer and <i>bendir</i> player from the region of Khenifra. Most recordings of Middle Atlas Amazigh music seem to be published under the name of the viola or <i>lotar</i> player (who is often the male lead singer) or that of the lead female singer. The<i> </i>singing male <i>bendir</i> player is typically anonymous in these recordings, being more of a support role than a star role. I love that Ouaboud plays this support role but also can be the lead singer and release his own recordings. (Full disclosure: I am a singing <i>bendir</i> player who likes the spotlight once in a while but also loves to play a support role in an ensemble. Maybe it comes from also being a bass player.)<br /></p><p></p><p>I picked up this tape in Beni Mellal in 2012. I couldn't find info online about Ouaboud, but he does maintain a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B9%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF-%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-108326757571659" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> and a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGrkadqFZmie_ypiiVIOQbQ" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>. He appears to remain quite active performing at private events (weddings and other parties, and private music salons) in the Khenifra area in formations with various viola players like Moha Amzyan and Mustapha Sghir, and female singers such as Fatima Talgadit and Naima Kouda. The ensembles typically consist of several <i>bendir</i>s, one violist, and one or more female singers. In the clip below, Ouaboud is playing the white high-pitched bendir, and he throws in some great syncopated accents in the 2nd half of the clip.<br /></p><p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S-yeqF7zYBM" title="YouTube video player" width="500"></iframe></p><p></p><p>In addition to live performances, Ouaboud has made several studio recordings under his name, but I don't find any of them on the typical streaming platforms like <a href="https://www.ournia.co/" target="_blank">Ournia</a> or even on <a href="https://izlanzik.org/" target="_blank">Izlanzik</a>, which specializes in Middle Atlas Amazigh music. There a number of clips, however, on YouTube. Unlike in live performances like the one above, most of the studio recordings take place with an ensemble augmented by other instruments including, you guessed it, a keyboard bass. </p><p>On this tape, the studio has "chaâbified" the songs not only by using additional instruments, but also by adding instrumental "refrains" to the arrangements. The first 4 tracks of this tape each begin with a short instrumental section that features a melody played by synth strings and synth banjo (track 1) or flute (tracks 2-4). This melody is, in each case, unrelated to the sung melody of the song (other than being in the same melodic mode). Once the melody is played once or twice, the synth strings drop out and the live, scratchy Amazigh viola enters, playing the actual sung melody. After a couple iterations of this melody, Ouaboud enters, singing, followed by the female lead after a couple of verses. After a few back-and-forth verses between the two singers, the synth strings and banjo or flute return, playing the instrumental refrain from the opening of the song:</p>
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<p>Even with these <i>chaâbi</i> tropes, the album still highlights the timbres of the scratchy viola and the buzzy <i>bendir</i>. In contrast to the first 4 tracks, the album closes with a short track that recalls the excitement of the live setting by losing the synth strings, ramping up the tempo, and letting the <i>bendir</i> come to the front of the mix in all of its syncopated glory! (Stream Track 5 below.)</p><p><b><u>Ouaboud Mohamed أعبود محمد<br />Tasjilat Igly cassette 5/08/2010 تسجيلات اگلي</u></b><br /><br /><b>01 Piste 01 </b>(in YouTube clip above)<br />02 Ayaitsikit Ghifi أيَايْثْسِيكيثْ غِيفي<br />03 Bdou Dimhsaden Âafache بْضُو دِيمْحْسَادْنْ عَافَاشْ<br />04 Aya Margh Iousmoun Inou أَيَا مَارْغْ أُوسْمون إنو<br /><b>05 Tahidoust تاحيدوست</b><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;">
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</div><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/f8j9duyqvvhr36x/OM-TIC-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/1hl1968ja9rs9li/OM-TIC-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></p>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8192815591353027968.post-2552770164911377952021-11-11T20:41:00.002-08:002021-11-11T21:07:37.702-08:00Tkitikate! Tkitikate! Party Time! Excellent!<div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-as2D5QcHVg4/YXo5UnthI1I/AAAAAAAADaY/rBqTFsS2Ak8d-VYLgoz25lJb_6JqpocTACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_7181.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1990" data-original-width="2048" height="311" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-as2D5QcHVg4/YXo5UnthI1I/AAAAAAAADaY/rBqTFsS2Ak8d-VYLgoz25lJb_6JqpocTACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_7181.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>I tell ya, some of the best fun I've had in Morocco has been at parties in Marrakech where a <i>tkitikat</i> group comes to play. I'm surprised I'm 10 years into this blog and I've never really written about <i>tkitikat</i>. Well, I guess it's 'cos I didn't have any straight up <i>tkitikat</i> tapes (other than possibly the great <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2011/12/klun-kaighenni-3la-l-bukimun-clown.html" target="_blank">Pokémon tape</a>). Now, thanks to Mr. Tear (late of the esteemed <a href="https://snapcrackleandpops.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Snap, Crackle & Pop</a> blog, and currently hive master at <a href="https://www.hivemindrecords.co.uk/" target="_blank">Hive Mind Records</a>), I've got a reason to write about it, 'cos he sent along this fine tape rip!</p><p><i>Tkitikat </i>is a style of music played by men's percussion and singing groups. (It was always played by men, in my experience, but I haven't been to Morocco for a while, and perhaps there are female <i>tkitikat</i> groups now.) The primary venue for this music is at parties. </p><p>Repertoire - like a good wedding band (another type of party band), a good <i>tkitikat</i>
group has dozens of songs in its repertoire that
originate in various styles and historical periods. To end up in the <i>tkitikat</i> repertoire, though, they ought to share a few key elements:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>They ought to be in that 6/8 <i>chaâbi</i> rhythm (or close enough that it fits)</li><li>They ought to be songs that lots of people know OR they ought to have short catchy refrains that people can learn easily and quickly SO THAT people can join in singing</li><li>Bonus points: When a song's verses are simple enough that you can make up additional verses that were not in the original. (cf. Najat Âatabou's "<a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2018/02/najat-aatabou-nouveau-92-whole-new-bag.html" target="_blank">Hadi Kedba Bayna</a>")<br /></li></ul><p>Ensemble - the group will have a variety of drums. The group here is using a <i>tar</i> (tambourine), a <i>darbuka</i>, and some <i>tâarija</i>s. As opposed to female percussion and singing groups like <i>âouniyat</i> or <i>houariyat</i> who perform seated, the <i>tkitikat</i> groups play while standing, sometimes facing each other in a circle, sometimes broken out and moving around the room interacting with partygoers. And unlike a wedding orchestra, which typically features one primary lead singer, the<i> tkitikate</i> group tends to feature any or all members of the group as lead singers.<br /></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">PLEASE STAND BY FOR A COUPLE OF FREE-FLOATING MUSICOLOGICAL MUSINGS:<br /></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><i><b>Gender and percussion groups</b></i>: I wonder why the female percussion groups like <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/search/label/%27Aouiniyat" target="_blank"><i>âouniyat</i></a> or <i><a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2013/06/bnate-houara-yeah.html" target="_blank">houariyat</a> </i>typically perform while seated, whereas the men's groups like <i>tkitikat</i> and <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2013/03/i-got-fever-and-only-prescription-is.html" target="_blank"><i>âbidat errma</i></a> perform standing 🤔 ... Perhaps it's because the male groups are the sorts of groups that one might also encounter in an outdoor <i>halqa</i> performing circle, whereas the female groups are more exclusive to indoor private parties.<br /></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><i><b>Etymology and regionality</b></i>: I wonder whether <i>tkitikat</i> is something that originated in Northern Morocco. The word is a diminutive of <i>taktouka, </i>which in Morocco refers most famously to the <i>taqtouqa jbaliya</i> - the <i>taqtouqa</i> of the Jbala region of northern Morocco. (We shared a <a href="http://moroccantapestash.blogspot.com/2013/11/taktouka-jbaliya-with-abdelhak-laaroussi.html" target="_blank">tape of that</a> a while back.) When I was living in Marrakech, a friend who played in a <i>tkitikat</i> group was excited when his group was able to learn some songs and rhythms particular to the North, so there is certainly a Northern tradition. In fact, I remember the groups in Marrakech going less often under the name <i>tkitikat</i> and more often under the name <i>dqiqiya. </i>The latter is a diminutive of <i>daqqa</i>, which is a musical form specific to Marrakech and Taroudant 🤔 ... </p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED BLOG POST <br /></p>To my mind, <i>tkitikat</i> groups seem like an active repository of Moroccan musical memory. Or like a jukebox - so many songs to choose from, and designed so that everyone in the crowd should find an old or new favorite song to please them and entice them to dance and be merry. The current tape is no exception. Track 1 has a Gnawa sound to it. Track 2 is an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnAsV_ClGYI" target="_blank">old Houcine Slaoui song</a> from the 1940s. Track 3 is a version of Khiffat Rjel (better known as Ach Dani), <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ct015lK7S4" target="_blank">Ismail Ahmed's classic 1960s hit</a>, sung here with the words transformed from a song of unrequited love to a comic song about different kinds of food, and track 6 is a straight up version of the Jbala standard <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6IfD9R_ADM" target="_blank">Ain Zora</a>. Ranging wide across the regional and temporal map!</div><div><br /></div>
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<div><p>Well, while I was searching for some nice <i>tkitikat</i> video to share, I actually found a clip from this very album! 👆 It looks like the cassette is the soundtrack to a VCD, which dates this to probably the mid-2000s to early 2010s. And it turns out that on the first track, the lead vocal is taken by none other than the well-known Gnawi Mâalem Abdelkbir 'Lechheb' Merchane! I understand that many years ago, he was a member of Hamid Zahir's group. And Hamid Zahir's music is basically <i>tkitikat</i> with an oud added, so this is some old familiar musical territory for him! Abdelkbir is one of 3 lead singers on this album. He sings track1, the last bit of track 3, and tracks 4 and 7. A comic-oriented singer is featured on track 2 and most of 3, and a third singer is featured on track 6. Track titles listed here are my best guesses.<br /></p><u><b>Tkitikate Marrakech Volume 2 التقيتيقات المراكشية<br />Société CHAMUSIC cassette </b><b>شركة شلموزيك</b></u><br /><p>1 Sidi Musa Âri Âlik <br />2 Ahdi Rasek La Ifouzou Bik Al Qouman Ya Flan (and suite)<br />3 Ach Dani L-Bibi Tani (and suite)<br />4 Mellit Lghram<br />5 Malou Itghagha / Ana Mellit Lhoub<br />6 Âin Zora (and suite)<br />7 Wa Lhiha Wa Lhih<br />8 Qefla<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/3xi4cp08kk1ug7b/TM-SCC-3PM.zip/file" target="_blank">320</a> | <a href="https://www.mediafire.com/file/ttdy5lozovewh0l/TM-SCC-CALF.zip/file" target="_blank">FLAC</a><br /></p></div>tim abdellahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11301786830697929252noreply@blogger.com3