North African Tapes Roundup (Music Blogs is Dead - The Blogs Abides!)

It's 2026 and the heyday of the music blog recedes into the rearview mirror of our music consumption patterns along with the era of the cassette tape itself. However, there's still plenty of North African musical goodness being shared online via the form of the anachronistic blog and its various successors. 

Here's some recent shares that might pique your interest:

GET THESE BEFORE THEY DISAPPEAR - THE BIG 4 MOROCCAN TRANCE TRADITIONS AT HIVE MIND

Marc at Hive Mind has been sharing some great cassette audio at "Name Your Own Price" on his Bandcamp page. These generally disappear after 1 month, but he's currently made all four them available again for a limited time. So get over there and pick up some choice Hamadcha, Gnawa, Jilala, and Aissaoua sounds. (And chip in a few dirhams for the good causes he supports if you're able to do so.) 

(And most of Marc's shares are still available at his old Snap, Crackle & Pop blog.)

SWEET ANADALUSIAN SOUNDS FROM CONSTANTINE AT MUSIC REPUBLIC 

MusicRepublic - World Traditional Music from LPs and Cassettes continues to share rare and high quality audio from world of vinyl. He recently shared a lovely album from the Algerian artist Mohamed Tahar Fergani. 

RAI VARIETIES AT K7MATIK 

Reda at K7MATIC continues to share loads of Algerian cassette audio, primarily but not exclusively rai music, this unusual cassette caught my ear recently - stripped down rai from singer Cheikha Houaria, but replacing the typical gasba flute accompaniment with a ghaita oboe provided by an Aissawa ensemble.

KHADIJA ATLAS ANTHOLOGY AT ARAB TUNES

Lazyproduction continues to compile anthologies and mixtapes from across the Arab (and Amazigh) music world at the Arab Tunes blog. A recent highlight is a compilation of the Zayane singer Khadija Atlas, featuring recordings under her name as well as her appearances on recordings of other artists such as Rouicha, Abdelaziz Ahouzar, and Mustapha Oumguil.

KHADIJA EL BIDAWIYA AT WALLAHI LE ZEIN!

A welcome recent development is Matthew's return to posting at Wallahi Le Zein! He recently reupped a compilation of the late âita marsaouia singer Khadija el Bidaouia, and the post includes excerpts from a 2011 interview he did with her. 

NORTH AFRICAN VINYL PROGRAMS AT BODEGA POP

No, not the old Bodega Pop blog, but the Bodega Pop radio program at WFMU's Give The Drummer Radio stream every Wednesday from 7-10 PM Eastern Time. Gary continues to confound expectations with his broad knowledge and musical omnivorosity for 3 hours every week. These programs live forever on the WFMU website, so you can enjoy them anytime you like. Many of his 2026 shows are devoted to vinyl from specific countries. In the North African vein, you can listen to entire programs devoted to music on vinyl from Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, and most recently Tunisia. 

And you should definitely check out the fab compilation he put together for Sublime Frequencies that came out last year, Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75. 

THEMATIC MIXES AT RADIO IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY

Lastly, there are some great North African mixes among the many streamable mixes at Radio Is A Foreign Country. Most recent North African offering was a great audio montage of recordings from Radio Mauritanie put together by Matthew Lavoie of Wallahi Le Zein! Keep an eye on Radio Is A Foreign Country for a Moroccan mix by yours truly, dropping very soon! 😉

Get It While You Can - Vintage Moroccan Cassette Audio at Hive Mind

If you aren't already following Hive Mind Records, clicky over to Bandcamp, Instagram, or Facebook and get on that list. In addition to fantastic new music releases, Marc has been doing limited releases of some great audio from vintage Moroccan cassettes. 

Out today (and for one month only) is this killer album from Maalem Abderrazak al Moustakim, who I believe is from Rabat or thereabouts. The album includes an unhurried 17-minute suite of songs related to Sidi Mimoun L-Gnawi. The sequence follows the Rabat tradition, leading from L-Gnawi eventually into Mberkiriya and Fofo Denba, but with some additional melodies along the way. It's wonderful stuff. 

Make sure you get it quick - the public link will disappear after one month. Pay what you like - the proceeds always go to good and timely causes. And get on the mailing list so you find out when he offers something old and new!

Around The Interwebs: Aïssaoua (Brian Jones-ey Remix) and Music of Northern Morocco

 

Sharing links to a couple of Moroccan recordings that recently surfaced on the interwebs.

Friend of the Stash Mr. Tear dropped a compilation of Aïssaoua tracks over at Hive Mind Records. Sourced from cassettes, he

fed the tape rips into vocal removal software to produce some rudimentary stems and then... processed these in Audacity adding some selective reverb, delay, distortion with the intention of accentuating the overwhelming, heady aspects of this music.

The result is a set of tracks that gives a mildly psychedelic aura to this already powerful music, while preserving its structure and flow. That is, it brings the vibe of "Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka" without completely uprooting and overwhelming the source material. Nice job, Marc!

Available only until the end of November 2025, the album is available as "Pay What You Like", and all proceeds collected will go to the UK advocacy group Hope not Hate. Follow links in the embedded Bandcamp player below to pick up your copy.

Meanwhile over at Fuji Puzzle Box, blog curator (and Firesign Theatre archivist) Taylor Jessen has shared an obscure 1965 LP Music of Northern Morocco, Vol. 1. Recorded in cafes in Chefchaouen and Tetouan during Ramadan 1963 by one Binx Shelby of Arizona, the album is the sole record released on the "Band Box Ethnological Series" label. 

While the recordings were certainly made in northern Morocco, they are not particularly representative of the regional traditions of that area. They consist mainly of songs that were popular at the time, including both Middle Eastern and North African pieces - whatever these musicians in cafes felt like playing. It's a bit like someone recording an open mic at a neighborhood bar in Oakland where people are singing Eagles covers and releasing it as "Music of Northern California". Still, it's cool to hear what types of songs were played by guys in cafes in the mid-60s in Chefchaouen and Tetouan. And the graphic design is quite lovely! 

The liner notes state that side 2 consists of ancient religious songs, but it's actually just more popular songs of the day. The first song on side 2 is a questionably executed version of Ismail Ahmed's smash hit 'Khiffat Rajl' (better known by its refrain lyric 'Ash Dani') 

Visit Fuji Puzzle Box to check out the album and to read Tyler's EXTENSIVE research on Binx Shelby!

And congratulations to Morocco's U20 team for winning the FIFA U-20 World Cup today in Chile!! 

Houssam Gania - get a copy of his new cassette before they're gone!

Houssam Gania is the son of the late Gnawi mâalem Mahmoud Guinia, and a fine guinbri player in his own right. Like his father, his playing isn't flashy, but is deeply in the pocket.

Hive Mind Records in the UK released this new album by Houssam on cassette (!!!!!) a couple of months back. The j-card design is a lovely homage to the Tichkaphone cassettes of his father. The album contains a great version of the Essaouira version of "Sidi Musa" - a different flavor than you hear in Marrakech, Casablanca, or elsewhere.



As of today there are only 10 copies of the cassette left at Bandcamp. You will still be able to download digitally thereafter, but why not get a copy for your own tape stash!!

Huge props to Marc over at Hive Mind for this release, as well as for the vinyl releases of Mahmoud Guinia and Moulay Ahmed el Hassani over the last couple of years.

Order you copy HERE!