Music for Saharan Cellphones
Music for Saharan Cell phones is exactly that. Duh. In 2010 Chris Kirkley of Sahel Sounds took a trip to Mali and Mauritania and discovered that for most people the primary source of new music was cell phones with tracks being traded and passed around via bluetooth and phones becoming rudimentary iPods. So Kirkley did what any self respecting guy with a blog and record label would do – he made a tape of the recordings called Music From Saharan Cellphones, and released it via Mississippi Records in Portland, Oregan. Subsequently blogged and re-blogged, the music ranged from DIY guitar twangs to auto-tuned Moroccan hip-hop and Malian coupé décalé and was then picked up by producers eager to re-work the alien sounds. This in turn led to the project Music For Saharan Cellphones, with the original tape material being reworked by a whole host of people we have never heard of.
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Released as a free download, limited run cassette release, and with a bonus 7″ of the standout track ‘Tahoultine’ by Mdou Moctar the album is a co-release by Boomarm Nation and Sahel Sounds. In December an LP will follow for the vinyl nerds.
Insanely good. Check it out below.
Published October 12, 2011.