Khadra Daahir _ Jacayl Waa Gar (K7 1980s)

I've heard that Khadra Daahir is seriously ill but I couldn't verify it. If that's the case, I wish her a speedy recovery and, in all cases, all the very best.

This is, by far, not KD's best tape but the others I have are so distorted that they sound quite Martian, musically and linguistically. I understand celestial tongues and tunes as I come form Jupiter, but you Earthlings would be lost. Moreover, the lyrics on this one are very significant as they're all about love, mutual respect, tolerance...

This post is dedicated to all consenting adults whose love life is judged, misprised and even threatened by pontificating herds whose common sense is blinded by outdated interpretation of traditions, religions, borders, materialism etc. Love is ALWAYS right!

A Multimasted Grab for The Donald

This is the soundtrack of Damac Adduun ("Petty Worldly Greed"), a play by the '80s theater troupe Libaaxyada Maaweeliska Banaadir. It's fustigating all too familiar and destructive gaping shortcomings humanity has to endure on daily basis. How sad and ironic that an unconscionable, hubristic monster constituting a motherlode of characteristic deficits has just been put at the helm of the most powerful and influential country in the world. It's a long shot, but this petition, already signed by almost 4.5 million people, is one of the many efforts to resist.

The sound quality of the more than 30-years-old tape is deficient, but the lyrics compensate amply. Use the track titles as a guideline.

Mogadishu Blues: A Celebration of Somali Music and Poetry (concerts)

I got the blues!

"It has been a dream in the making but we are proud to introduce you to Mogadishu Blues: a tribute concert in honor of Somali music from the 70’s and 80’s.

The Breathing ensemble led by Orville Breeveld together with four renowned Somali musicians will take you back the golden era of Somali music. It will be a trip down memory lane in which we will reminisce & relive the heydays of Somalia’s best days.

Come & celebrate beautiful Somali music and culture like never before, and make sure to bring your whole family to experience this amazing tribute. It will be a show like you have never seen before!

The kick-off of Mogadishu Blues will be during the National Theater Weekend in the Hague (Saturday 16 January 2016). The Second show will take place on Saturday 30 January 2016 at Theater Meervaart in Amsterdam.

For ticket sales go to the website of Nieuwe Kerk and Meervaart
For questions and inquiries: info@breathing.nl"

Source


Yes, I got the blues...Everyday!

Noora Noor_Forget What I Said

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A hodgepodge of Somali traditional dances in 5 minutes:

Heads Up

Two compilations of Somali music from the 1970s and 80s:

1. Au Revoir, Mogadishu Vol.1: This 90-minute cassette has just been released by the German label ÇAYKH Recordings. You can buy the tape here.




2. Light & Sound of Mogadishu will be released on 29 August on LP and CD by the Helsinki-based label Afro7.

Faadumo Qaasim - Dhabta I Saar (K7, 1974)

Mogadishu early 1970s

Faadumo Qaasim sadly passed away in 2011 after a glorious, socially engaged artistic career spanning five decades. RIP! This tape was reissued in 1992 with 2 additional songs, namely track 5 and 10.

01. Qays & Layla [Romeo & Juliet]


02. Dalka Nuuriyow ("The Light of the Land")


03. Maalin Walbaan Kuu Marqaamaye ("I'm Permanently Intoxicated With You")


04. Qaanso Roobaad ("Rainbow")


05. Dalkeygow! (Oh My Land!)*


10 Adeeg Yaan Oogu Diraa? ("Who To Send On An Errand (To Reunite Me with My Exiled Lover]?")*


Enjoy!


* See this post for the context and a partial translation of track 5

Durdur - Raxmaddii Rabbi Baa Lagu Raaxaystaa (k7)

This is the soundtrack of a tragicomedy of the same name. Sometime in the '80s we're partying at Taleex hotel in Mogadishu. When this record started, almost everybody jumped up to dance the new rage kabxadro, a merge of the traditional butt-wiggling dance/music genre kabeebey and psychedelic Sufi mystical dance xadro. Unable to resist the stompy frenzy, the floor decided to join the merriment and ... collapsed! - coincidentally, track 4 is also known as Gariiree ("I'm Quaking"). Miraculously, no one was badly injured! Anybody who was there, please get in touch.

The rather offbeat title of this album translates to "We Enjoy/Dance to God's Grace" and all the 9 tracks are glorifying or lamenting many shades of un/requited... secular love. If the warlords, from al-shabaab to the CIA et al, possessed half the senses and wits that sinking floor had, they'd shake their fat asses and fucked up brains to any beats of their choice. In which happy case they'd, at worst, only break their bricks and bones... and most definitely get much closer to whatever (transcendental) El Dorado they're seeking than they ever will through the barrels of their weapons, from simple rifles to high-tech drones. Fingers crossed!

Happy, healthy and peaceful 2015!

Waaberi Hargeysa Compilation

Founded in 1954, the theatre troupe Walaalaha Hargeysa (Siblings of Hargeysa) was nationalized and renamed Waaberi Hargeysa (Hargeysa's Dawn) following the military putsch in 1969. They were based in Hargeysa, the 2nd largest city in Somalia and currently the capital of the secessionist Somaliland. They're somewhat obscured by their Mogadishan other half of the twins that had at their disposal hundreds of artists and, thus, a massive repertoire. Nevertheless, WH had to their credit scores of plays and were widely popular all over Somalia and in the neighbouring countries. All the songs here belong to plays from the '70s and '80s performed live mainly by deeply loved, highly respected, widely venerated... female vocalists and actresses.

In this day and age, Somali women's rights are regularly violated by tribal and religious socio-psychopath(et)ic warlords and ordinary criminal thugs. In this light or glaring obscurity, I'd like to salute Aman Radio, the first all-female radio station in Mogadishu which celebrated its first anniversary on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Ladies and... ladies, congratulations for this pressing and heroine-ic initiative and many happier returns!