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Wallahi Le Zein!

by Various Artists

supported by
Ann Arbor
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Ann Arbor I love this album because it is so real. It's not recorded in a studio but at real musical events where the musicians just get together and jam. The rawness is wonderful.
savverificus
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savverificus Ripping guitar work, ferocious playing.... a completely altered viewpoint of an instrument modified to accommodate use in social functions, it is an inspiring listen. Great liner notes too. The LP is a curated mix of a 2cd set, which is what the digital version contains. And thanks to Mississippi records for sending me the download code.... best label ever!!! Favorite track: Wezin (Vaghu).
VAST DEFERENS
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VAST DEFERENS The ferocity and virtuosity of the fuzzy guitar playing in this Mauritanian music comp will impress, just don't ask me which version of "Banjey" I picked as favorite, as the titles repeat. Favorite track: Banjey.
The Execrable Bede
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The Execrable Bede Absolutely insane shredding. Buy this album. Favorite track: Banjey 'Boogie'.
StanK
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StanK Everything about this album makes my brain burn in the best way possible. How does this music even exist? If you like the far out discordant adventures of Sandy Bull and/or Sun Araw, this may be for you. The cassette is a work of art.
wanblinupa
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wanblinupa great stuff. heard it on 'radio is a foreign country' in the taxi tonight. thanks.
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • MRI-126 Black Vinyl 160g LP
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    160g black vinyl pressed at Smashed Plastic in Chicago, with 2-color jacket and 8-page booklet featuring detailed liner notes by Matthew Lavoie. First pressing.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Wallahi Le Zein! via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • MRI-126 Double Cassette Version
    Cassette + Digital Album

    2 x 60-minute cassettes in a double-sized jewel case with color cover. Includes the entire remastered original 28 song Wallahi Le Zein! compilation.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Wallahi Le Zein! via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

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about

Originally released as a double CD in 2010, Wallahi Le Zein! has persisted as a cult classic, a collection of a rarely heard and utterly unique underground music scene, raw and unfiltered.

The LP, cassette & digital version we now present is intended as an immersive entry into this music: gnarled and virtuosic electric guitars weave hypnotically throughout melismatic sung poetry and exclamations, pulsing hand drums, party chatter, buzzing rigged desert sound systems, and all manner of the ambient sounds of Nouakchott wedded to oversaturated cassette in all its swirling, breathing, psychedelic glory. Operating entirely outside of any local recording industry, these songs were collected from bootleg tape stalls, wedding souveniers, and networks of musicians, expertly curated, researched and produced by Matthew Lavoie.

Drawing from the deep well of Mauritanian classical music, the gamut of musical modes and the tidinitt lute repertoire are transposed to the electric guitar - often with frets removed or additional frets installed, “heavy metal” distortion pedals and phasers built into guitar bodies, blurring the lines between Haratine and Beydane musical cultures, the ancient and the futuristic. At times transcendent and transfixing, and conversely a furious and cascading intensity that commands jaw-dropping attention.

credits

released June 18, 2021

CREDITS:

Compiled by Matthew Lavoie
Originally released by Latitude Disc / Locust Music in 2010
LP, cassette & digital versions released by Mississippi Records in 2021
Produced by Matthew Lavoie, Cyrus Moussavi and Gordon Ashworth

Remastered by Timothy Stollenwerk at Stereophonic Sound
Design by Gordon Ashworth
LP Cover Production by Dan Fried

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

First and foremost, I would like to thank all of the vennane who gave so much of their time and were so generous in sharing their art and talent.

Thanks to Abdellahi Diop for his help with translations, and for always being ready to run the voodoo down, and a special thanks to Seydou ould Nalla, Fatim Diop, and the gang in Arafate, for their hospitality and good company.

RECOMMENDED LISTENING:

Dimi mint Abba. 1992. Music & Songs of Mauritania. Auvidis Ethnic B 6768.
Ely ould Meiddah/ Moktar ould Meiddah. 2002. Musique Maure. Prophet 29.
Ensemble El-Moukhadrami. 2000. Songs of the Griots. Institut du Monde Arabe 321004.
Khalife ould Eide & Dimi mint Abba. 1990. Moorish Music from Mauritania. World Circuit 019.
Noura mint Seymali, 2016. Arbina. Glitterbeat.
Ooleya mint Amartichitt. 1998. Praise Songs. Long Distance.
Various Artists. 1999. Concert sous la tente. Prophet 05.
Various Artists. 1998. Les Medeh des Haratines de Mauritanie. Club du Disque Arabe 163.

FURTHER READING:
thewealthofthewise.blogspot.com

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Mississippi Records Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mississippi Records was dreamt up 20 years ago.

Vital but often overlooked music made accessible through quality and affordable records and tapes, with respect to artists and their vision.

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