Various Artists
Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa
Over a millennia of trade in the Indian Ocean invited the cultures of the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and even China to slowly work their melodies, scales, and sounds into Somalia's rich musical repertoire. Each track is a keen illustration of a carefully refined, rarely revealed cultural crossroads of the world. The archive offered a living window to the Mogadishu of the 1970s and 1980s, when the coastal capital glistened as the ''Pearl of the Indian Ocean,'' when wine flowed freely. With its iconic ivory-colored architecture and crescent beaches overlooking the Indian Ocean, Mogadishu was home to the lavish Al Uruba and Jazira sea side hotels, where youthful bands like Iftiin, Sharero, and Dur Dur serenaded cosmopolitan crowds at some of the most elegant nightclubs in East Africa. These damaged cassettes evoked memories of the revered national theater, where Waaberi Band provided unforgettable soundtracks. Mogadishu's nightlife culture was rich and booming. Raucous rhythms, rugged horns, celestial synthesizers, and stalking baselines came alive alongside majestic voices like Mahmud ''Jerry'' Hussen and powerful and adored female singers like Faadumo Qaasim, Hibo Nuura, and Sahra Dawo. Somali music of this era is set apart by its empowerment of women. Female singers, often more prolific than their male counterparts, are inseparable from its evolution. Half the compilation is sung by women, their voices often compared in Somali poetry to the sweetness of broken dates. Poetry, intrinsic to the cultural fabric, forms the foundation of Somali songwriting. Somali music's golden age, curiously, occurred under a socialist military dictatorship, which effectively nationalized the music industry. A thriving scene was owned entirely by the state. Music was recorded for and by national radio stations and only disseminated through public broadcasts or live performances. Private labels were virtually non-existent. This music was never made available for mass release. Almost all recorded material came from original masters or homemade recordings of radio broadcasts. As a result, most of it has never been heard outside Somalia and the immediate region.
- 01 Nimco Jamaac - Buuraha U Dheer (The Highest Mountains)
- 02 Aamina Camaari - Rag Waa Nacab Iyo Nasteexo (Men Are Cruel & Kind)
- 03 Ali Nuur - Unknown
- 04 Hibo Nuura - Haddii Hoobalkii Gabay (If The Artist Let's You Down)
- 05 Gacaltooyo Band - Ninkaan Ogayn (He Who Does Not Know) (feat Faduumina Hilowle)
- 06 Iftiin Band - Xuduud Ma Leh Xubigaan (This Love Has No Boundaries) (feat Mahmud Abdalla Jerry Hussen & Maryan Naasir)
- 07 Xasan Diiriye - Qaraami (Love)
- 08 Dur Dur Band - Gorof (Elixir) (feat Sahra Dawo)
- 09 Sharaf Band - Kadeed Badanaa Naftaydani (My Life Is Full Of Tribulations) (feat Xaawo Hiiraan)
- 10 4 Mars - Na Daadihi (Guide Us)
- 11 Danan Hargeysa - Uur Hooyo (Mother's Womb) (feat Mohamed Huro Abdihashi)
- 12 Sharero Band - Qays Iyo Layla (Romeo & Juliet) (feat Faadumo Qaasim)
- 13 Waaberi - Oktoobar Waatee? Waa Taayadii (What's October? It's Ours)
- 14 Danan Hargeysa - Mama (feat Mohamed Huro Abdihashi)
- 15 Dur Dur Band - Duruuf Maa Laygu Diidee (Rejected Due To My Circumstance) (feat Muqtar Idi Ramadan)
- 16 Iftiin Band - Anaa Qaylodhaanta (feat Mahmud Abdalla Jerry Hussen)
2LP | Ostinato Records: OSTLP003 | out of stock |