On May 9, Sublime Frequencies gifts curious listeners a pair of diligently assembled compilations in accordance with the label’s norm. The first, Born in the City of Tanta – Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya’s Bourini Records 1968-75, documents the productivity of a key independent Egyptian label, and the second, Tsapiky! Modern Music from Southwest Madagascar offers a dose of potent contemporary ceremonial music mayhem from the country of its title. Both LPs are mandatory listens for anybody seeking to keep solid tabs on the global musical scheme, historically and in the moment.
Born in the City of Tanta collects eight tracks originally issued on 45 rpm discs across the timeframe listed in the LP’s full title. These sides document the sound of the emerging shaabi style, which presented an edgier alternative to the “official” pop music dubbed “al-musiqa al-arabia” that was coming out of Cairo during the period.
Smooth, refined, and highly accomplished, al-musiqa al-arabia was also essentially a closed off realm, its stars untouchable, and when this circumstance arises anywhere on the planet it’s basically inevitable that a more relatable and more intense style will emerge to fill the void. When this happens, it’s almost always independent labels that harness the sounds heard in clubs and modest halls via recordings; this is exactly the impulse documented on Born in the City of Tanta, as Bourini Records released in the ballpark of 40-50 records in the titular eight-year span.
Compiled by Hisham Mayet and Gary Sullivan, the selections are varied in execution. There is the swirling full-band intensity of “Yana Alla Nafsa Masouda” (“Blocked from What I Want”) by Basis Rahouma and “Mould fi Madina Tanta” (“Born in the City of Tanta”) by Sheikh Amin Abdel Qader. There’s the lithe trio action (lyre/violin/percussion) of “Al Bint al Libya” (“The Girl from Libya”) by Abu Abab.
There’s the accordion drone and simmering vocal ache of “Ana Mish Hafwatak” (“I Don’t Miss Your Love”) by Mahmoud al-Sandidi and “Mawal Al Layl Kolo Makasib” (“Mawaal: The Spoils of an All-Nighter”) also by Sheikh Amin Abdel Qader. There’s the string dervishes and guy-girl vocal interplay of “Shawish Aldawriat” (“Patrol Sargeant”) by Samah.
And there’s the unflagging rhythmic pulse and interweaving wind gusts of “Ya Allah Ank Zinat” (“Oh, God, You Are Beautiful”) by Abu Saber. But the sweet capper is the celebratory hand-clap mania of “Baed Al Yas Yjini” (“After Hopelessness, He Comes to Me”) by Reem Kamal, clearly a party proposition and a fine segway into Tsapiky!
Born in the City of Tanta has a few moments of inspired craziness, and right away with Basis Rahouma vocally transforming into a lion creature in “Yana Alla Nafsa Masouda,” but in terms of jaw-dropping aural wildness that’s on the constant brink of insanity, Sublime Frequencies’ dive onto the Madagascan style of Tsapiky is in a class by itself.
Field recorded by Maxime Bobo as the bands play three-to-seven day multi-purposes ceremonies called mandriampototse, the constant elements are burning electric guitar, fiery female vocals, and hyper-speed drumming. The claim that this music defies categorization is fair, though it can be described as having affinities with high life, but high life that’s been dipped in acid, which also means the tracks possess an amphetamine quality that’s manifest in the breakneck pace of the rhythms.
Variety is not really an objective with Tsapiky music. Wailing like you’ve been spirit possessed by the gods and goddesses of caffeine most certainly is. That’s not to say all the songs sound the same. There are elements that don’t get cast aside but rather played with and blasted out in a manner that leaves a lingering impression and serves as a reminder that fresh musical possibilities are never exhausted.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
Born in the City of Tanta – Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya’s Bourini Records 1968-75
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Tsapiky! Modern Music from Southwest Madagascar
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