Another killer compilation uncovering long hidden Somalian grooves from Ostinato Records, this time of cultural super group 4 Mars, in what has to be one of my favourite African reissue series. They aren't wasting their unique access to the vaults, perfectly showcasing the evocative sounds of the East coming to the raunchier African party where Jamaica & black America have already started the dancing.  https://ostinatorecords.bandcamp.com/album/djibouti-archives-vol-1-super-somali-sounds-from-the-gulf-of-tadjoura

At Pioneer Works

Inssegh Inssegh

Super Mama Djombo - Assalariado

MDOU MOCTAR - TAHOULTINE

Mam Yinne Wa

Yu Ya Yumma

Akalé Wubé

Jawa Jawa

Mdou Moctar - Anar

from "Music from Saharan Cellphones Vol. 2"

Mdou Moctar - Anar

Claude Fontaine

Play by Play

In 2019, Ostinato Records became the first label granted access to the grand Archives of Radiodiffusion-Télévision de Djibouti (RTD), a vault of secrets and stories from East Africa.

The first in our Djibouti Archives series is a seminal anthology of 4 Mars, a 40-member Somali supergroup behind the most streamed and downloaded track on our Grammy-nominated Sweet As Broken Dates compilation. The personal band of a political party, 4 Mars' sound reveals a brand new history of the world.

Turkish synths, Jamaican Reggae, American brass, Bollywood vocals, Egyptian and Yemeni rhythms, and Chinese and Mongolian flutes all rendezvous in a corner of East Africa that for centuries served as the world's most brisk trading hub, the midway point connecting Africa, Asia, and the Mediterranean. All roads led to the Gulf of Tadjoura, not Rome.

This is Somali music at its sassy, soulful, synthesized best.

Warmly restored and remastered from digitized master reels and cassettes housed in the RTD archives.

FULLY AUTHORIZED by RTD and Le Palais du Peuple (The Palace of the People), which created and oversees 4 Mars. Royalties paid directly to The Palace of the People.

Super Somali Sounds from the Gulf of Tadjoura

4 Mars: Super Somali Sounds from the Gulf of Tadjoura

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Dhulka Hooyo (Motherland)

Nominated for a Grammy and the German Record Critics Prize. Get BEJA POWER! Now —> https://ostlp.lnk.to/beja

Dhulka Hooyo (Motherland)

Ostinato Records

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