The songs, the artists performing them, it’s all good on this new compilation from desert talent-spotting label Sahel Sounds, but the idea behind the project adds another dimension to its appreciation. The label’s first album compiled, in 2011, recordings that were shared by music lovers from the Sahara via Bluetooth or by memory chips from their cell phones that they exchanged; in 2020, the boss appealed to musicians in the region to collect recordings shared on the instant messaging application WhatsApp. They responded in particular to Amaria Hamadalher, member of the Daughters of Illighadad, on the touching and acoustic Tarhanine ; the renowned Etran de l’Aïr wedding orchestra, which opens the album with an electric sweetness named Tarha Ebouse Dighe Mane ; and the young Alkibar Junior orchestra, feasting with a torrid Malian funk named Aduna. On even hear children singing next to them. The rough, lo-fi recording quality of these songs perfectly captures the immediacy of the moment.
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