Awesome Tapes from Africa/Brian Shimkovitz DJ set at Fox Cabaret (2321 Main St., Vancouver), Friday, May 16, 10 p.m. Tickets $12. For more information and to order tickets go to foxcabaret.com/event/awesome-tapes-from-africa/.
As a student on a Fulbright scholarship in Ghana, Brian Shimkovitz came across street vendors in West Africa selling music cassettes unavailable anywhere else. He started a blog in 2006 called Awesome Tapes from Africa to share information on the gems he found - everything from classic highlife recordings to contemporary pop tunes. Awesome Tapes from Africa is now also the name of a record label, and Shimkovitz DJs all over the world playing mostly straight from tape. He's unearthed a ridiculous amount of rare, sublime music that would probably otherwise have been lost. Here's a list of 10 off the top:
- Fadimoutou Wallet Inamoud. "Isswat" traditional music of the Adrar D'Ifoghas in Northern Mali. Exquisite North African roots music. Long after-dinner Tuareg jam in the desert. Could have been recorded a thousand years ago. Anyone interested in the history of North African culture, Islamic Spain, Lamtuna Almoravids, Al-Andalus should start here, end here, get here.
- Fanta Damba du Mali: Vol. 2 (The side of the cassette reads Vol. 1 but either way this is classic stuff from Wassoulou diva)
- Nâ Hawa Doumbia: La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol. 3 (Malian singer's 1982 release the first appearing on Awesome Tapes from Africa label in 2011)
- Hallo Dawe - Volume 3 (Oromo music from Ethiopia)
- Boureima Disco et le Super Bonkaney (First cassette from dance band big on Niger's wedding scene)
- Bintou Sidibe (more fine Wassoulou rhythms)
- Aster Aweke (Ethiopian diva's first recordings)
- Oum Koulsoum: Rak El Habib (last composition Egyptian icon did with composer Mohammed Al-Qasabghi)
- Hailu Mergia Hailu Mergia and His Classical Instrument (Ethiopian 1985 cassette re-released on Awesome Tapes from Africa label)
- Chief Commander Ebenezer Obey & His International Brothers: A Christmas Special by the King of Juju.
For more music go to awesometapes.com.
