We are living in a material world. Here are two fruits of Beyond Digital, a gorgeous CD and a cassette, available for purchase here.
The debut CD of Imanaren is a lovely thing. We re-released this digitally on Dutty Artz, but here, exclusive and for the first time, is a very limited edition of the original physical CD, produced in Morocco by Hassan Wargui. (These CDs don’t play well with all drives, so purchase comes with a download link to the Dutty Artz digital version; you can burn up a lossless CD if yours doesn’t play well.)
For an introduction to Imanaren, read (the amazing) Nina Power’s review in The Wire or check out this video — a brief interview with Wargui followed by the album’s first track.
I’ve also got a few copies of the Palm Wine – Dreamachine / Beyond Digital mix cassette. This is great project initiated by artist Simone Bertuzzi. One side features his field recordings from northern Morocco including excerpts from the Master Musicians of Joujouka Festival. (For in-depth observations on the Jajouka/Joujouka phenomenon, try my essay for The National, “Past Masters.”) The tape’s flip side contains a b2b selection Maga Bo & I assembled while traveling on trains across Morocco. Our contribution is unmixed (it’s like an old school cassette you may have made for friends way back when…). Simone has a detailed writeup about the entire project here. My side starts off with the magical Luzmilla Carpio, and this is a 2-minute excerpt from Side A, Simone’s Dreamachine field recordings:
Palm Wine “Dreamachine mix” [2 min. excerpt] by Palm Wine
Please note: if you’d live outside of the U.S. and would like to order the Palm Wine cassette, please do it directly from the Palm Wine blog. This order form allows for U.S. purchases of the Imanaren + Palm Wine, and rest-of-world purchases of the Imanaren.
Make sure you use the dropdown form to select which item(s) you want and whether your location is US or rest-of-world. Shukran.
The song and the video are fantastic! Do you think I’d still be able to find a copy of the CD in Casablanca? Or is that just plain cheeky?
I’m going back to Morocco in March and was hoping to spend a day or two in Casablanca, then off to the big square for more Souss banjo magic.
Thanks,
Marc
Mr Tear–
there’s one music stand in the Casablanca medina that sells it. it’s run by a Berber gentleman and also sells hijabs & women’s sportswear. happy hunting!
j
Ha ha! Needle in a haystack is the term that springs immediately to mind. But I am patient and determined. Thanks Jace.
photos from the shop!
https://twitter.com/#!/djrupture/media/slideshow?url=http%3A%2F%2Fyfrog.com%2Fesd97sj
https://twitter.com/#!/djrupture/media/slideshow?url=http%3A%2F%2Fyfrog.com%2Fnyh02pxj
I know that Hasaan Wurgui would probably cite the King of the Banjo as a musical influence, so if you feel like diving in, you can find about 4 hours of Izenzaren’s beautiful music over here:
http://snapcrackleandpops.blogspot.com/search/label/Izanzaren
Sorry for the shameless blog promotion-ing.
Thanks for the photos…I will definately find it now.
🙂
love the palm wine tape so much. listen to it constantly in the kitchen. lio enjoys dancing to it.