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CD
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GB 170CD
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Denmark-based Tunisian producer Sofyann Ben Youssef has already created whole new worlds of sound. His startling debut as AMMAR 808 -- 2018's Maghreb United -- fused thumping TR-808 drum machine rhythms and bone-rattling bass with traditional North African folk instrumentalists and vocalists from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, suggesting a pan-Maghreb science-fiction mash-up worthy of William Burroughs' most fevered dreams. For his latest album -- Club Tounsi -- he sets his sights on home, with an album that investigates and explores the vibrant folk tradition of his native Tunisia. Named after the ancient mezoued goatskin bagpipes that provide the music's sinuous melodies, it's traditionally accompanied by popular singers also backed by clattering hand drums. Originating in the 1950s, when a surge of rural migrants flocked to the capital Tunis in search of work, it's the music of the downtrodden and the underdog, long frowned upon by polite Tunisian society. As AMMAR 808 explains, the music persisted. "It evolved out of that stigmatization and became something that actually speaks to all Tunisians, because it takes its roots from all available music in Tunisia." In Mezoued, you'll find Sufi devotional hymns, malouf melodies, Arabic scales and ancient folksong all part of one repertoire. Although it´s lyrics are preoccupied with hardship and the pain of love, Mezoued music wants to party hard. And rhythm is the key. On Club Tounsi, AMMAR 808 takes this "festive" tradition and reimagines it for the 21st century with pulsating basslines, shimmering synths, crunching distortion and mechanistic drum machine rhythms. Featuring Brahim Riahi, Mahmoud Lahbib, and Mariem Bettouhami.
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LP
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GB 170LP
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LP version. Denmark-based Tunisian producer Sofyann Ben Youssef has already created whole new worlds of sound. His startling debut as AMMAR 808 -- 2018's Maghreb United -- fused thumping TR-808 drum machine rhythms and bone-rattling bass with traditional North African folk instrumentalists and vocalists from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, suggesting a pan-Maghreb science-fiction mash-up worthy of William Burroughs' most fevered dreams. For his latest album -- Club Tounsi -- he sets his sights on home, with an album that investigates and explores the vibrant folk tradition of his native Tunisia. Named after the ancient mezoued goatskin bagpipes that provide the music's sinuous melodies, it's traditionally accompanied by popular singers also backed by clattering hand drums. Originating in the 1950s, when a surge of rural migrants flocked to the capital Tunis in search of work, it's the music of the downtrodden and the underdog, long frowned upon by polite Tunisian society. As AMMAR 808 explains, the music persisted. "It evolved out of that stigmatization and became something that actually speaks to all Tunisians, because it takes its roots from all available music in Tunisia." In Mezoued, you'll find Sufi devotional hymns, malouf melodies, Arabic scales and ancient folksong all part of one repertoire. Although it´s lyrics are preoccupied with hardship and the pain of love, Mezoued music wants to party hard. And rhythm is the key. On Club Tounsi, AMMAR 808 takes this "festive" tradition and reimagines it for the 21st century with pulsating basslines, shimmering synths, crunching distortion and mechanistic drum machine rhythms. Featuring Brahim Riahi, Mahmoud Lahbib, and Mariem Bettouhami.
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CD
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GB 100CD
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AMMAR 808's previous album Maghreb United (GB 060CD/LP, 2018) -- a powerful mixture of deep TR-808 bass and Pan-Maghreb beats and voices -- received widespread critical acclaim and shook dancefloors throughout Europe, North Africa, and beyond. This time Brussels-based Tunisian electronic producer Sofyann Ben Youssef (aka AMMAR 808) has traveled to the Tamil Nadu region of southern India for a breath-taking new adventure. With a suitcase full of recording equipment, he set up base in the pulsing city of Chennai and undertook a collaborative reimagining of the area's rich and resonant music. Ranging from trance temple sounds to rap-like street theater performance and ending with the mathematical richness of Carnatic music, Ben Youssef's in situ recordings form the foundation of his potent new album: Global Control / Invisible Invasion. He's crafted them from Hindu mythology and created a philosophical jolt of a disc that sweeps him far from his native Maghreb and deep into the ancient Carnatic tradition of South India. While the ideas are timeless, the music leans modern, with AMMAR 808 and his arsenal of analogue electronics and subsonic beats, morphing traditional legends and soundscapes into the future tense. The recording itself only lasted ten days, while even the post-production barely took a month. All those years of thought had laid very firm groundwork. The "invisible invasion" in the album title isn't a contemporary reference to the coronavirus pandemic. The virus flung us all into a dystopian universe. The track "Ey Paavi" comes from the Mahabharata, one of the great Sanskrit epic tales of India, composed over 2000 years ago. The song relates episode where the threats of death and destruction between Bhima and Duryodhana ratchet up and up. Mythology and tradition run all through the record. "Mahaganapatim" is another name for the god Ganesha, for example, while the songs "Marivere Gati" and "Pahi Jagajjanani" both have long roots in the South Indian history. Global Control / Invisible Invasion is an album of songs -- some in the Tamil language which is widely spoken across the region. That's perfectly natural, given the vocal tradition which is the chief thread of Carnatic music (as opposed to North Indian music, which is largely instrumental). It's also quite deliberately very percussive album, another reflection of India itself. Every track resonates with tightly wound passion. Global Control / Invisible Invasion offers a perfect soundtrack for these times.
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LP
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GB 100LP
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LP version. 180 gram vinyl; includes download code. AMMAR 808's previous album Maghreb United (GB 060CD/LP, 2018) -- a powerful mixture of deep TR-808 bass and Pan-Maghreb beats and voices -- received widespread critical acclaim and shook dancefloors throughout Europe, North Africa, and beyond. This time Brussels-based Tunisian electronic producer Sofyann Ben Youssef (aka AMMAR 808) has traveled to the Tamil Nadu region of southern India for a breath-taking new adventure. With a suitcase full of recording equipment, he set up base in the pulsing city of Chennai and undertook a collaborative reimagining of the area's rich and resonant music. Ranging from trance temple sounds to rap-like street theater performance and ending with the mathematical richness of Carnatic music, Ben Youssef's in situ recordings form the foundation of his potent new album: Global Control / Invisible Invasion. He's crafted them from Hindu mythology and created a philosophical jolt of a disc that sweeps him far from his native Maghreb and deep into the ancient Carnatic tradition of South India. While the ideas are timeless, the music leans modern, with AMMAR 808 and his arsenal of analogue electronics and subsonic beats, morphing traditional legends and soundscapes into the future tense. The recording itself only lasted ten days, while even the post-production barely took a month. All those years of thought had laid very firm groundwork. The "invisible invasion" in the album title isn't a contemporary reference to the coronavirus pandemic. The virus flung us all into a dystopian universe. The track "Ey Paavi" comes from the Mahabharata, one of the great Sanskrit epic tales of India, composed over 2000 years ago. The song relates episode where the threats of death and destruction between Bhima and Duryodhana ratchet up and up. Mythology and tradition run all through the record. "Mahaganapatim" is another name for the god Ganesha, for example, while the songs "Marivere Gati" and "Pahi Jagajjanani" both have long roots in the South Indian history. Global Control / Invisible Invasion is an album of songs -- some in the Tamil language which is widely spoken across the region. That's perfectly natural, given the vocal tradition which is the chief thread of Carnatic music (as opposed to North Indian music, which is largely instrumental). It's also quite deliberately very percussive album, another reflection of India itself. Every track resonates with tightly wound passion. Global Control / Invisible Invasion offers a perfect soundtrack for these times.
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CD
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GB 060CD
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Deep TR-808 bass meets pan-Maghreb beats, timeless voices, and futurist visions. AMMAR 808 was the sonic mastermind behind the Tunisian sensation: Bargou 08. On his debut release, Maghreb United, featuring the singers Mehdi Nassouli (Morocco), Sofiane Saidi (Algeria), and Cheb Hassen Tej (Tunisia), he connects the two to offer a radical, electronic reinvention of ancient North African music. AMMAR 808 started the project in 2017, after working with the lauded Bargou 08, searching for something to link the sense of what has been with what will be. "I'm trying to weave threads from folklore and mythology into futurism. And I'm not necessarily projecting a positive image; from all we can see, things aren't going in the right direction. What I hope is that it will raise an alarm." Yet there's also plenty of hope here. With singers from Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, songs from the Targ, Gnawa, and Raï histories, and a TR-808 alongside a distorted gumbri (Nassouli), gasba flute, and zokra bagpipes (Lassaed Bougalmi), this is an album that reaches out to encompass the entire Maghreb area of North Africa. "In the past the Maghreb was one huge region, yet very diverse within its borders. But today, the world keeps every person separated. The album isn't so much about a united Maghrebi region, but how we can connect while observing our differences -- our differences are also our connection -- and using them to unify as humans." The choice of songs was also very deliberate for AMMAR 808, with nine of the ten cuts taken from the deep tradition. The idea for Maghreb United (which is also the name for the album's performing group) has long been burning in AMMAR 808, but it burst into flame after the musician and producer met all the singers on his regular trips in the region, before returning home to start building the tracks. The deep, rumbling growl of the gumbri, the dry, airy tenderness of the gasba, and the softly slithering zokra give a powerful North African root to the music, a thread that spins back through centuries. And the singers burn with fire and grace and passion.
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LP
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GB 060LP
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LP version. 180 gram vinyl; Includes download code. Deep TR-808 bass meets pan-Maghreb beats, timeless voices, and futurist visions. AMMAR 808 was the sonic mastermind behind the Tunisian sensation: Bargou 08. On his debut release, Maghreb United, featuring the singers Mehdi Nassouli (Morocco), Sofiane Saidi (Algeria), and Cheb Hassen Tej (Tunisia), he connects the two to offer a radical, electronic reinvention of ancient North African music. AMMAR 808 started the project in 2017, after working with the lauded Bargou 08, searching for something to link the sense of what has been with what will be. "I'm trying to weave threads from folklore and mythology into futurism. And I'm not necessarily projecting a positive image; from all we can see, things aren't going in the right direction. What I hope is that it will raise an alarm." Yet there's also plenty of hope here. With singers from Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, songs from the Targ, Gnawa, and Raï histories, and a TR-808 alongside a distorted gumbri (Nassouli), gasba flute, and zokra bagpipes (Lassaed Bougalmi), this is an album that reaches out to encompass the entire Maghreb area of North Africa. "In the past the Maghreb was one huge region, yet very diverse within its borders. But today, the world keeps every person separated. The album isn't so much about a united Maghrebi region, but how we can connect while observing our differences -- our differences are also our connection -- and using them to unify as humans." The choice of songs was also very deliberate for AMMAR 808, with nine of the ten cuts taken from the deep tradition. The idea for Maghreb United (which is also the name for the album's performing group) has long been burning in AMMAR 808, but it burst into flame after the musician and producer met all the singers on his regular trips in the region, before returning home to start building the tracks. The deep, rumbling growl of the gumbri, the dry, airy tenderness of the gasba, and the softly slithering zokra give a powerful North African root to the music, a thread that spins back through centuries. And the singers burn with fire and grace and passion.
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