Izvorišta 452: Ammar 808, Ganavya...
Two brilliant albums were released on 23 May and took up almost the entire show. We listened to several tracks from "Club Tounsi" by Ammar 808 and "Nilam", Ganavya’s third album in two years. The songs for the last part of the show were selected by my son, and he chose Bantu, Buzz' Ayaz, Bejuco and Elida Almeida.
(you can also listen to this episode on Mixcloud, just click here)
Ammar 808 - Club Tounsi (Glitterbeat Records 2025.)
Sofyann Ben Youssef impressed me back when he was still a member of the group Bargou 08 — a band I’ll never forgive for breaking up before their announced concert in Slovenia could take place. However, I believe that seeing a show by Ammar 808 will help me get over this disappointment, because what Ben Youssef does can only be described as masterful. Club Tounsi is his third album, on which he fuses heavy bass rhythms with Arabic heritage, all complemented by excellent singers — especially Mahmoud Lahbib and Brahim Riahi. I tried to find a weak track on the album but failed. Arabic electronica has been much hyped in recent years, and it's hard to find anything better than this album.
Ganavya - Nilam (Leiter 2025.)
The American-Indian musician Ganavya has been very active in recent years. Last year she released two albums, but that wasn't enough for her - just a few days ago she released another album entitled "Nilam". This album is a sequel of sorts to "Daughter Of A Temple", and again Ganavya explores Indian music and blends it with jazz and ambient sounds, masterfully arranged by the album’s producer, Nils Frahm. It's easy to fall into a meditative state while listening to "Nilam", especially during the beautiful track "Nine Jeweled Prayer".
Tracklist:
Kaito Winse - Djiligui Duni
Ammar 808 - Ah Yallila
Ammar 808 - Lelliri Yamma
Ammar 808 - Aman Aman
Ammar 808 - Eddayem Allah
Ganavya - Land
Ganavya - Nine Jeweled Prayer
Ganavya - Pasayadan
Bantu - Wayo And Division
Buzz' Ayaz - Efdji
Bejuco - Chigualo
Elida Almeida - Bedjera
Keep reading/listening:
Izvorišta 451: Stefano Saletti, Brigan, Azmari, Radio Tutti...
This edition of Izvorišta has an Italian atmosphere as we listen to new albums by Stefano Saletti and Brigan. There's also the French band Radio Tutti, who incorporate pizzica into their music, among other influences. The non-Italian part of the programme is led by the Belgian group Azmari with their new EP, and we also listened to Mehmet Polat Quartet,…