Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ‘Live at WOMAD 1985’ out today
Relive the magic of July 20th 1985, a pivotal performance for the legend of Qawwali music.
Fri, 26 July 19
5 albums that showcase the beautiful music of North Africa
Get to know the music of North Africa with these five essential albums from our catalogue, including musical styles such as Algerian Raï, Egyptian Classical and Moroccan Gnawa.
1. Mraya
Abdel Ali Slimani (Algeria)
RELEASED 08 JANUARY 1996
Mraya is an assured debut, with Abdel Ali Slimani‘s Algerian Rai roots finding solid ground in trance-like grooves. The album’s theme reflects the emigre looking back at his home to which he cannot return, the music taking Rai to new areas but retaining the spirit of its desert roots. Read more about the album
2. New Moon
Abdelli (Algeria)
RELEASED 26 JUNE 1995
Abdelli is a Berber of the Kabyle people, indigenous North Africans who have inhabited the region since pre-Arab times. New Moon is the poetic and passionate music of a man who brings his ancient culture into the modern world through collaboration with musicians from South America and the Ukraine. Read more about the album
3. Trance
Hassan Hakmoun & ZAHAR (Morocco)
RELEASED 31 AUGUST 1993
Primal Moroccan trance traditions collide with psychedelic New York rock and London dance grooves. What results is part of the on-going story of Gnawa music, which spread from West Africa, the Sudan, and the Southern Sahara through centuries of migration until it reached Morocco. Read more about the album
4. Charcoal Gypsies
Musicians of the Nile (Egypt)
RELEASED 02 SEPTEMBER 1996
From the furthest reaches of Upper-Egypt to new spaces and cultures, The Musicians of the Nile return with powerful songs deep in tradition and spontaneity. Read more about the album
5. Kalashnik Love
Speed Caravan (Algeria)
RELEASED 14 SEPTEMBER 2009
Electrified, amplified and fuelled by creative fire, the Paris-based quartet charge towards a psychedelic horizon; slaloming through rock, dance, electro, hiphop, world and other music— blazing a trail with raised fists, a hand brake turn and a sharp spray of desert sand. Read more about the album
MAILING LIST
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Further reading
Les Amazones d’Afrique are back with new single ‘Amazones Power’
The single precedes an upcoming European tour and a new album in Autumn 2019
Fri, 03 May 19
7 East African artists performing at this year’s Ongala Music Festival
Named after the late Remmy Ongala, the event showcases exciting new East African talent.
Fri, 09 August 19
Real World at the British Library Sound Archive
The British Library Archive have been recording artists at the WOMAD Festival for over 30 years.
Sun, 04 August 19