Category: 2010-2014

“Zagzan” (2012) – Abdallah Ag Oumbadougou * Written by Abdallah Ag Oumbadougou * Album: Zozodinga * Label: Culture & Résistance

Abdallah Ag Oumbadougou, a revered figure in Tishoumaren music (also known as Tuareg blues or desert blues), passed away on January 4, 2020 at the age of 58. Those seem to be the only details available. Oumbadougou’s “desert rebel” nickname was no trifle – when his Tuareg people faced increased marginalization in the northwest African region, especially in his homeland of Niger, he became an exile, occasionally getting sent back to Niger to serve prison sentences after which he’d return to life as an outcast. His main offense: involving himself in the Tuareg resistance, lending voice to the movement through his own music and with the group Takrist n’Akalt (build the country), which he joined in the training camps of Libya. When peace agreements were signed in 1995, Oubadougou was able to return home to perform to—and record for—the audience he’d cultivated via cassette circulation. His influence on the popular Tuareg sound, by replacing traditional instruments with his guitar, is enormous. Its hypnotic strains now fill auditoriums in major cities, particularly when artists such as Tinariwen or Etran Finatawa go touring. Words of resistance continued to be Oumbadougou’s stock and trade throughout the remainder of his years. The song “Zagzan,” which translates to “Trust,” is about the uneasiness of life among city folk as opposed to the mountain folk, who “fight for and claim the rights of their people.”

 

Since the early ’90s, when she started releasing her first solo albums, the Polish singer songwriter (in a post-punk vein) Renata Przemyk has had a way of keeping audiences in her pocket. “Elastic” is a suitable way to describe her voice and lyrics, which can bend and stretch in terms of expression and meaning. Her 2012 Akustik Trio brings the unplugged approach to previous hits and the sound suits her well. On “Drzewo” (tree), a song from 2001, she uses Adam and Eve images to explore how personal choice, in itself, can seem to complicate the very boundaries between good and evil.

“Abbandonato (Los ejes de mi carreta)” (2012) – Vinicio Capossela * Written by Atahualpa Yupanqui and Romildo Risso * Adapted by Vincio Capossela * LP: Rebetiko Gymnastas * Produced by Vinicio Capossela * Label: La Cupa

Argentinian troubadour Atahualpa Yupanqui turned a Uruguayan poem called “The Axles of My Cart” into a famous song in which various levels of meaning complemented each other, e.g., a worker’s loneliness, resilience, and/or refusal to keep quiet. The song has since come to life in numerous milonga and tango versions, suggesting additional meanings. A recent Italian interpretation by Vinicio Capossela, which uses Greek instrumentation offers this one: the resolve to dance coyly. The song’s video depicts Capossela and his band performing in a gym while dancers rehearse.

“Heydarbaba” (2011) – Sari Gelin Ensemble * Written by Mohammad-Hossein Shariar and B. Kerimov * CD: Azerbaijan Traditional Music * Label: ARC

The notes for this disc on the ARC label, billed to the Lök-Batan Folklore Group, credits the “emotive vocals” of Zulfiya Mamedova, who’s female, but the bonus track at the end features an uncredited male vocalist. He’s Gochaq Askerov of the Sari Gelin Ensemble, and he’s singing a musical rendering of the Iranian Azerbaijani poet Mohammad-Hossein Shariar’s “Heydar Babaya Salam.” It’s a mountain of a poem expressing Shariar’s childhood memories of a real, geographical mountain near Tabriz, Iran. Written in the Azer dialect, the verses won a place in the hearts of all Turkic nations to the extent that it brought Shariar’s dialect acceptance in Iran, while certain phrases in the poem became Azeri idioms. A full translation of it can be seen at Azerbaijan International. Music credits go to “B. Kerimov,” who is also credited on YouTube versions by the Azerbaijani vocalist Rubabe Muradova (1930-1983).

“Soon After Midnight” (2012) – Bob Dylan * Written and produced by Bob Dylan * LP: Tempest * Label: Columbia

Bob Dylan, as an active participant in the folk and pop culture processes of reshaping idioms and traditions to create new art, has been no stranger—since the early days of his career—to accusations of plagiarism. Many of them are maybe too paltry to apply to a prolific force of nature like Dylan, and they do tend to distract from the big picture. Consider, too, how often he’s been ripped off. In September 2012, though, he lashed out at “wussies” who pointed out similarities between his work right at a time when his newly-released Tempest album had unveiled a song called “Soon After Midnight,” in which he uses the entire chord structure and musical road map of Bobby Fuller’s “New Shade of Blue.” Although Fuller and co-writer Mary Stone have both passed on, this seems like a case where gracious acknowledgment of the source would be in order. (From a previous post at Boneyard Media.)