Showing posts with label Zayane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zayane. Show all posts

Monday, May 4, 2026

North African Tapes Roundup (Music Blogs is Dead - The Blogs Abides!)

It's 2026 and the heyday of the music blog recedes into the rearview mirror of our music consumption patterns along with the era of the cassette tape itself. However, there's still plenty of North African musical goodness being shared online via the form of the anachronistic blog and its various successors. 

Here's some recent shares that might pique your interest:

GET THESE BEFORE THEY DISAPPEAR - THE BIG 4 MOROCCAN TRANCE TRADITIONS AT HIVE MIND

Marc at Hive Mind has been sharing some great cassette audio at "Name Your Own Price" on his Bandcamp page. These generally disappear after 1 month, but he's currently made all four them available again for a limited time. So get over there and pick up some choice Hamadcha, Gnawa, Jilala, and Aissaoua sounds. (And chip in a few dirhams for the good causes he supports if you're able to do so.) 

(And most of Marc's shares are still available at his old Snap, Crackle & Pop blog.)

SWEET ANADALUSIAN SOUNDS FROM CONSTANTINE AT MUSIC REPUBLIC 

MusicRepublic - World Traditional Music from LPs and Cassettes continues to share rare and high quality audio from world of vinyl. He recently shared a lovely album from the Algerian artist Mohamed Tahar Fergani. 

RAI VARIETIES AT K7MATIK 

Reda at K7MATIC continues to share loads of Algerian cassette audio, primarily but not exclusively rai music, this unusual cassette caught my ear recently - stripped down rai from singer Cheikha Houaria, but replacing the typical gasba flute accompaniment with a ghaita oboe provided by an Aissawa ensemble.

KHADIJA ATLAS ANTHOLOGY AT ARAB TUNES

Lazyproduction continues to compile anthologies and mixtapes from across the Arab (and Amazigh) music world at the Arab Tunes blog. A recent highlight is a compilation of the Zayane singer Khadija Atlas, featuring recordings under her name as well as her appearances on recordings of other artists such as Rouicha, Abdelaziz Ahouzar, and Mustapha Oumguil.

KHADIJA EL BIDAWIYA AT WALLAHI LE ZEIN!

A welcome recent development is Matthew's return to posting at Wallahi Le Zein! He recently reupped a compilation of the late âita marsaouia singer Khadija el Bidaouia, and the post includes excerpts from a 2011 interview he did with her. 

NORTH AFRICAN VINYL PROGRAMS AT BODEGA POP

No, not the old Bodega Pop blog, but the Bodega Pop radio program at WFMU's Give The Drummer Radio stream every Wednesday from 7-10 PM Eastern Time. Gary continues to confound expectations with his broad knowledge and musical omnivorosity for 3 hours every week. These programs live forever on the WFMU website, so you can enjoy them anytime you like. Many of his 2026 shows are devoted to vinyl from specific countries. In the North African vein, you can listen to entire programs devoted to music on vinyl from Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, and most recently Tunisia

And you should definitely check out the fab compilation he put together for Sublime Frequencies that came out last year, Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75

THEMATIC MIXES AT RADIO IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY

Lastly, there are some great North African mixes among the many streamable mixes at Radio Is A Foreign Country. Most recent North African offering was a great audio montage of recordings from Radio Mauritanie put together by Matthew Lavoie of Wallahi Le Zein! Keep an eye on Radio Is A Foreign Country for a Moroccan mix by yours truly, dropping very soon! 😉


Friday, February 27, 2026

Thirty-Six Minutes of Rouicha Jamming


No words needed. Just Rouicha on the lotar and one or two bendir players. Thirty-six minutes of jammy Zayane goodness!

Rouicha Mohamed رويشة محمد
Ajmal at-Taqasim âla Aalat al Hajhouj أجمل التقاسيم على آلة الهجهوج
[The most beautiful improvisations on the hajhouj instrument]

Tichkaphone cassette TCK 763 تشكفون 

FLAC | 320

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Alfannana Aicha - Zayane Star

Here's a killer tape that comes to us from Friend-of-the-Stash Polina. It's a vintage 1990s cassette from the Zayane region - Tamazight speakers from the area of Beni Mellal/Zaouiat Cheikh/Khenifra - before the era of auto-tune and drum programming. Scratchy viola, buzzy bendirs, and powerful vocals from the singer Aicha. The cassette j-card refers to her as Najmat Zayane (The Zayane Star) and Alfannana Aicha (The Artist Aicha). The Aicha pictured on the j-card resembles the singer in this GREAT clip - Aicha el Hajeb  عائشة الحاجب, also known as Aicha Oulbomzough:

 

It looks like the same Aicha to me, but all the music I can find online by Aicha el Hajeb is very traditional, slow-tempo music. What's on this cassette is of a much more uptempo variety, and I'm not sure whether the voice is the same:

 

If this is indeed Aicha el Hajeb, then this tape is something of a rarity - I've seen no other listing of recordings by her, but many YouTube commenters have praised her artistry and lamented her retirement from performing.

To complicate matters, the artwork from the j-card indicates that it was published by Nachat Ezzaouia (perhaps it is a company from the city of Zaouiat Cheikh), whereas the cassette shell reads "Ain Asserdoun Disque عين إسردون ديسك", a company from Beni Mellal. So it's possible that the music on the cassette does not match the artist in the photograph. 

Whatever the case may be, the music is some down-home Zayane goodness. Thanks Polina for the share, and Happy Thanksgiving to our US American friends.

Alfannana Aicha الفنانة عائشة
Najmat Zayane نجمة زيان
Nachat Ezzaouia cassette 123 
نشاط الزاوية

FLAC | 320