Wallahi Le Zein! (Reissue)

Originally released as a double CD in 2010, Wallahi Le Zein! has persisted as a cult classic, a collection of a rarely heard and utterly unique underground music scene, raw and unfiltered. The LP version we now present is intended as an immersive entry into this music: gnarled and virtuosic electric guitars weave hypnotically throughout melismatic sung poetry and exclamations, pulsing hand drums, party chatter, buzzing rigged desert sound systems, and all manner of the ambient sounds of Nouakchott wedded to oversaturated cassette in all its swirling, breathing, psychedelic glory. Operating entirely outside of any local recording industry, these songs were collected from bootleg tape stalls, wedding souveniers, and networks of musicians, expertly curated, researched and produced by Matthew Lavoie. Drawing from the deep well of Mauritanian classical music, the gamut of musical modes and the tidinitt lute repertoire are transposed to the electric guitar - often with frets removed or additional frets installed, “heavy metal” distortion pedals and phasers built into guitar bodies, blurring the lines between Haratine and Beydane musical cultures, the ancient and the futuristic. At times transcendent and transfixing, and conversely a furious and cascading intensity that commands jaw-dropping attention.160 gram black vinyl LP comes packaged in 2 color, reverse-board jacket with 8 page booklet with extensive notes on the musicians and songs, as well as a history of Mauritanian guitar music.

Tracklisting

1. Mohammed Guitar - Banjey & Medh
2. Kebrou - Banjey 'Boogie' 
3. Kebrou - Banjey 
4. Mohammed Guitar - Banjey 
5. Mohammed Guitar and Sbeyniat - Guelbi Vatimetou
6. Baba ould Hembara - El Shams w'al Qamar (Lekhal Karr) 
7. Baba ould Hembara & Isselmou ould Hembara - Henoun (Lekhal Karr) 
8. Baba ould Hembara & Badi ould Hembara - Ayni ‘ana (Seyni Karr) 
9. Ateg ould Syed - l’Ensijab (Seyni Karr) 
10. Mohammed Cheikh ould Syed - Sbar (Vaghu)
11. Mohammed Cheikh ould Syed - Chewr (Vaghu)
12. Baba ould Hembara - Wezin (Vaghu) 
13. Kweli ould Seyyid - Wezin (Vaghu) 
14. Jeich ould Chighaly - Wezin (Vaghu) 
15. Jeich ould Chighaly - Wezin (Vaghu) 
16. Baba ould Hembara - Wezin El Horr’ (Lebyaal Vaghu) 
17. Luleide ould Dendenni & Ooleya mint Amartichitt - Hayak el Vennane (Lebyaal Vaghu [Tahrar])
18. Luleide ould Dendenni - Wezin (Tahzam [Vaghu & Lekhal]) 
19. Mohammed Cheikh ould Syed - El Horr & az-Zrag (Vaghu, Lekhal & Lebyaal) 
20. Kweli ould Seyyid & Kleyhid ould Meylid - ‘Gav (Lebyaal)
21. Baba ould Hembara - Ma’na ‘Arbiya (Lebyaal)
22. Deye ould Amartichitt - Wezin (Lebyaal) 
23. Baba ould Hembara - Wezin (Liyyen) 
24. Baba ould Hembara & Mamma mint Hembara - Moulana, laa Moulana (Liyyen) 
25. Deye ould Amartichitt - Paris (Lebteyt) 
26. Deye ould Amartichitt - Wezin (‘ebyaal Lebteyt) 
27. Baba ould Hembara - il Leyla ­(Lebteyt) 
28. Kweli ould Seyyid & Klayhid ould Meylid - Wezin (Lebteyt)