Okay, rather than do "Pop, part 2" (which is a mastodon post) during this exam-heavy week I've decided to throw out another question about a genre since the last one went down so well. This one is about Dhaanto, which I gather is "traditional" music from the fascinating region of Ogaden, the somali-speaking part of eastern Ethiopia. I think I saw some on public access television today (it's a bit hard to identify without a name attached), and that got me started searching. YouTube has a few videos but there's inevitably a dedicated NewTube that has many many more...
The video that sparked my imagination a bit was off YouTube though:
That little piece of clever meta-music (designed to show the connections between reggae and dhaanto) really hit home what other videos had suggested - this is music that's immensely well-suited to reggae, funk and arabic pop reimaginings. I've heard a few treatments that way (like the one on TV), and there's a joy in using different strange timbres and arrangements that you rarely hear in African pop - in fact there are also strangely south-east asian qualities in a lot of the material. It's fascinating!
So I'm wondering - does anyone know anything about this music beyond the little you can gather from the videos? History? Big artists? Where can I get hold of it? I might do an expedition to a somali-heavy part of town at some point and see if I can find any CDs...
Everybody’s Doin’ What?
4 years ago
2 comments:
Interesting genre. I have come across ethiopian jazz and pop before, and this sounds somewhat similar. If you are interested in ethipioian music you should visit restaurant Ethio Star, right next to the movie theatre called Olympia on Birger Jarlsgatan. I don't know if the somali have any clubs or cd shops (I imagine they do).
One interesting thing about ethiopian music is that people dance with their hands and with their shoulders (like in asia) and not by shaking their hips and moving their torso back and forth (as they in west Africa and the african diaspora). This would further suggest that there is a connection to indian and asian music
I had a lovely lunch at Abyssinia on Vanadisvägen today. :) And yes, ethiopian music is similar but I think this one has a different sense of rhythm coming through. Or maybe that's just me.
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