Outer Sounds 009 - July 2021
The selection for July 2021 is Les Filles de Illighadad At Pioneer Works LP on Sahel Sounds. Les Filles de Illighadad were founded in 2016 by solo guitarist Fatou Seidi Ghali and renowned vocalist Alamnou Akrouni. In 2017 they were joined by rhythm guitarist Amaria Hamadalher. Ghali is one of the few, maybe the only, female Tuareg guitar players. Usually women in their region were involved with the traditional Tende music of Niger, but Les Filles fuses these two styles & traditions into their own music. Christopher Kirkley of Sahel Sounds discovered Ghali through his connections to the local music scene after spending time traveling throughout the area and recording musicians for one of the first Sahel Sounds releases Music From Saharan Cellphones. On a subsequent trip, Kirkley traveled to the remote village of Illighadad and recorded Ghali and company in the open air, this became their self-titled debut on Sahel Sounds in 2016. That album features Ghali’s mesmerizing acoustic guitar playing and vocals on Side 1 while an extended piece of Tende music of just vocals and hand drums fills out Side 2. Their debut album was well received and they began to tour around Europe and beyond. They recorded their followup album, Eghass Malan, shortly after. This album features Ghali on electric guitar and a more fleshed out full band sound. During their first US tour in 2019, Live at Pioneer Works was recorded in Brooklyn NY. Here we get an incredible document of a finely tuned band at the height of their touring career. Les Filles music is hypnotic, minimal and transportive. Heavy echoes of American blues music mix with the polyrhythms of the Niger desert. This music is meant to be heard in a live performance, to feel the community presence and relaxed impromptu nature of the jam sessions back in Illighadad. This is maybe something a little different for Outer Sounds but also right in line with it too. Good music is good music. Check out my conversation with Christopher Kirkley of Sahel Sounds about Les Filles music, their new album and Sahel Sounds below!
