Afropop Premiere: Noura Mint Seymali “El Madi” from globalFEST Selector Comp

Posted by Afropop Worldwide, March 3, 2014

Remember globalFEST 2014? Well we sure do. and that’s why we’re so super stoked that globalFEST has their own stage at SXSW this year. Balkan Beat Box, Debo Band, Chicha Libre, M.A.K.U. Sound System, Janka Nabay & The Bubu Gang and more will all be playing at Austin’s Speakeasy, March 16th. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to make it down to Austin this year, which is another reason to celebrate globalFEST Selector, a comp of unreleased material from globalFEST artists! And Afropop has an exclusive sneak peek of the Noura Mint Seymali track that will be featured on the comp.

Seymali plays the ardine, a Mauritanian harp, and uses her powerful voice to blend the quarter tone tonality and 5 modes of traditional Mauritanian music with modern rock arrangements, aided by her highly talented lead guitarist (and husband) Jeich Ould Chighaly. The results are stellar! We were blow away by her set at globalFEST2014, and feel the same way about “El Madi.” On the track, the drum kit and lead guitar rock back and forth in two variations of the serbet rhythm, recycling melodic and rhythmic content like small, modular building blocks. This piece packs a lot into just over three minutes.