"It's not music for dancing, but maybe it can make you dream." Cosmic, ethereal synthesizers play with drum machines to interpret ancient Saharan folk ballads in an interstellar context. Lying somewhere between ambient library music and minimal wave you have composer and musician Mamman Sani, who recorded Taaritt between 1985 -1988 in Niger, his home country, and Paris. Never before released on vinyl, the tunes presented on Taaritt sit alongside some of Hailu Mergia or Yishak Benjaw's Ethio-grooves, full of "sweet melodies" and "positive vibrations". Tracks to check out are "Ya Bismillah," "Gosi" and "Dangay Kotyo," among the blissful other tunes. The cover artwork by Maria Joan Dixon features a Tuareg (read: Berber) alien spaceship hovering over the Agadez Grande Mosque of Niger, drawing from the record's placement as an interstellar vehicle meant to take us on a journey through sonic landscapes of the past, present, and future. 8 tracks in all released by Sahel Sounds. Recommended.

• previously unreleased home recordings from 1985-1988
• black vinyl pressing
  
• music label: Sahel Sounds 2014

reviewed by Ralphy Corduroy 02/2019