Blog Country 146 - Mauritania

 

Relatively speaking it was just a hop, skip and a jump from the last Blog Country Togo to today's Blog Country Mauritania - a mere 1864 KM

Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country in the Maghreb region of West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to the north and northwest, Algeria to the northeast, Mali to the east and southeast, and Senegal to the southwest..It is the 11th-largest country in Africa and the 28th-largest in the world; 90% of its territory is in the Sahara desert.

As usual when it comes to Africa I am contractually obliged to refer you to Ernie's African Odyssey. I try not to step on his toes but on this occasion I may have grazed his little toe.

I very nearly started with Laura Beg who I have just discovered is actually from Mauritius as opposed to Mauritania. Clearly, you have to be careful while searching on Google

It looks as if Ahmedou Ahamed Lowla is definitely a Mauritanian. Indeed  he is one of the country's biggest stars. Performing in lavish weddings of Nouakchott with a troupe of percussionists, Ahmed's signature style is dynamic and ambitious, shredding over the keys with flourishes (like playing with his elbows and head!).Here he is with Bembara

There are plenty of clips on line of Bakha Tokha but precious little information about him. I'm reasonably sure (but not quite 100%) that he is Mauritanian. especially when the song Bakha Gambia Kota references another African country!

Daby Touré is a Mauritanian-born singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who has built a career bridging African traditions with global sounds.  He grew up between Mauritania, Senegal, and France, later settling in Montreal. His offering today is Oma

Khalifa Ould Eide & Dimi Mint Abba provide Moorish Music From Mauritania here Try saying that after a couple of pints. They have turned up at Ernie's place but not as part of the Odyssey. Art's Plume is today's offering.

We conclude with DJ Dhaker who Google describe as a music maker .He  is a self-taught producer and composer whose releases are popular throughout Mauritania with videos that have millions of views online some presumably referencing Desert Amapiano.

We are off to the Caribbean next time round

Ahmedou Ahmed Lowla - Bembara

Bakha Tokha - Bakha Gambia Kota

Daby Toure - Oma

Khalifa Ould Eide & Dimi Mint Abba - Art's Plume

DJ Dhakar - Desert Amapiano

Just My Luck

 

I am finding it increasingly harder to pick up CDs in Charity Shops. So much so that my raison d'etre is increasingly under threat.

For example I visited a handful of charity shops in Clarkston, Troon and Prestwick recently and came away with nothing. As I pointed out recently I went through 500 plus CDs in Kinder Handl in Battlefield and came away with two. Two!

I'm blaming streaming and Spotify. Those that remain on the shelves tend to be Robbie Williams, the Corrs and any number of X Factor finalists

And yet very occasionally I'm in the right place at the right time and come away with a great haul. Trips to Debras in Shawlands and Marie Curie in Newton Stewart spring to mind. 

I'm trying to be more discerning due to space issues but it can be a bit soul destroying.

I think what I'm saying is that unless in the unlikely even that things improve there will be less and less posts of new charity purchases

Kim Richey - Just My Luck

Eddie Hinton - Hard Luck Guy

Jason & the Scorchers - Gettin' Nowhere Fast

Don't Cry For Me Argentina

 

Sunday night saw a victory for football versus anti-football in the World Cup Final with Spain triumphing over Argentina after a war of attrition.

Argentina were an absolute disgrace and the rest of the world surely rejoiced in their defeat. They did beat England though!

As an added bonus Trump, Infantino and Javier Milei will be well pissed off

Spain were worthy winners having conceded only one goal throughout the tournament which is an astonishing achievement.

They have reached an unprecedented streak of 38 matches unbeaten. The last team to beat them? Scotland of course!

To celebrate their magnificent achievement here are two songs by Spanish artists followed by some Spanish related songs

Star Trip - Velocidad

Hinds - Chili Town

Mink De Ville - Spanish Stroll

Ray Wylie Hubbard - The Knives of Spain

Eleanor McEvoy - He Never Spoke Spanish to Me

Cash Covered

 

I'm pretty sure that the Mojo CD Cash Covered  could not accurately be described  an Americana Compilation.

However I am pushing for 50 entries in this series ( this is 42) and there are a number of Americana artists contributing. as confirmed by the attached setlist

My blog, my rules

Michelle Shocked perhaps slightly pre-dated Americana but I think that I an justified in including her fantastic version of One Piece of Americana.

Were you to look up Americana in the dictionary the entry might simply read Steve Earle. Although Hardin Wouldn't Run  was written by Johnny himself it is easy to imagine Steve writing this or something similar

Willard Grant Conspiracy never came across as a particularly happy band so I Still Miss Someone is probably appropriate.

Again it is fairly easy to associate Robbie Fulks  with a song like Cry Cry Cry.

We may, or may not , return next week with number 43

Michelle Shocked - One Piece At a Time

Steve Earle -Hardin Wouldn't Run

Willard Grant Conspiracy - I Still Miss Someone

Robbie Fulks - Cry Cry Cry

Saturday Shuffle 153

 

I haven't been able to find out much information about our cover stars Bill Fadden & the Silvertone Flyers other than a search throws up the words - rockabilly, rock and roll, hillbilly and Western swing. A fine combination as I'm sure you'll agree. It seems they have been active since 1999. Here they are with Too Bad Baby

Edwyn Starr and his majestic song War surely need no introduction.

War! What is it Good For? Absolutely Nothing! Say it Again ...

Some of you will be familiar with Jesse Malin. After listening to Wendy I'm sure many more of you will be hitting the search button.

Another mixed bag next Saturday.

Bill Fadden & the Silvertone Flyers - Too Bad Baby

Edwyn Starr - War

Jesse Malin - Wendy

Hot Shots II

 

2026 Charity Shop Purchases #19 - The Beta Band - Hot Shots II

Not unusually I was pretty late to the party when it came to The Beta Band. While I was aware of the name it took Vic Galloway's book Songs In The Key Of Fife to give me the necessary kick up the pants.

Respected colleagues pointed me in the direction of 1998's The Three E.P.s which  was duly purchased. This was followed by charity shop purchases of  The Beta Band (not sure where) and Heroes to Zeros (Stirling)

Hot Shots II their second studio album from 2001 and  my second purchase in Kinder Handl probably completes the set.

There's probably not much to say. If you like the Beta Band you will like this. If you don't you wont. Thankfully I'm in the first camp and you should be too.

The Beta Band - Squares

The Beta Band - Al Sharp

The Beta Band - Dragon

Thrum at Cottiers

 

Last night saw me at Cottiers Theatre in Hyndland to see Thrum. 

It was originally scheduled for 13th March in the Glad Cafe but was subsequently rescheduled. This annoyed me at the time as the Glad Cafe is reasonably local but Hyndland is in Glasgow's West End and over an hour away on the bus.

It turns out that it was probably a good thing as they were very loud and the Glad Cafe has a low ceiling and Cottiers which is a lovely old church a much higher ceiling. It was loud but thankfully not Sugar at the Barrowlands loud or Ryan Adams at the QMU loud. No ringing ears to report.

Put on by Douglas McIntyre's FRETS the support act was Radhika a singer-songwriter who was accompanied by Douglas on guitar. Her set was pretty pleasant and well received.

Thrum's  tour was to promote a new remastered version of their 1994 album Rifferama  see here and Glasgow was a fitting finale.

For someone who is the height of nothing Monica Queen is a total force of nature. She led the line well, interacted with the audience and  frequently jammed with Johnny Smillie on guitar. The band seemed to be having a blast and genuinely thrilled to be performing.

Any band who encore with Sheena Is a Punk Rocker are surely worthy of your time.

A solid 8/10 performance

Thrum - Rifferama

Thrum - Hey Joe

Thrum - Nowhere To Run