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[miko2]

Today's Song: Hamu by Hassan Hakmoun

After spotlighting the North African desert tribal blues band Tinariwen on Wednesday, I thought it would be neat to spotlight a few other of the bands and musicians that I know that come from Arabic backgrounds. I immediately thought of Hassan Hakmoun, a New York based artist who hails from Morrocco. Hakmoun plays a sinter, which is a lute-like bass instrument with three strings. He is clearly a master of the instrument and plays it much like a modern bass guitar, with all the slapping and popping tricks that you find in modern music.

Hassan is trained in Gnawa lore and traditions and practices -- the Gnawas are an Islamic mystical sect similar or related to Sufi brotherhoods. To quote the very short Wiki article on Hakmoun, "By age four, he performed alongside snake charmers and fire-breathers on Marrakech streets. His mother is known throughout the city as a mystic healer." This is important because much of his music is based in traditional Gnawan music which is designed to induce trances for healing and spiritual well-being... but Hakmoun is also influenced by everything else he's encountered, from rock to jazz to hip-hop. It can be quit infectious, or by turns relaxing and hypnotic.

I'd like to reccomend one of my favorite songs of his, from either the 1992 cd Zahar (which is also the name of his band), or from his much more recent The Gift. Unfortunately neither of these cds are available on iTunes. What you can find on iTunes are selected tracks from 1991's Gift of the Gnawa and 1993's Trance. He also has some tracks available for free download from his web site. So I'm offering up Hamu from The Gift, which you can find at his web site at the above link.

Here's some videos of him found on Youtube:

"Moroccan Roll" with his band Zahar
in concert 10/15/06
Hassan Hakmoun in Mexico
with Brahim Fribgane live in New York
Hassan Hakmoun Footdance



Two random video links, courtesy of Nodwick:

Polkas On 45, a clever video set to the Weird Al Yankovic song, with video footage from all of the original bands.

The Collect Call of Cthulhu, a complete Ghostbusters cartoon based on H.P. Lovecraft