{"title":"Songhoy Blues","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSonghoy Blues is a desert blues music group hailing from Timbuktu, Mali. With their infectious rhythms and soulful melodies, they have become one of the most prominent voices in the genre. Drawing inspiration from traditional Malian music as well as rock and roll influences, Songhoy Blues creates a unique sound that captivates audiences around the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSimilar to other notable artists such as Imarhan, Oumou Sangaré, Les Amazones d'Afrique, and Boubacar Traoré, Songhoy Blues brings a fresh perspective to African music. Their powerful performances showcase their immense talent and passion for their craft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith influences ranging from Ali Farka Touré to Tinariwen, Songhoy Blues continues to push boundaries and redefine what it means to be an African artist in today's global music scene. Whether you're a fan of traditional African sounds or simply appreciate great music, *Songhoy Blues* is an artist you won't want to miss.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"meet-me-in-the-city-ep","title":"Meet Me In The City EP","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne of the most globally successful and exciting acts to emerge from Africa in recent years, and following their breath taking, series-stealing show at this year’s Nile Rodgers curated Meltdown Festival at London’s South Bank, Mali’s Songhoy Blues make a return with a 5-track EP of new music on Transgressive Records. The\u003ci\u003e Meet Me In The City\u003c\/i\u003e EP features David Ferguson and Blake Mills mixes of \u003ci\u003eTime To Go Home\u003c\/i\u003e (a new track written for them by Will Oldham aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy), a cover of Junior Kimbrough’s \u003ci\u003eMeet Me In The City\u003c\/i\u003e and a great version of the Fela Kuti and The Africa 70 track \u003ci\u003eShakara\u003c\/i\u003e featuring Fela’s son, Femi Kuti.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Transgressive","offers":[{"title":"Yellow | 12\" - 1074678","offer_id":50388389167435,"sku":"1074678","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/25ac1661-bd8d-43aa-b78f-6ded64df2793_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726341770"},{"product_id":"resistance-1","title":"Resistance","description":"\u003cp\u003eSonghoy Blues release their new album, \u003ci\u003eResistance \u003c\/i\u003eon Transgressive Records. It’s a bold, inspiring, outward-looking record that perfectly reflects the position the band have found themselves in following the massive success of their breakthrough debut, Music In Exile, released in 2015. The album was recorded in the autumn of 2016 at The Pool studio in London with producer Neil Comber (MIA, Django Django, Crystal Fighters, Declan McKenna) and in keeping with their spirit of collaboration which saw them previously work with Nick Zinner, Julian Casablancas and Damon Albarn, \u003ci\u003eResistance\u003c\/i\u003e features additional synths by Lxury and vocal contributions from the likes of Iggy Pop, Elf Kid and Stealing Sheep. Beyond this, the album features beautiful string parts (Hometown) and in one particularly surprising, moving instance (One Colour), a children’s choir.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Transgressive","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50470241796427,"sku":"1010657","price":20.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Tape","offer_id":50470242615627,"sku":"1010808","price":6.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50470240092491,"sku":"1010656","price":6.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50470240944459,"sku":"1010658","price":20.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/e4ca39db-d68a-4418-94f4-1cab54a3a5c0_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727374732"},{"product_id":"music-in-exile","title":"Music in Exile","description":"\u003cp\u003eOnce one of the most prominent and powerful of Mali's many ethnic groups, the Songhoy, who hail from the banks of the Niger River between the ancient cities of Timbuktu and Gao, have suffered a long slow decline since their apogee in the 6th and 17th centuries. Hailing from the heart of old Gao, Oumar Toure and Aliou Toure were, like most kids growing up in the ancient city, obsessed with hip-hop, R\u0026amp;B and bands like The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. By their early 20s, having met young guitarist Garba Toure (son of Oumar Toure, long term percussionist in Ali Farka Toure's band), they began to make music while at university in Bamako. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTheir deep attachment to the home grown songs and dances of the Songhoy, both traditional styles and the modern guitar based sounds popularised by the likes of Baba Salah and above all Ali Farka Toure, was helping shape their nascent music which sought to blend the trad and the modern, the homegrown and the foreign, the youthful and the ancient. The growing unrest in the north of Mali saw Oumar, Aliou, Garba and many of their family take refuge down south in Bamako as hostilities worsened in early 2012 and Songhoy Blues were born from this adversity. \"We met up (in Bamako),\" remembers Garba, \"and told ourselves we couldn't just stay shipwrecked by a crisis like this. We had to form a band.\" They roped in a young drummer called Nathanial 'Nat' Dembele from Bamako and baptised their band Songhoy Blues in celebration of their displaced people and culture. Soon a fixture on the Bamako club and bar live music treadmill, their break came in September 2013 when French music manager Marc-Antoine Moreau was in the city to scout for musical talent on behalf of Africa Express. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrompted by local studio owner Barou Diallo. Aliou Toure cold-called Marc- Antoine - an audition quickly followed and subsequently the band were invited to record a song with Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the track, Soubour, ended up as opening track on the Africa Express album, Maison des Jeunes. All those old 'world music' prejudices have no place here. Songhoy Blues are four talented, hungry, sharp and outward-looking young men from a part of the world that has had more than it's share and pain and conflict in recent years. But it has given far more than its share of music and joy to the world in return over the past four decades. That place may seem strange, alien and 'exotic' to some but deep down, Songhoy Blues are a familiar proposition: four young men, guitar, drums, bass and vocals, driving rhythms, big hearts and a story to tell.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Transgressive","offers":[{"title":"Magenta LP","offer_id":50964416528715,"sku":"2236065","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50493456122187,"sku":"384740","price":6.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/da98f1df-a6d7-4a88-9c29-572b30cfdfc0_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727697957"},{"product_id":"optimisme","title":"Optimisme","description":"\u003cp\u003eSons of Mali. Groundbreaking Artists. Refugees. Virtuosos. Survivors. Rock Stars. Unforgettable and undeniable, Songhoy Blues represent the future of African rock n’ roll and release their third album, \u003ci\u003eOptimisme\u003c\/i\u003e, out on Transgressive Records. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis 11-song, multilingual album marks a real musical breakthrough. Musically harder, steeped in deep traditions of classic Malian music and desert blues and fused with an urgent and super-charged sound of now, the album was produced by Matt Sweeney of beloved indie rockers Chavez, who’s worked with a host of celebrated artists including Johnny Cash, Run the Jewels, El-P, Cat Power and Will Oldham, and recorded and mixed by Daniel Schlett (The War on Drugs, Modest Mouse, GhostfaceKillah) in Brooklyn, NY.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Transgressive","offers":[{"title":"Gold LP","offer_id":50506971316555,"sku":"1098977","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50506971447627,"sku":"1098976","price":6.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8fdc5966-cac9-4501-9257-056b9aa27ba7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727834896"},{"product_id":"heritage-3","title":"Hritage","description":"\u003cp\u003eSonghoy Blues release their new album \u003ci\u003eHéritage\u003c\/i\u003e on Transgressive.   From the first listening to \u003ci\u003eHéritage\u003c\/i\u003e, the much-awaited fourth album by Songhoy Blues, it is clear that the 4-piece rock band from northern Mali are in a new frame of mind.  With \u003ci\u003eHéritage\u003c\/i\u003e, they move into a more acoustic, creative re-imagining of the “desert blues” style that has brought them to world fame.   Charismatic, articulate and creative, the band burst onto the scene in 2013 with a powerful style and stage manner once described as “Timbuktu Punk”. Their songs deal with issues of life and love in Mali, and are based on five-note scales, rock rhythms, gritty vocals, and glittering guitar. These elements are ever present in their new album \u003ci\u003eHéritage\u003c\/i\u003e, but with a more intimate groove laced with other sounds from different ethnic traditions from around the country.  Migration and forced displacement bring new perspectives to the notion of heritage in their music.   \u003ci\u003eHéritage\u003c\/i\u003e was recorded in the Remote Records Studio and Studio Moffou in Bamako, with producer Paul Chandler, and draws on the remarkable wealth of musical talent in the city. The album presents new compositions and reworkings of old classics. It is infused with the ethereal sounds of various traditional instruments, all in the hands of great Malian masters.   \u003ci\u003eHéritage\u003c\/i\u003e is compulsive listening for Songhoy Blues’ fans – at home and abroad - and more widely, fans of desert blues, rock, or just good music.  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Transgressive","offers":[{"title":"Orange LP","offer_id":50532209656139,"sku":"2239045","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50532209393995,"sku":"2220900","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Screenshot_2024-09-09_at_12.29.25_45bf0d35_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1728116562"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_ada15819_thumbnail_4096_d3e6bbba-0a49-43c1-806d-fb0ead0205c4.jpg?v=1725999929","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/songhoy-blues.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}