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Houmeissa

by Hama

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Vinyl of Nigerién composer Hama's groundbreaking album of traditional electronic desert folksongs, hovering somewhere between early 90s techno and synthwave.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Houmeissa via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $20 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Gatefold CD of Hama's Houmeissa, electronic synthwave from the Sahara.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Houmeissa via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $8 USD  or more

     

1.
Terroir 03:43 video
2.
Houmeissa 03:33
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Dounia 03:59
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Bororo 04:06
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Wassa 04:42
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Takamba 04:06
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Touareg 03:30
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Baoura 03:50
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about

Nigerién composer Hama presents a groundbreaking album of traditional electronic desert folk songs, hovering somewhere between early 90s techno and synthwave. Nomadic herding ballads, ancient caravan songs, and ceremonial wedding chants are all re-imagined into pieces seemingly lifted from a Saharan 1980s sci-fi soundtrack or score to a Tuareg video game. With a deep love and respect, Hama effortlessly takes back and re-appropriates fourth-world ethnoambient music.

One of only a handful of electronic musicians in West Africa, Hama a.k.a. Hama Techno follows in the footsteps of avant-garde electronic pioneers like Mamman Sani Abdoulaye, Francis Bebey, and Luka Productions. His debut release was a huge success on the underground mp3 networks of West Africa and was featured in The Wire, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone. Hama continues with his signature digital folk with an expansion into computer-based compositions. Painstaking crafted on the spotty electric grid in Niamey with earbuds and a hacked copy of FruityLoops, Houmeissa is the result of remarkable passion. Inspired by diverse sounds spanning Tuareg guitar to second wave Detroit Techno, Saharan folk songs are transformed into atemporal works that defy categorization.

Hama builds patterns of varied time signatures and distinct polyrhythms, deconstructing and rebuilding ancient traditions on drag and drop virtual keyboards. Airy sweeping pads evoke the open desert while rumbling dark undertones warn of a coming dust storm. Instrumentals layer looping pentatonic melodies into a blissed-out trance, while soft synths and fake electric guitars cry out a call and response. The effect is charmingly unexpected, as the plastic sounds of early PC music are imbued with a new life. A singularly unique production, Hama's Houmeissa stands to be a future classic and an embodiment of the digital Sahara to come.

credits

released January 18, 2019

All songs written and composed by Mahamadou "Hama" Moussa
Arranged by Harouna Habib
Art by Christopher Kirkley
Mixed by Jesse Johnson at Boomarmnation
Mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk
Sahel Sounds 2019

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Hama Niamey, Niger

Hama is a multi instrumentalist and electronic synthesizer composer from the Republic of Niger.

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