Deserts
Andy Kershaw and Lucy Duran explore the music of desert communities, visiting Dubai, the Gobi desert in Mongolia and the far south of Algeria.
For this major series to accompany 大象传媒 One's 'Human Planet', Andy Kershaw and Lucy Duran go in search of music from some of the world's remotest, and more familiar locations, visiting many of the places featured in the TV series. This week the focus is on the music of desert communities. Producers: James Parkin and Roger Short. 2/8
Dubai: Andy Kershaw meets the first Emirati singer to record an album in Urdu - a significant moment in Dubai where some 65% of the population are Sub-continent migrant workers. He also visits the labour camps where they live, marvels at an indoor ski resort and climbs the tallest building in the world. Plus there's a session from Desert Heat who deliver their rap in traditional Emirati dress.
Mongolia: Lucy Duran travels deep into the Gobi desert, sets up a recording studio in a ger (traditional Mongolian tent, known in Russia as a yurt) and records various styles of desert song, including the extraordinary two-tone throat singing. Plus there are songs of Holy Mountains in one of the remostest parts of the Gobi desert, and a young artist from Ulaanbaatar who combines throat singing with beat-boxing.
Algeria: Andy Kershaw travels to the far south of Algeria and the small town of Djanet. He marvels at the beauty of this vast desert and listens to music inspired by the Sahara. He meets and records the Bali family and finds them mourning the recent death of their father - who drowned in the desert.
Key moments for the series include a traditional head-hunting song from New Ireland in Papua New Guinea; the mighty voice of Greenland's greatest singer; yodelling in the Swiss Alps; rapping in Cambodia; an Inuit throat-singing duet, recorded by the frozen Arctic Sea; and the secret songs of Burma recorded in the jungle on the border with Thailand.
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Clips
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Music Planet - Algeria
Duration: 11:03
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Music Planet - Dubai
Duration: 08:03
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Music Planet - Mongolia
Duration: 03:02
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Algeria: Nabil Othmani and his group - Toi Desert
Duration: 06:11
Music and featured items
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Algeria
Duration: 14:10
Nabil Othmani & Ensemble
Toi Desert
Composer: Nabil Othmani
- 大象传媒 Recording made in Djanet, Algeria.
Athmane Bali with his family
Kaf Noune
Composer: Athmane Bali
- Athmane Bali in Musique Plurielle Constantine 2004.
- Belda Diffusion CD92.
Le Group Bali
Assaruf (Forgiveness)
Composer: Le Group Bali
- 大象传媒 Recording made in Djanet, Algeria.
Le Group Bali
Djmayagh Dek Yallah (I am praying to Allah to give me the virtue of patience)
Composer: Le Group Bali
- 大象传媒 Recording made in Djanet, Algeria.
Mongolia
Duration: 25:59
Otgontsetseg, Zagd-Ochir, and Nyamdagva
Goviin Ondor (A tall mountain in the Gobi Desert)
Composer: Traditional
- Recorded by the 大象传媒 at the Arburd Sands camp, Mongolia, 16th August 2010.
Bazarbat and Nyamdagva
Ider Junchin
Composer: Traditional
- Recorded by the 大象传媒 at the Arburd Sands camp, Mongolia, 16th August 2010.
Adzana
Tumen Ekh
Composer: Traditional
- Recorded by the 大象传媒 in the Gobi Desert about 40 kms from the Arburd Sands camp, 17th August 2010.
Adzana
Song to the Holy Mountain
Composer: Adzana
- Recorded by the 大象传媒 in the Gobi Desert about 40 kms from the Arburd Sands camp, 17th August 2010.
Khusugtun
Mongol
Composer: Batzorig
- Recorded by the 大象传媒 in at the Choijin Lama Temple Museum in Ulaanbataar, 14th August 2010.
Narandelgar Byambaa
Mongolian Beatboxing
Composer: Byambaa
- Recorded by the 大象传媒 at the Narantuul Hotel in Ulaanbataar, 18th August 2010.
Dubai
Duration: 28:12
Hossam Ramzy
Oyounik Ya Sattar
Composer: Trad, Arr. Hossam Ramzy
- Bedouin Tribal Dance.
- ARC Music EUCD2047.
Adel Farooq
Sawaan
Artist: Atif Ali Composer: Atif Ali
- 大象传媒 recording made at the Playback Lounge, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai, 15th September 2010.
Adel Farooq and his band
Bhulaa Na Sakaa
Composer: Atif Ali
- Daastaan.
- White label of forth-coming album.
Hossam Ramzy
Al Majroodah
Composer: Trad, Arr. Hossam Ramzy
- Bedouin Tribal Dance.
- ARC Music EUCD2047.
Desert Heat
Yola
Composer: Desert Heat
- 大象传媒 Recording made in Dubai, 16th September 2010.
Desert Heat
Dubai My City
Composer: Desert Heat
- Private recording given to the 大象传媒 by Desert Heat.
Broadcasts
- Thu 20 Jan 2011 21:00大象传媒 Radio 3
- Sat 22 Jan 2011 15:00大象传媒 Radio 3