Read The Vinyl Factory's story about how Dur-Dur Band defined Somali funk

Wednesday Jul 24th 2019

News snacks

Somalia's legendary Dur-Dur Band played a major role in the 1980s nightlife of the capital Mogadishu. After reissues by Awesome Tapes From Africa and Analog Africa, Dur-Dur Band's mix of vibrant funk and traditional Somalian rhythms earned renewed recognition globally.

The Vinyl Factory's longread tells the story about how the Somalian Civil War erased the country's rich cultural identity and musical legacy in the eyes of the world and how Dur-Dur's music was rediscovered via a musicologist that uploaded a cassette he had received from a Somali student decades ago. You can read the full story here.

<a href="http://analogafrica.bandcamp.com/album/dur-dur-of-somalia-volume-1-volume-2-previously-unreleased-tracks">Dur Dur of Somalia - Volume 1, Volume 2 & Previously Unreleased Tracks by Dur-Dur Band</a>

"From the very beginning their vision had been to fuse traditional Somali music with the sounds that were making people dance at the time: new wave, disco, afro beat and funk were played with Banaadiri beats, spiritual Saar music and Dhaanto, a Somali style of music which resembles reggae (and many Somalis proudly believe it to be its precursor). It didn’t take long for Dur Dur to become one of the most popular bands in Somalia." - The Vinyl Factory

The spirit and legacy of the original Dur-Dur Band remains omnipresent within the eight-piece Dur-Dur Band International, who will perform on the opening night of Le Guess Who? 2019.

Also performing at the festival are a.o. Fatoumata Diawara, Minyo Crusaders, Ayalew Mesfin & Debo Band, Ustad Saami, Mohamed Lamouri, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley & His Sekondi Band, Lakha Khan, Ahmed Ag Kaedy, and many more.