Sweet as Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa

Sweet as Broken Dates is a collection of Somali-language pop recorded in Somalia, Somaliland and Djibouti from the 1960s right up to the 2000s. Somali music has a very distinctive personality. Many of the tracks on the album are based around an interplay of synthesizer and voice, a trad-modern take on the traditional kaban (an oud-like lute) music. But as with any pop music, it has absorbed what is popular at the time – it's dripping with soul and funk, as well as influences from Ethiopia, the Arabic peninsula and even Bollywood.
The most fascinating selections come courtesy of Radio Hargeisa, which in 1988 managed to safeguard more than 10,000 tapes during the civil war, by sending them into neighbouring countries or burying them in the ground, which might explain the poor sound quality of some of these tracks.
The CD comes with a 32-page booklet featuring several essays and interviews with the artists. It's a great addition to the music. This is a wonderful album for both listening and learning, serving as a jumping-off point for people wanting to start their own journeys into Somali groove. It will be interesting to see if any other compilations come from Radio Hargeisa's amazing haul.