Club Tounsi

Denmark-based Tunisian producer Sofyann Ben Youssef has already created whole new worlds of sound. His startling debut as AMMAR 808 – 2018’s Maghreb United - fused thumping TR-808 drum machine rhythms and bone-rattling bass with traditional North African folk instrumentalists and vocalists from Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, suggesting a pan-Maghreb science-fiction mashup worthy of William Burroughs’ most fevered dreams.For his follow-up - 2020’s Global Control / Invisible Invasion - he turned his attention to South Indian, collaborating with esteemed musicians and vocalists and imbuing the Carnatic and other south Indian musical traditions with 21 st century energy as he investigated the ancient tales of the Mahabharata.Now, for his latest album - Club Tounsi - he sets his sights on home, with an album that investigates and explore the vibrant folk tradition of his native Tunisia. ‘It’s a particular genre of folk,’ AMMAR 808 explains. ‘It’s called Mezoued.’ Named after the ancient mezoued goatskin bagpipes that provide the music’s sinuous melodies, it’s traditionally accompanying popular singers also backed by clattering hand drums.Originating in the 1950s, when a surge of rural migrants flocked to the capital Tunis in search of work, it’s the music of the downtrodden and the underdog, long frowned upon by polite Tunisian society. ‘It originated with the immigrants and the working class,’ says AMMAR 808.‘These people were coming from all around Tunisia due to their economical situation. They were considered people from the ghettoes, and they were discriminated against. This music was even banished from Tunisian TV for a long time.’Yet, as AMMAR 808 explains, the music persisted. ‘It evolved out of that stigmatisation and became something that actually speaks to all Tunisians, because it takes its roots from all available music in Tunisia.’ In Mezoued, you’ll find Sufi devotional hymns, malouf melodies, Arabic scales and ancient folksong all part of one repertoire.Although it’s lyrics are preoccupied with hardship and the pain of love, Mezoued music wants to party hard. And rhythm is the key.