Various Artists

LOST SOMALI TAPES FROM THE HORN OF AFRICA' - In 1988, on the
eve of a two decade civil war, Somalia's authoritarian ruler
Siad Barre launched punishing air strikes on the north of the
country, known today as Somaliland, in response to agitations
for independence. Barre targeted Radio Hargeisa to prevent any
kind of central communication system that could organize a
resistance. With the attack imminent, a few brave radio
operators and dedicated vanguards of Somali culture knew the
archives, containing over half a century of Somali music had to
be preserved. Thousands upon thousands of cassette tapes and
master reels were quickly removed from the soon-to-be targeted
buildings. They were dispersed to neighboring countries like
Djibouti and Ethiopia, and buried deep under the ground to
withstand even the most powerful airstrikes. These audio
artifacts were excavated and recalled from their foreign
shelters only very recently. Some of those recordings are now
kept safe in the 10,000-strong cassette tape archive of the Red
Sea Foundation, the largest collection of Somali cassettes in
the world, in Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa. The Ostinato
Records team digitized a large portion of the archive,
distilling 15 songs that reveal the panoramic diversity of
styles and sophistication of Somali musicianship.