We've been championing Chris Kirkley of Sahel Sounds' Music from Saharan Cellphones — a collection of songs found on memory cards of cellphones in the Saharan desert — for some time now. As Chris explains:
In much of West Africa, cellphones are are used as all purpose multimedia devices. In lieu of personal computers and high speed internet, the knockoff cellphones house portable music collections, playback songs on tinny built in speakers, and swap files in a very literal peer to peer Bluetooth wireless transfer.
The collection released two cassette volumes, highlights of which are now available in singular vinyl form as Music From Saharan Cellphones LP. Stream the release and peep album art below. Make sure to grab yourself a digital/physical copy. Downloads are available for $3 — 60% of the proceeds go to the artist involved, pay as much as you want, sliding scale option!
