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Somali songs reveal why musical crate digging is a form of cultural archaeology

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  1. EightRoundsRapid
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    A recent compilation album of 1970s/80s music from the Horn of Africa, “Sweet as Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes”, is a great example of this. Half of the compilation is sung by women, their...

    Crate diggers are cultural archaeologists who dedicate their time, money and energy to collecting musical artefacts that provide alternative histories from the fringes of society. They frequent record stores, flea markets, garage sales, charity shops and other places of “disposal” to find rare vinyl records or cassettes.

    But as music producer, journalist and digger Kathy Iandoli explained:

    Cratedigging isn’t merely ‘record shopping’ though. It’s a hunt for the DNA of a popular song you’re in love with. An addiction to origins.

    A recent compilation album of 1970s/80s music from the Horn of Africa, “Sweet as Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes”, is a great example of this. Half of the compilation is sung by women, their voices often compared in Somali poetry to the “sweetness of broken dates”. The album’s 15 songs, coming from cassette tapes and master reels, had to literally be dug up from shelters after being hidden to protect it during Somalia’s two decade civil war.

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