Modern Traditional Amharic Music
Some "modern traditional" Amharic music I got in Addis Ababa. On my first record buying excursion in Addis, I was really disappointed by what I heard at the record shops. Fortunately, most of the shops are very helpful, friendly and willing to play samples of CDs. I was disappointed with the production - the preset sounds, the looped beats with very little variation, the fake saxophones and electric pianos and cheesy sound effects. After spending some weeks riding in local minibuses, taxis and buses, I gained a new perspective on this "modern traditional" music - it sounds TOTALLY different coming out of a crackling and distorted speaker while cruising around Addis (or while chewing chat on bus headed for Harar for that matter). A cheap and easy subsitute for travelling all the way to Ethiopia to hear it in context maybe to plug your CD player into a distortion pedal, close your eyes and will yourself to Piassa........
I don't know the artist, title or album of either of these tracks - I can't read Amharic........so, I'm just including the covers and tracklists. Track 9 from the above CD and it's released on the Picolo Music label. Track 3 from the CD below (auto-tune set to pentatonic!) is released on the Master Sounds label.
If there is somebody out there who reads Amharic and would be willing to enlighten me as to the names of the tracks and artists, I'd be very grateful! Thanks!Labels: amharic, ethiopia, modern traditional, music
posted by Maga Bo at 2:42 PM
2 Comments:
Aw, where's the Maga Bo distorted-bus remix?
Interesting stuff, though. Good to hear that autotune is the new reverb in Ethiopia too.
Just got a transcription and translation sent by Galya (THANKS!!!)...from somwwhere in russia:
hi!
i can read amharic (i love the way it looks and sounds!:) -- but when it comes to translating it..... i asked my friend from addis to do it for you, so what's in (...) is
exactly how he has translated the titles.
"There is no agreed way of transliterating Amharic into Roman
characters" -- so it will be something LIKE this:
"cultural collection"
1. teklemaryam redi -- yet tyhon? (Where she might be?)
2. demare leges -- shewa yaferat (The product of shewa{ shewa is state})
3. fasil demoze -- yski lansawe (Let me take it up……)
4. iyayu manyazewal -- mehede new (I’m goin’)
5. ashbyr belay -- kayehatma (If you saw her?)
6. genet masresha -- atyfyra (Don’t be afraid….)
7. mehmed awolsalah -- yan mado hager (That far country)
8. mahari degefaw -- wedanchi biyabern' (will it make me fly toward you?)
9. tesfaye wube -- yewelo shebela (Yewelo beautiful/handsome ( welo is a place))
10. fasika abboye -- behager wegu (based on country tradition…)
1. fanta bele -- legonder sew (for a person from Gonder)
2. melaku silay -- haribu (I don’t know it, it’s word used by old ppl)
3. fanta bele -- gojam (a name of a place called Gojam)
4. melaku silay -- ymey lybbylysh (Let me call you my mom)
5. fanta bele -- dryshayen (My portion)
6. melaku silay -- hagere (My country)
7. fanta bele -- merqobiten'e (I don’t know this one too)
8. melaku silay -- mynjar (a name of the palce called Mynjar- they’r beauty ful)
9. fanta bele -- gyb gyb (fight)
10. melaku silay -- layhon new woy (Is it not going to happen?)
11. melaku silay -- yltemechen'em (It is not comfortable for me….)
"y" in the beginning of a word or between consonants sounds a bit like "i" in "bit" -- but it doesn't make the preceding consonant soft, not at all. we have the same thing in russian. you might choose "e" or "i" to transliterate it.
n' -- like in "espanha".
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