Group Doueh: Zayna Jumma

Label: Sublime Frequencies

It's a fantastic and disorienting time to be a fan of African music. While genius imprints like Analog Africa, Soundway and (now) Dust-to-Digital excavate the incredibly rich musical history of the continent, others such as Sublime Frequencies cast their woolly gaze around the here and now. But where to file a band such as Group Doueh, the stunning Western Saharan outfit that sounds as if it belongs equally to past and present? Part electric guitar and part traditional rhythms and melodies, Group Doueh (named for its guitarist, vicious in any time or place) puts forth a danceable party that never forgets its roots. "Zaya Koum" erupts in the style of a garage-rock song, a wah-wah'ed guitar carves itself into the air and a very on-it drummer picks up the beat, oddly 4/4 in this context, as a chorus of female singers call and chant, an alien blues that's as much at home here as what we call blues. "Jagwar Doueh" is more overtly exotic, damn near irresistible really, a circular spell of chant-singing, Doueh's unmistakable effects spinning his electrified strings in even tighter circular patterns, and the galloping staccato clap-CLAP of the beat. The magic of the old desert, alive and full of heart in the bracing present. One of the world's best musical groups right now, and Zayna Jumma is the group's best work to date.