VA - Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (2025)
WEB FLAC (tracks, digital booklet) - 236 MB | MP3 CBR 320 kbps + digital booklet - 85 MB
35:12 | Folk, World | Label: Sublime Frequencies
WEB FLAC (tracks, digital booklet) - 236 MB | MP3 CBR 320 kbps + digital booklet - 85 MB
35:12 | Folk, World | Label: Sublime Frequencies
Egypt’s “official” popular music throughout much of the 20th Century was a complex form of art song steeped in tradition, well-loved by the middle and upper classes, and even accommodating to certain non-Arabic influences. It was highly structured by professional musicians working an established industry centered in the capitol, Cairo. However, far from the bustling cosmopolitan center of Cairo, north and northwest, in towns like Tanta and Alexandria and extending across the Saharan Desert to the Libyan border, dozens of fully marginalized artists were developing a raw, hybrid shaabi/al-musiqa al-shabiya style of music, supported by smaller upstart, independent labels, including the short-lived but deeply resonant Bourini Records.
aunched in the late 1960s in Benghazi, Libya, Astuanat al-Bourini اسطوانات البوريني (Bourini Records) published some 40 to 50 titles from 1968 to 1975. Bourini released 7-inch 45 RPM singles by 15 artists, all but one of them Egyptian, igniting brief careers for Alexandrian singer Sheikh Amin Abdel Qader and the blind Bedouin legend Abu Bakr Abdel Aziz (aka Abu Abab).
The tracks compiled here comprise a full range of styles covered by the label, while highlighting some of its most gob smacking moments, from Basis Rahouma’s beastly transformation into a growling and barking man-lion by the end of “Yana Alla Nafsa Masouda,” to Reem Kamal’s hopeful-if-bitter handclapping party pivot “Baed Al Yas Yjini,” which descends into an almost Velvet Underground outro-groove of nihilistic dissonance.
All the tracks on this compilation were laid down in stark divergence from the mainstream Egyptian popular music topography of heightened emotions buoyed by lush arrangements. The contrast is most evident in Mahmoud al-Sandidi’s “Ana Mish Hafwatak,” wherein his voice weaves heavily but deftly through a constant accordion drone, and Abu Abab’s “Al Bint al Libya,” a sparse, slow-burning lament with minimal percussion, violin, and Abab’s nephew Hamed Abdel Muna'im Mursi on lyre.
Whereas the Egyptian mainstream was aspirational, attempting to reflect Egyptian culture at its most refined, the performances captured by Bourini were manifestations of everyday life lived by the mostly otherwise ignored masses.
More than half century old, this music has lost none of its urgency, presence, or relevance. We hear these artists as if they’d just joined us in our living room, and not on a stage decades ago surrounded by tens of thousands of long-forgotten acolytes.
credits
released March 7, 2025
Compiled by Hisham Mayet and Gary Sullivan
Liner Notes - Gary Sullivan
Audio mastering- Josh Stevenson @otic sound
Art Direction- Hisham Mayet
Design and layout- Grant Corum
Tracklist
1. Basis Rahouma بسيس رحومة - Yana Alla Nafsa Masouda يانا اللي نفسي مسدوده (Blocked from What I Want) (04:36)
2. Sheikh Amin Abdel Qader الشيخ أمين عبد القادر - Mould fi Madina Tanta مولد في مدينة طنطا (Born in the City of Tanta) (05:32)
3. Samah سماح - Shawish Aldawriat شاويش الدورية, (Patrol Sargeant) (03:58)
4. Mahmoud al-Sandidi محمود الصنديدي - Ana Mish Hafwatak (Part 2) انا مش حفوتك, (I Don’t Miss Your Love) (04:16)
5. Abu Bakr Abdel Aziz (aka Abu Abab) أبو بكر عبد العزيز - Al Bint al Libya أل بينت أل ليبيا (The Girl from Libya) (05:22)
6. Sheikh Amin Abdel Qader الشيخ أمين عبد القادر - Mawal Al Layl Kolo Makasib موال الليل كله مكاسب (Mawaal: The Spoils of an All-Nighter) (02:57)
7. Abu Saber أبو صابر - Ya Allah Ank Zinat يا الله انك زينة (Oh, God, You Are Beautiful) (04:17)
8. Reem Kamal ريم كمال - Baed Al Yas Yjini بعد اليأس يجيني (After Hopelessness, He Comes to Me) (04:14)
foobar2000 2.0 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2025-08-15 15:15:58
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Abu Bakr Abdel Aziz (aka Abu Abab) أبو بكر عبد العزيز / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (1)
Abu Saber أبو صابر / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (2)
Basis Rahouma - بسيس رحومة / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (3)
Mahmoud al-Sandidi محمود الصنديدي / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (4)
Reem Kamal ريم كمال / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (5)
Samah سماح / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (6)
Sheikh Amin Abde -l Qader الشيخ أمين عبد القادر / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (7)
Sheikh Amin Abdel Qader الشيخ أمين عبد القادر / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (8)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR7 -0.77 dB -11.10 dB 5:22 05, 05-Al Bint al Libya أل بينت أل ليبيا (The Girl from Libya)
DR9 -1.01 dB -11.56 dB 4:17 07, 07-Ya Allah Ank Zinat يا الله انك زينة (Oh, God, You Are Beautiful)
DR8 -1.01 dB -10.79 dB 4:36 01, 01-Yana Alla Nafsa Masouda يانا اللي نفسي مسدوده (Blocked from What I Want)
DR8 -0.59 dB -10.64 dB 4:16 04, 04-Ana Mish Hafwatak (Part 2) انا مش حفوتك, (I Don’t Miss Your Love)
DR8 -1.01 dB -10.98 dB 4:14 08, 08-Baed Al Yas Yjini بعد اليأس يجيني (After Hopelessness, He Comes to Me)
DR8 -1.01 dB -10.36 dB 3:58 03, 03-Shawish Aldawriat شاويش الدورية, (Patrol Sargeant)
DR8 -0.79 dB -10.59 dB 5:32 02, 02-Mould fi Madina Tanta مولد في مدينة طنطا (Born in the City of Tanta)
DR10 -0.18 dB -13.62 dB 2:57 06, 06-Mawal Al Layl Kolo Makasib موال الليل كله مكاسب (Mawaal: The Spoils of an All-Nighter)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of tracks: 8
Official DR value: DR8
Samplerate: 48000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 803 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================
log date: 2025-08-15 15:15:58
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Abu Bakr Abdel Aziz (aka Abu Abab) أبو بكر عبد العزيز / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (1)
Abu Saber أبو صابر / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (2)
Basis Rahouma - بسيس رحومة / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (3)
Mahmoud al-Sandidi محمود الصنديدي / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (4)
Reem Kamal ريم كمال / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (5)
Samah سماح / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (6)
Sheikh Amin Abde -l Qader الشيخ أمين عبد القادر / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (7)
Sheikh Amin Abdel Qader الشيخ أمين عبد القادر / Born in the City of Tanta - Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya's Bourini Records 1968-75 (8)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR7 -0.77 dB -11.10 dB 5:22 05, 05-Al Bint al Libya أل بينت أل ليبيا (The Girl from Libya)
DR9 -1.01 dB -11.56 dB 4:17 07, 07-Ya Allah Ank Zinat يا الله انك زينة (Oh, God, You Are Beautiful)
DR8 -1.01 dB -10.79 dB 4:36 01, 01-Yana Alla Nafsa Masouda يانا اللي نفسي مسدوده (Blocked from What I Want)
DR8 -0.59 dB -10.64 dB 4:16 04, 04-Ana Mish Hafwatak (Part 2) انا مش حفوتك, (I Don’t Miss Your Love)
DR8 -1.01 dB -10.98 dB 4:14 08, 08-Baed Al Yas Yjini بعد اليأس يجيني (After Hopelessness, He Comes to Me)
DR8 -1.01 dB -10.36 dB 3:58 03, 03-Shawish Aldawriat شاويش الدورية, (Patrol Sargeant)
DR8 -0.79 dB -10.59 dB 5:32 02, 02-Mould fi Madina Tanta مولد في مدينة طنطا (Born in the City of Tanta)
DR10 -0.18 dB -13.62 dB 2:57 06, 06-Mawal Al Layl Kolo Makasib موال الليل كله مكاسب (Mawaal: The Spoils of an All-Nighter)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of tracks: 8
Official DR value: DR8
Samplerate: 48000 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 803 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================