Asmara All Stars
Eritrea's Got Soul
OutHere Records
Contemporary music criticism can be a strange and dislocating affair. What does it mean, for instance, to listen to an Eritrean album in New York with the charge of writing about it for an Abu Dhabi-based newspaper? How much should those earthly coordinates matter, if at all? Is there a point at which the specifics of place can come to mean everything and nothing at once?
Many questions attend what one might choose to call quantum global-music travel. It's not a new phenomenon, exactly. People have been curious about the sounds of foreign cultures ever since the very first accounts of mysterious music from far-off lands (and certainly for as long as recording technology has made it possible to hear music stripped of any abiding sense of locale). But its processes have accelerated and it is more far-reaching.
Now it's not the least bit unusual to while away the hours flitting from breakbeats crafted in South London to a collection of Turkish folk songs from the 1920s, finally settling upon a set of processed field recordings of ice and water in the Arctic Circle. (So went a recent afternoon, delightfully spent indeed).
As much fun as all of this is, occasionally it is also enough to make adventurous listeners stop and think. How much dilettantism is too much? How distorting are the presumptions and projections we bring to cultural artefacts whose origins we don't fully know or understand? How guarded should we be against our own limited frames of reference? Luckily, music has a way of cutting through such concerns with the simplest of gestures: blaring brass; a limber bass walk; the voice of a real person in a real room singing, no matter where.
All of the above feature prominently in a new album by the Asmara All Stars. Eritrea's Got Soul comprises 13 songs recorded by this band, named for Eritrea's capital city and assembled by Bruno Blum, a Frenchman who travelled to the East African nation in 2006. He went in search of cultural exchange, under the aegis of the French Alliance and with the blessing, after some coaxing, of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice, Eritrea's ruling political movement. Blum taught music and played there, then gathered together a group of local artists in the hope of producing a record that would bring the country's songs to the world.
In those terms, Eritrea's Got Soul is less an album than a project, and it sounds that way. The first track, Amajo, starts off in media res, with a tumble of percussion dropped under a saxophone that seems to be at the end of a solo already in progress. It then settles into a sort of polyglot reggae rhythm, licked with sweat and that titular soul. Vocals come courtesy of a woman named Faytinga, whose appearances embody this record's strange and charming spirit: as the CD's liner notes tell it, Faytinga (pronounced "fighting-ah") earned her nickname as a young girl, volunteering for military service during Eritrea's war for independence from Ethiopia, and has since become "a national symbol of resistance".
As an artist, though, her displays of "resistance" are suggestive rather than forthright. She doesn't shout or growl; instead, her voice is sweetly defiant, an easy breeze of self-possession. It's as if any fatalism or anger has been thought better directed into celebration. This impression is, of course, born of sound and sound alone, but it's a strong current in the Asmara All Stars' work, from the haunting grooves of songs such as Ykre Beini to the humid jazz of Anisako.
Given this album's provenance, the presence of this latter style comes as scant surprise, but it can also be seen as a kind of reclamation. For many years East African music remained largely undiscovered by western audiences. That is, until the past decade or so, which has witnessed an upsurge of interest in archive recordings from the hotel-lounge scene of Eritrea's next-door neighbour, Ethiopia. As this album's creators are keen to explain: "Many of the musicians on vintage Ethiopian music were actually Eritrean." Decades of conflict between the two nations have seen to it that no love is lost between them in political terms. Still, music crosses borders and often negotiates its own détentes. To that end, the Asmara All Stars positively assert both Eritrea's sense of self and its place in a wider musical dialogue.
The project also subtly rewires the way much of the rest of the world hears this kind of music. A large proportion of African sounds enjoyed outside their domestic markets are accessed via reissues, compilations and stray releases that come together to make up their own patchwork map: spotty and roughly drawn, but valuably interconnected, all the same. For instance, the "vintage Ethiopian music" referred to above is undoubtedly that featured on the Ethiopiques series of compilations, first released in the late 1990s. Including editions focused on the work of artists such as Alemayehu Eshete, Asnaketch Worku and Mahmoud Ahmed, this comprehensive curatorial enterprise brought the sounds of East Africa to a whole new audience.
One album even made up the bulk of the soundtrack to Broken Flowers, a film starring Bill Murray and directed by Jim Jarmusch (the kind of musical explorer who would almost definitely have been introduced to the work of its creator, the band leader and inventor of Ethio jazz Mulatu Astatke, in a boutique record store in downtown Manhattan).
As well as achieving critical and commercial success, the Ethiopiques series also seems to have predicted the future. Reissues and compilations of African music existed before it, but the late 1990s marked the point when the market for such things changed profoundly. Thanks to the internet, borders dissolved and the flow of information gathered speed. No longer would this cultural terrain be the sole preserve of specialist stores and collectors of esoteric "world music". Instead, it would now be accessible to anyone with enough time and interest to happen upon an online review or recommended mp3.
Now we're awash in lovingly crafted collections of all kinds, from Pakistani movie scores to Beninese voodoo funk. Often they are marketed and consumed as glimpses into a novel and exoticised past, but increasingly in a more matter-of-fact way, as part of a musical dialogue that seems to expand in scope and historical understanding by the month.
All this makes Eritrea's Got Soul's status as a living, breathing project especially appealing. More than a product of months spent rummaging through warehouses filled with dusty vinyl, it is a document of an active musical scene, brought together for a stated purpose in the present day. Its content is diverse, drawing from a musical heritage that combines influences from the Middle East, Asia and Europe with Eritrea's own indigenous styles. Yet it is all neatly bound together by its roots in a community eager to be heard.
A pair of notable songs, Eritrean Girl and Gwaila International, play with the form of the gwaila rhythm, an insistent and hypnotic percussive pattern described as Eritrea's "national beat". Heard one way, both are relaxed, in-the-pocket exercises that circle elliptically around a structure that seems to accrue new complexity with every simple repetition. But it turns out that they also almost put Blum's whole mission in jeopardy. Their deviance from strictly traditional form rankled a number of people not involved in the band to such a degree that the release of Eritrea's Got Soul was cast into doubt.
Are these songs more significant as markers of a national heritage or as modernised transgressions? How should we even begin to engage with them? It is difficult to tell, but one possible answer can found in the rousing dance anthem Adunia. A raucous ensemble performance, filled with insistent funk guitar, fleshy bass, and horns that slither and snap as only East African horns can, it is immediate and infectious, whoever and wherever you might happen to be. Yet, at the beginning a voice calls out from afar: "This is a song of Eritrea." As such, its pleasures are both near and distant. Maybe that's the best way, in the end.
Andy Battaglia is a New York-based writer whose work appears in The Wall Street Journal, Artforum, Spin and Pitchfork
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
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Secret Pigeon Service: Operation Colomba, Resistance and the Struggle to Liberate Europe
Gordon Corera, Harper Collins
India squads
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What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
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'Young girls thinking of big ideas'
Words come easy for aspiring writer Afra Al Muhairb. The business side of books, on the other hand, is entirely foreign to the 16-year-old Emirati. So, she followed her father’s advice and enroled in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s summer entrepreneurship course at Abu Dhabi University hoping to pick up a few new skills.
“Most of us have this dream of opening a business,” said Afra, referring to her peers are “young girls thinking of big ideas.”
In the three-week class, pupils are challenged to come up with a business and develop an operational and marketing plan to support their idea. But, the learning goes far beyond sales and branding, said teacher Sonia Elhaj.
“It’s not only about starting up a business, it’s all the meta skills that goes with it -- building self confidence, communication,” said Ms Elhaj. “It’s a way to coach them and to harness ideas and to allow them to be creative. They are really hungry to do this and be heard. They are so happy to be actually doing something, to be engaged in creating something new, not only sitting and listening and getting new information and new knowledge. Now they are applying that knowledge.”
Afra’s team decided to focus their business idea on a restaurant modelled after the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Each level would have a different international cuisine and all the meat would be halal. The pupils thought of this after discussing a common problem they face when travelling abroad.
“Sometimes we find the struggle of finding halal food, so we just eat fish and cheese, so it’s hard for us to spend 20 days with fish and cheese,” said Afra. “So we made this tower so every person who comes – from Africa, from America – they will find the right food to eat.”
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Pakistan World Cup squad
Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abid Ali, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez(subject to fitness), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Junaid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain
Two additions for England ODIs: Mohammad Amir and Asif Ali
Four reasons global stock markets are falling right now
There are many factors worrying investors right now and triggering a rush out of stock markets. Here are four of the biggest:
1. Rising US interest rates
The US Federal Reserve has increased interest rates three times this year in a bid to prevent its buoyant economy from overheating. They now stand at between 2 and 2.25 per cent and markets are pencilling in three more rises next year.
Kim Catechis, manager of the Legg Mason Martin Currie Global Emerging Markets Fund, says US inflation is rising and the Fed will continue to raise rates in 2019. “With inflationary pressures growing, an increasing number of corporates are guiding profitability expectations downwards for 2018 and 2019, citing the negative impact of rising costs.”
At the same time as rates are rising, central bankers in the US and Europe have been ending quantitative easing, bringing the era of cheap money to an end.
2. Stronger dollar
High US rates have driven up the value of the dollar and bond yields, and this is putting pressure on emerging market countries that took advantage of low interest rates to run up trillions in dollar-denominated debt. They have also suffered capital outflows as international investors have switched to the US, driving markets lower. Omar Negyal, portfolio manager of the JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets Income Trust, says this looks like a buying opportunity. “Despite short-term volatility we remain positive about long-term prospects and profitability for emerging markets.”
3. Global trade war
Ritu Vohora, investment director at fund manager M&G, says markets fear that US President Donald Trump’s spat with China will escalate into a full-blown global trade war, with both sides suffering. “The US economy is robust enough to absorb higher input costs now, but this may not be the case as tariffs escalate. However, with a host of factors hitting investor sentiment, this is becoming a stock picker’s market.”
4. Eurozone uncertainty
Europe faces two challenges right now in the shape of Brexit and the new populist government in eurozone member Italy.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, which has offices in Dubai, says the stand-off between between Rome and Brussels threatens to become much more serious. "As with Brexit, neither side appears willing to step back from the edge, threatening more trouble down the line.”
The European economy may also be slowing, Mr Beauchamp warns. “A four-year low in eurozone manufacturing confidence highlights the fact that producers see a bumpy road ahead, with US-EU trade talks remaining a major question-mark for exporters.”
Januzaj's club record
Manchester United 50 appearances, 5 goals
Borussia Dortmund (loan) 6 appearances, 0 goals
Sunderland (loan) 25 appearances, 0 goals
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Abu Dhabi GP starting grid
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20 Lance Stroll (Williams)
Adele: The Stories Behind The Songs
Caroline Sullivan
Carlton Books
RESULT
Fifth ODI, at Headingley
England 351/9
Pakistan 297
England win by 54 runs (win series 4-0)
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The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible
Price, base / as tested: Dh283,080 / Dh318,465
Engine: 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 295hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.2L / 100km
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Under-21 European Championship Final
Germany 1 Spain 0
Weiser (40')
FA Cup semi-finals
Saturday: Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur, 8.15pm (UAE)
Sunday: Chelsea v Southampton, 6pm (UAE)
Matches on Bein Sports
About Seez
Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017
Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer
Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Sector: Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing
Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed
Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A
Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds
MATCH INFO
Kolkata Knight Riders 245/6 (20 ovs)
Kings XI Punjab 214/8 (20 ovs)
Kolkata won by 31 runs
New Zealand 21 British & Irish Lions 24
New Zealand
Penalties: Barrett (7)
British & Irish Lions
Tries: Faletau, Murray
Penalties: Farrell (4)
Conversions: Farrell
Scorecard
Scotland 220
K Coetzer 95, J Siddique 3-49, R Mustafa 3-35
UAE 224-3 in 43,5 overs
C Suri 67, B Hameed 63 not out
Super heroes
Iron Man
Reduced risk of dementia
Alcohol consumption could be an issue
Hulk
Cardiac disease, stroke and dementia from high heart rate
Spider-Man
Agility reduces risk of falls
Increased risk of obesity and mental health issues
Black Panther
Vegetarian diet reduces obesity
Unknown risks of potion drinking
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Childhood traumas increase risk of mental illnesses
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He's a god
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers Pickford (Everton), Pope (Burnley), Henderson (Manchester United)
Defenders Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Chilwell (Chelsea), Coady (Wolves), Dier (Tottenham), Gomez (Liverpool), James (Chelsea), Keane (Everton), Maguire (Manchester United), Maitland-Niles (Arsenal), Mings (Aston Villa), Saka (Arsenal), Trippier (Atletico Madrid), Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Foden (Manchester City), Henderson (Liverpool), Grealish (Aston Villa), Mount (Chelsea), Rice (West Ham), Ward-Prowse (Southampton), Winks (Tottenham)
Forwards: Abraham (Chelsea), Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Kane (Tottenham), Rashford (Manchester United), Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Sterling (Manchester City)
STAGE 4 RESULTS
1 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 4:51:51
2 David Dekker (NED) Team Jumbo-Visma
3 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal
4 Elia Viviani (ITA) Cofidis
5 Matteo Moschetti (ITA) Trek-Segafredo
General Classification
1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 12:50:21
2 Adam Yates (GBR) Teamn Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:43
3 Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:03
4 Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:43
5 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
