The Thistle & Shamrock: The Lost Songs Of St. Kilda
Barrule
Phil Kneen/Courtesy of the artist
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Phil Kneen/Courtesy of the artist
Hear the haunting melodies from St. Kilda that offer a last link to the “island on the edge of the world,” with Julie Fowlis and Barrule.
The Sisters Of A-WA ‘Want To Bring Something New’ To Yemen’s Musical Traditions
A-WA’s latest album, Bayti Fi Rasi, is out now.
Rotem Lebel/Courtesy of the artist
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Rotem Lebel/Courtesy of the artist
A-WA is made up of three Israeli sisters, Tair, Liron and Tagel Haim. This melodic trio of Jewish women of Yemeni descent women emphasize mixing their culture’s traditions with forward-thinking modifications to sound, visuals and ethos. The sisters are known for eye-popping music videos that challenge gender stereotypes. Picture women in traditional robes that are neon pink while off-roading across a barren desert. The trio’s sound is just as distinctive. The sisters’ latest album, Bayti Fi Rasi (My Home Is In My Head), reworks traditional music from their ancestors’ home country of Yemen with hip-hop and electronic elements.
While A-WA was at NPR’s headquarters in Washington D.C. to perform a Tiny Desk concert, the members spoke with NPR’s Ari Shapiro about the messaging of the band’s music.
“The songs on this album are inspired by our great grandma,” Tahir, the eldest sister, says. “She was traveling from Yemen to Israel as a single mom and [“Hana Mash Hu Al Yaman”] talks about her arrival in Israel. They put all the Yemenite Jews back then in transition camps or a tent camp. … We talk about all the mixed emotions she felt.”
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With Bayti Fi Rasi being sung from the point of view of the sisters’ great grandmother, Rachel, in 1949, Tahir explains that this music upholds her legacy.
“She was a feminist before she even knew what a feminist is,” Tahir says. “She was so strong. Her journey was so courageous and she didn’t have any help from anyone. But thanks to her, we are a generation born in Israel and our future and our present are better. We have a better life.”
The ladies take what they have inherited from older generations — the harmonies, melodies and Yemenite traditions — and deliberately yank them into the 21st century by adding beats and production effects that their great grandmother would never have heard of.
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“For us, it’s not interesting to put the tradition as it is because we want to bring something new. We want to bring ourselves,” Tahir says. “We also have three voices as young women, so in the album, for instance, we sort of blended her voice — things that she couldn’t say back then — with our voices.”
With the current global refugee crisis, the Haim sisters hope that the story of their great grandmother will speak to people, especially women, who find themselves in these similar situations today.
“We felt that this issue is so relevant,” Tahir says.
“It’s a story about one woman, but it’s actually a story of so many other refugees around the world. So, for us, it’s a story that we wanted to tell for years,” Liron adds.
Audio editor Emily Kopp and web editor Sidney Madden contributed to this story.
A-WA: Tiny Desk Concert
Credit: NPR
The last time we filmed these three Israeli sisters, they were sitting in my hotel room during South by Southwest, performing a heartbreaking lullaby, accompanied by just a guitarist. Now Liron, Tagel and Tair Haim are behind my desk with a full band of keyboards, bass, guitar and drums, singing more forlorn tunes in their unique three-part harmony.
Their songs mix Yemenite and Arabic traditions with splashes of reggae and hip-hop. Our Tiny Desk concert begins with “Habib Galbi” (“Love of My Heart”), a heartbreaking song that went viral for A-WA in 2016. A-WA have recently released a second album, Bayti Fi Rasi (My Home is in My Head). The record tells the story of their grandmother traveling from Yemen to Israel.
The final two songs come from that recent album. “Al Asad” is a metaphorical tale of facing down a lion in your path, while the last song “Hana Mash Hu Al Yaman,” (“Here is Not Yemen”), paints the struggles of coming to a new land, learning the language, finding work, a place to live and making it a home. This music is relatively upbeat with dark, thoughtful words. We’ve subtitled English translations as part of the video to help their message reach an even wider audience. This music is for our world at large.
SET LIST
- ‘Habib Galbi”
- “Al Asad”
- “Hana Mash Hu Al Yaman”
MUSICIANS
Tair Haim: vocals; Liron Haim: vocals; Tagel Haim: vocals; Nitzan Eisenberg: bass; Noam Havkin: keys, synth; Tal Cohen: drums; Yiftach Shachaf: guitar
CREDITS
Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, CJ Riculan, Jeremiah Rhodes, Maia Stern; Associate Producer: Bobby Carter; Production Assistant: Paul Georgoulis; Executive Producer: Lauren Onkey; VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann; Photo: Bob Boilen/NPR
The Thistle & Shamrock: Mícheál Ó Domhnaill
Mícheál Ó Domhnaill
Greg Duffy/Courtesy of the Estate of Mícheál Ó Domhnaill
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Greg Duffy/Courtesy of the Estate of Mícheál Ó Domhnaill
We remember Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, one of Ireland’s most influential artists, with the music he recorded and produced over three decades.
Ibibio Sound Machine Takes Us Around The World Without Leaving London
Ibibio Sound Machine performing in the Pool Recording Studio in London
Kimberly Junod/WXPN
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Kimberly Junod/WXPN
- “Wanna Come Down”
- “Tell Me (Doko Mien)”
- “I Need You To Be Sweet Like Sugar”
British-born singer Eno Williams grew up in Nigeria, where her family passed on storytelling traditions in the Ibibio language. Eno’s grandmother used to tease her, saying, “You always sing in English, when are you going to sing in Ibibio?” When Eno eventually came around to the idea, she noticed that the rhythms and melodies inherent in the language made it a perfect fit for songwriting. Now, in Ibibio Sound Machine, Eno fuses the language of her roots with the musical roots of her bandmates, who hail from Ghana, Trinidad, Australia and Brazil.
Ibibio Sound Machine’s music — and its very existence — is a unique testament to the global city where the members came together; London. We meet the band at the Pool Recording Studio in London to hear live performances of songs from its latest album, Doko Mien.
The Thistle & Shamrock: ThistleRadio Classics
Donal Lunny playing an Irish bouzouki on January 23, 2008.
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Ross Gilmore/Redferns
When the Celtic rhythms go quiet on your radio, you can always stream great songs and tunes on ThistleRadio’s 24-hour music channel. Span the decades with classic tracks that are the bedrock of the playlist, together with some of the newer artist who are helping redefine the sound of today’s music from Celtic roots. Artists include Dougie MacLean, Donal Lunny and Loreena McKennitt.
47SOUL: Tiny Desk Concert
Credit: NPR/Shuran Huang
“Is it ok if I do a little dance on your desk?” asked 47SOUL singer and percussionist Walaa Sbeit on first seeing the Tiny Desk. I thought a minute, went under the desk, tightened the bolts, stuck some splints of wood under a few of the uneven legs and (feeling reassured) gave him the nod. It would be our first traditional Middle Eastern Dabke dancing atop the Tiny Desk and the first sounds of Shamstep (a kind of electronic dance music) behind it.
Shamstep is the creation of 47SOUL. At its heart is Arab roots music laced with dub, reggae and electronic dance music, including dubstep. It’s positive-force music with freedom, celebration and hope for the people of the Sham region (Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria).
47SOUL’s message of equality, heard here at the Tiny Desk (and on the group’s current album, Balfron Promise) is meant for all the world. This is music without borders, mixing old and new, acoustic and electronic from a band formed in Amman Jordan, singing in Arabic and English. It’s one big, positive and poignant party.
SET LIST
- “Mo Light”
- “Don’t Care Where You From”
- “Jerusalem”
MUSICIANS
Walaa Sbeit: vocals, bass drum; Tareq Abu Kwaik: vocals, darbuka; Ramzy Suleiman: vocals, synthesiser, keyboard; Hamza Arnaout: guitar
CREDITS
Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Noelle Smith; Creative Director: Bob Boilen; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Bronson Arcuri, CJ Riculan, Jeremiah Rhodes; Associate Producer: Bobby Carter; Production Assistant: Paul Georgoulis; Photo: Shuran Huang/NPR
The Thistle & Shamrock: From The Archives, Part 1
Cathie Ryan is one of the artists featured on this week’s episode of The Thistle & Shamrock.
Joe Sinnott/Courtesy of the artist
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Joe Sinnott/Courtesy of the artist
It’s a bit like browsing through a photo album where the memories are captured in sounds, not images. Join Fiona Ritchie as she delves into her archives to re-visit highlights from the past decade of radio shows featuring artists John Doyle, Peggy Seeger and Cathie Ryan.
Heat Check
Angela Hsieh/NPR
Stream: Spotify, Apple Music.
As the most-consumed genres, the tendrils of rap and R&B have found their way into all popular music today. The current landscape of music is a garden of trap, soul, jazz, funk and global amalgamations. With such a beautiful, organic takeover, more artists than ever are throwing out the rules and creating music that thrives off being outliers. And because of that, there’s always something new blooming that has the potential to catch on like wildfire in the future.
So what makes a song worthy of Heat Check? It’s a slow-burner by a newcomer you’ve never heard of. It’s a track bubbling just under the Billboard Hot 100 and that your friends will claim to have discovered three months before you and put on your radar (Sure.) It’s a new collab you never saw coming — unless, of course, you’ve been paying attention to the artists’ every move on Insta. It’s an oddly satisfying cross-genre concoction. It’s a discovery you almost want to keep to yourself. It’s just something I was feeling at the time.
The Sisters Of A-WA Share Their Great-Grandmother’s Refugee Story
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“Hana Mash Hu Al Yaman”
“Mudbira”
“Malhuga”
Tair, Liron, and Tagel Haim are three sisters who record as A-WA. They are Arab Jews who live in Israel and spread the Yemeni folk traditions of their heritage around the world through electronic music. On the group’s latest album, Bayti Fi Rasi, the sisters tell the story of their great-grandmother, Rachel, who fled Yemen and arrived in Israel as a refugee as part of Operation Magic Carpet in 1949. Many of the songs, like “Hana Mash Hu Al Yaman” (meaning “Here Is Not Yemen”) address the difficulties Rachel faced on both sides of her journey as a refugee.
The sisters dropped by World Cafe to perform inviting and unique songs from Batyi Fi Rasi and to talk about their own journey as musicians from a small desert village in Israel to the international stage.