An amazing and rare studio recording of 1990s Polisario music! The album is astandout example of the Sahrawi political folk style that mixes traditionalmodes with Western scales and instrumentation and response vocals. Therepertoire of El Wali is fiery and inspirational, a call to arms - with nationalanthems, celebrations of political anniversaries, and religious pleas for peace,with call and response duets, backed with a synthesizer, programmed drums, andelectric guitar. Nomadic inhabitants of Western Sahara, the Sahrawi movement forliberation began in the 1970s and has continued until today. Sahrawi politicalfolk music dates back to the origins and has played an integral role in thestruggle, with political anthems creating a national identity. One of the firstSaharan music to incorporate the electric guitar, the style was hugelyinfluential on the better known Tuareg guitar genre. The later addition ofsynthesizer and programmed rhythms further transformed the sound, becoming afoundation of Sahrawi music. Recorded in Belgium in 1994 while on tour, thisversion of El Wali performed a style reflecting the popular music of the refugeecamps. 'Tiris' is a refreshing production with none of the typical "world music"polish of the '90s. This evidently led to its unsuccessful release in the west.Originally released only in as a small run CD for OXFAM Belgium, the CD quicklydisappeared and is impossible to find. In West Africa, however, it became aviral success and the defining representative Sahrawi music. In 2012 a track wasreleased on 'Music From Saharan Cellphones Vol. 2' and only after an arduoussearch over 8 years (leading through Spain to the Canary Islands to Tindouf andeventually to Belgium) the artists, the studio, and the original recording weretracked down. A co-release with Badawi Archives, the first Sahrawi run recordlabel led by DJ/producer Bedouin Sahrawi.