Top WZN

Jeich Ould Badu and Ahmedou Ahmed Lewla are two of the biggest stars of “wzn”, the instrumental music that’s taken over the streets of Nouakchott. With a modified lute, synths that have been adapted for Arabic quarter-tones, and drum machines that approximate traditional percussion, the duo construct infectious, polyrhythmic trance music that unfurls and dances between future and tradition. Some of the rhythms are dizzying (“Erkiz”), some surprisingly heavy (“Loubss”), but all,  even the more traditional tracks (“El Wehcha”), are full-on party pieces.