32:11

Ep. 03 Aug 13, 2025

Inkomo

In conversation with Gilles Aubry, Thokozani Mhlambi examines early loudspeaker broadcasting systems in South Africa alongside African genealogies of listening. His research traces the cultural significance of inkomo (cow) and its diverse uses prior to colonialism among Zulu-speaking African communities, offering new perspectives on early listening practices. Drawing on the writings of H.I.E. Dhlomo, Mhlambi proposes that broadcasting technology can be understood as an extension of the traditional use of cow horns to announce news. Original sound work: Inkomo (2025, 14:12) by Thokozani Mhlambi — featuring cow horns played as wind instruments.

43:38

Ep. 02 Jun 30, 2025

Tel un mouflon sur les cimes

M’Barek Bouhchichi reads verses by M’barek Ben Zida (1925-1973), a black peasant poet from Tata, Morocco. By denouncing social and ethnic inequalities, Ben Zida opened up a rich field of socio-aesthetic possibilities. Written in the 1960s-70s and translated here into French, Ben Zida’s verses are presented alongside an electronic soundscape generated with a Serge analog synthesizer from the same period.

45:42

Ep. 01 Apr 8, 2025

Interview with Ahmed Essyad

The Body of Sound: Ahmed Essyad’s Electroacoustic music Interview by Gilles Aubry Ahmed Essyad is a composer born in 1938 in Salé, Morocco. After studying music at the Rabat Conservatory in Morocco, he moved to Paris in 1962, where he became a pupil and then assistant to Max Deutsch. Interested in ethnomusicology, he focuses his research on orality and notation, as well as on musical time and pulsation. His music is a blend of Berber oral tradition, serial writing, Gregorian and modal influences. Between 1972 and 1974, he composed a series of electroacoustic pieces in the Centre Américain studio in Paris.