Because Purple Rain lives in my head rent-free, I did a double-take when I came across this image in our event listings. Turns out it's from something even more strange and wonderful than Prince's 1984 movie: a 2015 homage to it called Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai ("Rain the Color of Blue with a Little Red In It"). Shot on location in Agadez, Niger, the film follows a Tuareg guitarist inspired and played by the legendary Mdou Moctar on an "against all odds" journey to better his life through music. Even cooler, if that's possible, is what's running alongside Akounak in a most unusual doubleheader at the Admiral Twin: a docu-realist desert fantasy called Zerzura, billed as "the first ever Saharan acid Western."
Consider us intrigued. If you've got any itch for the magical, the cross-cultural, the wondrous, and especially if you're a music fan, then you'll want to jump on the Oklahoma premiere of these two films this week. They're the first-ever features in the Tuareg language, co-produced by Portland-based Sahel Sounds and Niger's fledgling Imouhar Studio. Together they make for a visually stunning, heart-expanding trip to distant yet familiar lands, packed with epic band rivalries, djinns and gold-hunters, and some of the world's most mind-blowing music. (If you've heard the band Tinariwen, you know this style: a sometimes blistering, sometimes blissful seismic jangle known as "desert blues.")
The Tulsa showing comes via two top-notch local guides to experimental music, Tulsa Noise and Foxy Digitalis (proprietors: Nathan Young and Brad Rose, respectively). They've been bridging Tulsa to other worlds for decades as producers, writers, composers and champions of music that plays on the edges of the conventional. We asked them about this double feature and their efforts to bring "out there" music a little closer "in here."
How did Foxy Digitalis and Tulsa Noise connect on bringing these films to Tulsa, and what was it about them that made you think "Tulsa's absolutely gotta see these"?
Brad Rose: Nathan and I have been friends and collaborators for over 15 years now and have been discussing a lot of possible projects over the last year that could be adapted to the current circumstances with the pandemic. Admiral Twin seemed like an obvious choice. With these two films in particular, we've both been huge fans and supporters of the Sahel Sounds label that produced them for years. The work Sahel is doing to promote and support music and art in Africa is incredible and we want to show Tulsa that it's happening and hopefully help generate more interest in this music locally.
Nathan Young: I was just really super moved by them. They're just great movies. You can see that this music community is a big part of the everyday life of the people there in Agadez. The Purple Rain one hooked me at first; Zerzura is very similar to Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain. And the Admiral Twin is a great historical space. It's going to be neat to hear them through the radios. We loved the idea of screening these films here for people who might otherwise never have happened upon them. Cult Love Sound Tapes is also helping to make this happen, and we'll be selling some of the merchandise from my record label and giving away things from Tulsa Noise. Everybody's really excited. Everybody's listening to Tuareg blues this week.
Brad, are you currently listening to any Tulsa-based "weird music" (as it's lovingly called on your website)? Is Foxy Digitalis involved, or have you been in the past, in the local music scene?
BR: I'm a big fan of what Peyote Tapes and Cult Love Sound Tapes are both doing. The recent album from CriesLol especially has been in regular rotation over here. Dylan Aycock and Scissor Tail Records is another great one who has put out a lot of great records and tapes through the years.