LISTENING SESSION: Pitch Black Listening with Groove Obscura

Prince Sissokho's Taranga sits at a remarkable crossroads of tradition and invention. Kora meets synths. Sabar rhythms collide with funk drum patterns. Mbalax forms stretch into moments of jazz improvisation. On the back of the sleeve, Prince writes: "My father chose me to transmit the wisdom of our people... but in our culture, respect for oral tradition does not prevent one from fulfilling oneself in the context of modern civilization. In fact, I believe the two complement each other." Across the album's six explorations, Sissokho bridges tradition and modernity in a way I've rarely heard any artist acheive within these genres. - Arjun Shah Founded by Arjun Shah, Groove Obscura is an educational platform dedicated to uncovering and contextualizing music from around the world. Groove Obscura takes a physical form at the Silence Please Listening Space in curation collaboration with Duty Free Records. Each session explores original pressings of music from around the world, played on high-fidelity system in pitch black for pure sonic immersion, preceded by historical and musical context to set the stage for a deep undisturbed listen.