Tinariwen: Abdallah (vocals, guitar, bass); Ibrahim, Kheddou, Mohammed “Japonais”, Foy Foy (vocals, guitar); Hassan (vocals, guitar, percussion); Seyid (percussion); Nina, Anini, Bogness (background vocals).
Recorded at Tisdas, Kidal, Mali in January 2000.
What the critics say…
Vibe (2/03, p.138) – – 3.5 discs out of 5 – “…Formerly Touareg
freedom fighters…Tinariwen's desert blues are universally familiar. These
songs ring louder than bombs.”
Body & Soul (01–02/03, p.75) – “…A hypnotic, slow-burning style of
interlocking guitar riffs, call-and-response vocals, and understated (but
relentless) percussion…”
Mojo (Publisher) (p.57) – Ranked #79 in Mojo's “100 Modern Classics” –
“[T]he proof was in the grooves, and this ever-changing cooperative
delivered.”
Review
This is the real desert blues, played by Tuareg tribesmen who live it every
day, making their home on the edge of the Sahara desert in Mali. Born in Libyan
refugee camps after severe drought blighted the region, it's authentic, spare,
and haunting, its rhythms echoing the miles of space and the languid pace of
their desert surroundings. Played mostly on guitars – there are six
guitarists in the band – with vocals, some female backing vocals, and touches
of percussion, and recorded at Radio Tisdas studios (hence the title) in Kidal,
capital of the stark Iforas region, with the facility only available between
7 p.m. and midnight because those were the only hours the electricity was on.
This can also be a celebration, as on “Zin Es Gourmeden,” where the voices
come together over heavily reverbed guitar that would have delighted Jimi
Hendrix. These tribesmen might be considered primitive by Western standards, but
their music is anything but. The guitar playing might not include flashy solos,
but it's as deep as anything to come out of the Delta and as electrifying as
Chicago – just hear the opening to “Afours Afours.” The final cut,
“Tin-Essako,” recorded live at Mali's Festival of the Desert in January
2001, epitomizes their raw sound, with the guitar offering backing to the voices
as well as an elaborate riff, the voices intertwining over clattering
percussion. It's brief, but still glorious, a transport to another world that
touches ours through its use of the blues progressions (admittedly mostly
monochordal) and pentatonic scale. Familiar and yet so distant, this album opens
a window on desert life. Chris Nickson – Allmusic.com