My primary limitation as a music fan and record collector is the near inability to find any contemporary artists whose output is of interest to me. As a historically inclined individual, I’ve always been predisposed toward singers and instrumentalists of the past. There is a distinct advantage of being able to experience musicians’ bodies of work in a retroactive fashion and to avoid the inevitable hype that comes with promoting what might be “the next big thing.” While one misses out on growing with bands as they mature and having opportunities to see them perform live (or to attend concerts when they’re still in their prime), such a fan also has the benefit of critical hindsight that gives him or her guidance on what recordings to investigate and what to avoid. So, yeah, I might be missing out on a lot of great music that’s being made today, but it will still be around in the future if I want to check it out. For example, even though I’m a child of the 1980s, I’m just now starting to investigate some of the underground artists from that decade. Better late than never, right?
Once again, I digress. In spite of the above paragraph, there actually are a few modern-day acts who I passionately follow. Judging by the combined number of live shows attended and albums in my collection, the group who tops that list would have to be Tinariwen (“Deserts” in their language), an aggregation of Kel Tamashek (a term much preferred over the more commonly-used “Tuareg”) musician from Mali. The band’s performances are nothing short of spellbinding, with their colorful traditional attire providing the perfect visual counterpoint to their otherworldly music.
Tinariwen’s recorded output generally replicates the potency of their live work and displays a continual stylistic evolution that uniquely straddles their North African roots with rock, hip hop, and other Western influences. Outside their Saharan homeland, they first developed a following in Europe and eventually gained an audience in the United States. I recall becoming aware of Tinariwen when I happened upon an article about them in an issue of Mojo magazine several years ago. Since this occurred around the time that file sharing became popular, it required little effort to acquire the means to become familiar with much of their discography. When possible, I have supplemented these downloads with LP versions of Tinariwen albums that have been produced by various labels over the years, although such vinyl releases had been limited to their more recent titles.
That all changed last autumn when reissue luminaries Light in the Attic (via their Modern Classics Recordings imprint) saw fit to rerelease the group’s first two albums intended for Western audiences, The Radio Tisdas Sessions and Amassokoul, on wax for the first time. I can think of no better company to handle this project, and these records bear all the usual hallmarks of the label: sturdy cardboard gatefold outer sleeves, vibrant color graphics, eye-catching obi strips, well-mastered discs, and informative booklet notes with, in the case of the latter title, translations of the lyrics.
Initially formed in the late 1970s/early 1980s, Tinariwen had already been together for quite some time when Radio Tisdas (the name of the local broadcasting station in Mali that served as a recording studio) was taped in 2001. By this point, many elements of the group’s signature performing style were already in place, with their imaginative blending of traditional melodies alongside electric guitar and bass producing material that could be characterized vaguely as “Middle Eastern” but also so much more. It’s possible that languages other than Tamashek simply do not have the words to describe this music, which for me greatly adds to its appeal. Nevertheless, the unique sound of Tinariwen is immediately recognizable resulting from the combination of Ibrahim Ag Alhabib’s resonant fretwork, Eyadou Ag Leche’s throbbing upside-down bass, steady rolling rhythm from hand drums, and hypnotic call-and-response vocals that are punctuated with the occasional shrill ululation from one of the female singers. Stripped down performances including “Le Chant des Fauves,” “Afours Afours,” and “Mataraden Anexan” evoke images of desert landscapes and provide the foundation on which future material would be built. Overall, Radio Tisdas comes off as the musical equivalent of a gentle Saharan breeze that periodically produces more rough-hewn moments exemplified by tracks such as “Zin es Gourmeden.” In short, an impressive debut.
The follow-up album from 2004, Amassakoul (“The Traveler” in Tamashek), finds Tinariwen displaying remarkable progression and an increasingly multi-layered sound. Indeed, for fans who are more familiar with the group’s most recent works, this album might be the more accessible of the two. If Radio Tisdas brings to mind the vast expanses of the Sahara, then Amassakoul is reminiscent of a music-filled caravansary situated in a bustling oasis.
The material possesses a bolder tone, partially as a result of using a professional recording studio in Mali along with a separate mixing facility in France, but also from years of performing for non-native audiences. Despite Tinariwen’s original lack of exposure to African-American folk music, many critics affixed the term “desert blues” to their material in an attempt to come up with a marketable description for it. As technically inaccurate as it might be, “desert blues” is exactly what tracks such as “Amassakoul 'N' Ténéré” and “Aldhechen Manin” sound like. Other songs, including “Alkhar Dessouf” and “Assoul,” feature woodwinds and have a mystical quality to them, while the vocals on “Arawan” are delivered in a fashion that is almost reminiscent of rap. Amassakoul does what all great sophomore efforts should do: keep all the ingredients that made the first album so compelling while judiciously adding new complementary components.
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VERDICT:
The Radio Tisdas Sessions - 3.5/5
Amassakoul - 4/5
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*Also, read an interview with the Tuareg band TERAKAFT
Tracklist:
The Radio Tisdas Sessions:A1. Le Chant Des Fauves
A2. Nar Djenetbouba
B1. Imidiwaren
B2. Zin Es Gourmeden
C1. Afours Afours
C2. Tessalit
C3. Khedou Khedou
D1. Mataraden Anexan
D2. Bismillah
D3. Tin-Essako (Live)
Amassakoul:
A1. Amassakoul 'N' Ténéré
A2. Oualahila Ar Tesninam
A3. Chatma
B1. Arawan
B2. Chet Boghassa
B3. Amidinin
C1. Ténéré Daféo Nikchan
C2. Aldhechen Manin
C3. Alkhar Dessouf
D1. Eh Massina Sintadoben
D2. Assoul