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[Thrillho]

I finally got around to buying a Tinariwen album, I chose Aman Iman: Water Is Life because it's the most recent and so probably most developed. I'm most of the way into my first listen, and it's fantastic. It's the soundtrack to a desert wasteland, literally and in my head. It just makes you visualise rolling dust and figures half-glanced on the horizon.

For those who don't know Tinariwen are an African band (East African I think? I forget the country, but I'm pretty sure they're part of the Taureg tribe or clan, except for one) who are basically like, if the Pogues were black and a million times more badass. These guys so transcend the rock 'n' roll hardman schtick that it's ridiculous. They joined their country's army and went into battle with an AK47 in one hand and a cheap, cheap, cheap copy strat in the other. They don't even have a drumkit or bass, just some drums and clapping, and their songs will often be just one chord, on a groove, round in a circle for as long as the vocalist can think of lyrics (which, by the way, are in a language spoken by only 2 million people at this point). It's glorious.

Anyone else listen to them?

[Scandanavian War Machine]

no, but you're making me wish i did. this sounds pretty awesome.

[a pack of wolves]

That write up convinced me to check them out too.

Apparently they're from Mali, which is in the West, and are indeed almost all from the Touareg tribe. I don't think they'd have fought in their country's military though, it seems they were mostly exiled until 1991 when there was a democratic uprising and several of them apparently fought in that rebellion. This means that they formed their band while in exile, in 1979. That's a pretty amazing feat. The only Malian music I'd heard before now was the kora player Ballaké Sissoko who makes very different music to these guys (he is amazing though), and I know almost nothing about any African music so this was really interesting for me. Their music really does evoke a sense of open space but also a different sense of time, I think it's the way the music loops but it feels much less fixed and divided.

It really is pretty fucking badass too, when they want these guys have some swaggering blues riffage that's been filtered through the desert and come out as gritty as when you sift it through the delta.

[blanktom]

totally saw these guys live at Latitude Festival in Suffolk, UK last year. They were fantastic!

[october1983]

yeah, I saw them at Latitude too, and they were great. not sure why I never checked out any of their records..

[ViolentDove]

I'm keen to check these guys out... all the Malian music I've heard is pretty awesome, kind of proto-blues style. Allegedly, Mali is where the musical roots of the blues (and therefore rock!) originate from.

[rynne]

This music is pretty awesome!  Thanks for the tip!

[Thrillho]

huh. I thought they were fairly well known. i've been digging them since last year. if you like them grab the amanaz - africa album that someone posted in the mediaf!re thread.

Well I first heard of them about five years ago, but I was too close-mindedly 'RAWK' oriented at that point to give a damn. I've been constantly forgetting about them until just recently and reading an article about them in Q just made me want to get down and worship them.