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Average: 4.5 (136 ratings)
- Date Released: March 13, 2007
- Genre: International
- Style: Africa
- Label: World Village / IODA
Colonel Gaddafi-trained guerrillas-turned-troubadours get funky.
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We Say...
OK, I’ll fess up: I only discovered Mali’s Tinariwen after Robert Plant raved about them in an interview four years back. But the nomadic desert blues collective has in fact existed in some form or other since 1979, their impassioned, highly politicised sound an issue-raising catalyst for the Tuareg people of the southern Sahara long before someone pulled a Ry Cooder and helped record their wonderfully stirring music for consumption outside of Africa.
On Aman Iman — as on their "official" 2001 debut The Radio Tisdas Sessions — that person is producer Justin Adams, the multi-instrumentalist and erstwhile Wayward Sheiks member who is also a member of Robert Plant’s current band, the Strange Sensation. Adams does an excellent job, acting as facilitator, not meddlesome shaper.
This time out, Tinariwen has made a fabulously skewed blues album that restores a winning exoticism to that oft-heard genre. The return of near-mythic founding member Mohamed Ag Itlale after six years in the desert (and you can take that quite literally) proves memorable, his improvised poetry on “Ahimana” intoxicating even if, like me, you don’t understand a word of his native tongue.
Gritty and wholly involving, the album is a delicious tangle of snaking Malian guitars, Möbius strip-like rhythms, fat bass, clanking percussion and call-and-response chanting. The hypnotic pulse of “Cler Achel” is such that resistance is futile, while “Tamatant Tilay” further underlines Tinariwen’s status as lords of the feral dance. But there are also gentler moods, the meditative-sounding “Izarar Tenéré” so soothing that it’s easy to forget that the members of Tinariwen are in fact fearsome, Colonel Gaddafi-trained guerrillas-turned-troubadours.
Word is that the final mix of the album had to be submitted for the approval of the Tuareg tribal elders, and that band percussionist Said Ag Ayad ferried it to them by camel. Now, how cool is that? -
They Say...
Hand it to Tinariwen. Like the nomads they are, they don't stand still musically. On their third album (the title translates as Water Is Life), they keep the root intact, the desert blues still at the heart of all they do, but this builds upon what they achieved on their superb sophomore disc, happily restless and unafraid of walking down new paths. However, although they're rightly lauded for their widescreen blues sound, what emerges most here is something they hinted at on the last record -- they're a remarkable rock & roll band, too. The guitars, locked together in rhythm and lead, create a glorious syncopated noise that puts most rockers to shame. But there's a wonderful looseness to the sound (kudos to producer Justin Adams), in part due to the fact that these tracks were all recorded over just two weeks, a tiny time frame by today's standards. Recorded in the Malian capital of Bamako, these songs arrive with dust on their boots and a little thirsty. The studio touches are subtle, a little on the effects here and there, but never detract from the music -- which even features old member Mohammed Ag Itlale, whose voice and guitar can be heard on several tracks.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Cler Achel |
4:27 |  |
| 02. | |
Mano Dayak |
5:43 | |
| 03. | |
Matadjem Yinmixan |
5:45 | |
| 04. | |
Ahimana |
4:58 | |
| 05. | |
Soixante Trois |
4:13 | |
| 06. | |
Toumast |
4:26 | |
| 07. | |
Imidiwan Winakalin |
4:27 | |
| 08. | |
Awa Didjen |
4:14 | |
| 09. | |
Ikyadarh Dim |
3:37 | |
| 10. | |
Tamatant Tilay |
3:21 | |
| 11. | |
Assouf |
3:58 | |
| 12. | |
Izarharh Tenere |
5:02 | |
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12 Total Tracks, 54:11 Total Length
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Credits
- Ben Findlay - Engineer // Ben Findlay - Mixing // Tim Oliver - Mastering // Tim Oliver - Mixing // Andy Morgan - Executive Producer // Andy Morgan - Translation // Andy Morgan - Lyric Translation // Allioum Ba - Photography // Justin Adams - Guitar (Acoustic) // Justin Adams - Guitar // Justin Adams - Producer // Justin Adams - Liner Notes // Justin Adams - Mixing // Denis Péan - Translation Assistant // Saïd Ag Ayad - Vocals (Background) // Saïd Ag Ayad - Handclapping // Saïd Ag Ayad - Djembe // Saïd Ag Ayad - Calabash // Saïd Ag Ayad - Hi Hat // Sebastien Merlet - Graphic Design // Thomas Dorn - Photography // Salah Dawson Miller - Conga // Salah Dawson Miller - Darbouka // Salah Dawson Miller - Shekere // Salah Dawson Miller - Guellal // Saïd Ag Ayad - Vocals (Background) // Saïd Ag Ayad - Handclapping // Saïd Ag Ayad - Djembe // Saïd Ag Ayad - Calabash // Saïd Ag Ayad - Hi Hat // Ibrahim Coulibaly - Engineer // Ibrahim Ag Alhabib - Guitar // Ibrahim Ag Alhabib - Vocals // Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni - Guitar (Acoustic) // Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni - Guitar // Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni - Vocals // Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni - Vocals (Background) // Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni - Handclapping // Ibrahim Ag Assarid - Translation // Ibrahim Ag Assarid - Lyric Translation // Nadia Belalimat - Translation Assistant // Manaki Diallo - ? // Issa Dicko - Translation Assistant // Hamid Ekawel - Vocals (Background) // Elaga Ag Hamid - Guitar (Rhythm) // Elaga Ag Hamid - Vocals (Background) // Elaga Ag Hamid - Handclapping // Kesa Walet Hamid - Vocals (Background) // Kesa Walet Hamid - Handclapping // Mohammed Ag Itlale "Japonais" - Guitar (Acoustic) // Mohammed Ag Itlale "Japonais" - Guitar // Mohammed Ag Itlale "Japonais" - Vocals // Abdallah Ag Lamida "Intidao" - Guitar (Rhythm) // Abdallah Ag Lamida "Intidao" - Vocals (Background) // Eyadou Ag Leche - Guitar (Bass) // Eyadou Ag Leche - Vocals (Background) // Eyadou Ag Leche - Handclapping // Mama Livio - ? // Wonou Walet Sidati - Vocals (Background) // Wonou Walet Sidati - Handclapping // Alhassane Ag Touhami - Guitar // Alhassane Ag Touhami - Vocals // Alhassane Ag Touhami - Vocals (Background) // Alhassane Ag Touhami - Handclapping
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