Malian outfit Tinariwen has a work ethic which makes the 16 years between Guns N’ Roses albums look like a Billy Childish level of prolificity. Despite having formed back in 1982, they are only now releasing their third proper album. To be fair, though, the popular Taureg band have recorded numerous collections of songs but usually on cassettes distributed by word-of-mouth, hand and tape-to-tape deck in sub-Saharan Africa.
Since their scene-stealing performance at the now-legendary Malian shindig Le Festival Au Désert in 2001, Tinariwen have been attracting increasing levels of attention and acclaim. Partially this is thank s to their seductive back story as armed nomadic rebels, which is certianly more interesting than anything Pete Doherty has to talk about. However, the real draw is their powerful, hypnotic sound, informed as much by classic American porch blues and Jimi Hendrix pyrotechnics as the percussive density and Tamashek guitar sound of more traditional Taureg songwriting.
It’s no accident that ‘Aman Iman’ appears on an otherwise staunchly indie-fied label (home to Travis, no less) – it’s a conscious effort to cross over all genre boundaries and musical preconceptions. As a result, it’s not only a deeply satisfying return for the existing Tinariwen fans, it’s also a great jumping-off point for the prospective world music fan who otherwise has frankly no idea where to start.
