NEWS, REVIEWS
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16 November 2011
Tinariwen "Tassili": Polished
Desert Blues
My first impression of Tinariwen’s latest
was that "Tassili" is a step down the
commercial path. Of course, it is easy to see
how almost anything would seem that way
after their 2009 masterpiece "Imidiwan",
which ends with five minutes of feedback
emanating from a guitar plugged into a
portable amp next to bandleader Ibrahim Ag
Alhabib’s campfire, as the night winds of the
Sahara caress the strings...
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Indeed, in 2009, Ibrahim had been expressing discontent with the "Amassakoul"
(2004) and "Aman Iman“ (2007) albums cut after their debut "Radio Tisdas
Sessions" (2001), claiming those sounded more English and French than Tuareg.
The desert blues king’s determination to capture the true sound and feel of the
Sahara had been fully realized on "Imidiwan", but now the production team
seems to be pulling in the opposite direction again, despite the "return to the
roots" advertised on the ANTI- Records website.
Part of the problem could be that many of the Tuareg rebels that started the
band in the 1980’s – riding into battle with guitars on their backs and distributing
cassettes with their music that came with a prison sentence for the listener –
have been slowly disappearing back into the desert, replaced by younger
musicians better versed in Western music. But Ibrahim remains at the helm.
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Part of the problem could also be the addition of superstar guests – but
somehow Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe (TV On The Radio), Nels Cline
(Wilco) and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band horns manage to be much less annoying
than Santana on a Buddy Guy album. Of course, they are still redundant, but
only manage to truly annoy whenever someone has insisted on a verse sung in
English. As for the brass band overdub, it may not really work either, but it’s easy
to see why they had to try!
No, the band and the outside musicians are not to blame: it’s the production.
ANTI- Records freely admit that "the soundtrack of the Tuareg revolution in
Saharan North Africa was created by electric guitars", yet they have insisted on
recording Tinariwen "with only acoustic guitars and unamplified percussion." More
is allowed to guest musicians, however, and thus the finished album comes
across as produced and radio-friendly rather than authentic and acoustic.
The fact that the four bonus tracks on CD 2 of the extended version of this
release are "all killer, no filler" seems to support the theory that "Tassili" was
conceived by the production team and not the band itself. Regardless, there’s
some good stuff on there, so if you own all earlier Tinariwen albums, you will
want this, too. But should this be your first introduction to the Mali desert crew, I
would advise you to dig deeper into their back catalogue – you won’t regret it!
ANDRES ROOTS
Tinariwen: Tassili. ANTI- Records, 2011
Ibrahim Ag Alhabib (guitars, lead vocals), Alhassane Ag Touhami (background
vocals, claps), Eyadou Ag Leche (guitars, bass, percussion, claps, vocals), Elaga
Ag Hamid (guitars, claps, background vocals), Said Ag Ayad (percussion, claps,
background vocals), Mohamad Ag Tahada (percussion, claps, background vocals),
Mustapha Ag Ahmed (claps, background vocals), Aroune Ag Alhabib (guitars,
vocals), Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni (guitars, vocals), Kyp Malone (guitars, vocals),
Tunde Adebimpe (vocals), Nels Cline (guitars), Gregory Davis (trumpet), Roger
Lewis (baritone & soprano sax)
Produced by Ian Brennan & Paul Romann
Links: Tinariwen website and MySpace, Anti-
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