Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Tinariwen - Live Womad 2004 (Mali) @ 192

Tinariwen is a Tuareg group that performs in a Middle Eastern/African style similar to artists like Ali Farka Toure or Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. All of the musicians originating from the southern Sahara, the group's name, meaning "empty places," is a reflection of their lands of origin. The band formed in the rebel camps of Colonel Ghadaffi, as each of the musicians had been forced from their nomadic lifestyle into involuntary military service. Surrounded by a displaced nation of their peers, Tinariwen forged a new style of music, trading their traditional lutes and shepherd's flutes for electric guitars and drums. The style that resulted was dubbed Tishoumaren, "the music of the unemployed." Their music addressed issues such as political awakening, problems of exile, repression of their people, and demands of sovereignty. In a region with no postal or telephone system, their tapes soon became a grassroots voice of rebellion and a rallying point for a disenfranchised nation.
All Music Guide

This is a soundboard and is very good quality, but I could not find a better bit rate, so apologies.

I took the photo at Womadelaide from the same tour. Its shaky for one good reason, you cannot listen to Tinariwen live and remain still. It is hypnotic, rhythmic and above all the sound of 3 Fender guitars and one Fender Bass with singing, chanting underpinned by a single drum.

This is a very different show to the ones I saw here in Adelaide and very different again from their second last album "Amassakoul " This really is an essential purchase, this show only a taster.

None of the tracks are listed and I have not tried to identify them, that would be too much effort, so apologies in advance.

Enjoy!

Link in comments

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks for putting this up!!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot for this, I've been trying to find this group for some time.I read about them a long time ago and could never find an album.So here it is.My download is at 90% now, i look forward to listening to it.
Btw, great blog, i like your ethos.

Pedro said...

Amazing! of the best i heard recently! thxs!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this. I had never heard of the group before but decided to give them a try. I was blown away. I found two more albums at EMusic and downloaded immediately. I've been listening to them all evening. Gret stuff! Thanks again for opening my ears to some wonderful music.

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