Tag: Tinariwen

Top 30 albums of 2017: #’s 30 – 26

I reviewed close to 60 albums this year.  Post-punk made a big comeback for me this year, as did electro.  Let’s get this countdown started!

#30 – Ancient River – O.D.D.S. II

I’ve been listening to this psych-rock duo for years now, and they deserve to be better known to the world at large.  O.D.D.S. II was a wild, crazy record with heavy fuzz, vocals covered in so much reverb as to make them almost incoherent, and a mix of live and electronic beats.

#29 – Tinariwen – Elwan

These Tuareg musicians make music for desert landscapes, yet it fits in anywhere you are.  You could be in Antartica, the Amazon, or at the middle of Randolph and Michigan in downtown Chicago and this album’s haunting vocals and superb craftsmanship will make you feel your surroundings in a different way.

#28 – Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor – Lavender Blood

In a perfect world, this Detroit psych-rock trio are headlining music festivals.  This album, heavily influenced by a near-death experience shared by all three members during a flight to Greece, is their trippiest so far and might be the best Velvet Underground album never released.

#27 – Partner – In Search of Lost Time

This is probably the best debut album of 2017.  Josee Caron and Lucy Niles come out guns-a-blazin’ with this fine piece of power pop that contains heavy riffs, fun lyrics, and razor sharp song craft.  It’s loud and proud.

#26 – RIDE – The Weather Diaries

RIDE came back this year with one of the best albums, shoegaze or otherwise, I’d heard in a long time.  Shoegaze is enjoying a great resurgence right now, and it’s due in part to albums like this.  It’s a stunning piece and a record we didn’t realize how badly it was needed until we heard it.

Who’s in the top 25?  Stay tuned!

Keep your mind open.

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Tinariwen – Elwan

The name of Tuareg rock legends Tinariwen’s (The Deserts) stunning new record, Elwan, translates to “the elephants.” It’s a reference not only to the magnificent animals, but also lumbering forms of bureaucracy, the 1%, and world problems that can’t be ignored.

“Tiwayyen” starts off the album with the crisp desert guitar and tribal beats we’ve come to expect and crave from Tinariwen. The beat slowly builds until it drops out like the sun finally dipping below a dune. “Sastanaqqam” (“I Question You”) is the first single off the album (and one about the love of the Tuareg people for the desert) and will hook you right away with the killer beat and chanting vocals. It will rip you out of the water when the guitar kicks in at the 37th second. I knew this album was going to be fantastic when I first heard this song before the full album’s release and that guitar burst out of my speakers.

“Nizzagh Ijbal” almost sounds like a Johnny Cash record at first with the simple guitar work, but the warm desert wind blowing through this track is from Saharan Desert instead of the Sonoran. The opening drums of “Hayati” cry out for you to dance around a fire. “Ittus” is Tuareg blues. Seriously, the guitar work and vocals aren’t much different from a Lightning Hopkins song.

“Tenere Taqqal” is another mellow track with languid relaxing beats, even though the lyrics are anything but mellow.  They speak of a loss of joy, the deaths of innocents for unjust causes, and a lack of solidarity. The opening vocals of “Imidiwan n-akall-in” might put you in a trance. The floating guitar work and the slick beats will if they don’t. “Talyat” will slow you down no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Play this if your morning commute is driving you crazy or you need to reset after a hectic day. “Assawt” gets you moving after the previous track mellows you out for a little bit. Your toes will tap to this, trust me.

“Arhegh ad annagh” is like most of the record – hypnotic. I want this on my iPod if I ever get to stand in the Saharan Desert at sunrise. It flows well into “Nannuflay,” which might be the most psychedelic-sounding track on the album. Elwan ends with “Fog Edaghan,” which feels like a nighttime prayer.

You can get lost in this record. It’s a lovely journey on a search for peace and a connection with things beyond materialism and preconceptions. It is a bridge across nations and cultures. It is a journey you should take.

Keep your mind open.

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Tinariwen – Live in Paris 2014

LIVE-IN-PARIS-20141

Recorded on December 13, 2014 at the end of their world tour, Tuareg musicians Tinariwen (Ibrahim Ag Alhabib – vocals and guitar, Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni – vocals and guitars, Hassan Ag Touhami – vocals and guitar, Iyad Moussa Ben Abderahmane – vocals and guitar, Elaga Ag Hamid – background vocals and guitar, Eyadou Ag Leche – background vocals and bass, Said Ag Ayad – background vocals and percussion) recorded a fantastic album of their blend of desert rock, traditional music, spiritual songs, and poetry. Renowned Tuareg singer and poet Lalla Badi, who hadn’t performed in France in three decades, joined them.

Badi performs the first traditional poem in the opener, “Tinde,” which sets a near-sacred tone to the record. “Tamiditin” brings in the traditional crisp guitars you expect from Tinariwen and is mellow enough to relax you but snappy enough to make you tap your toes. The band ramps it up a bit on “Koudedazamin,” which will add head bobbing to your toe tapping.

“Imidiwan Ahi Sigidam” is full of wonderful percussion and swirling, snappy guitars that induce full-body swaying to the dance the band creates for you as the record progresses. The guitar work on “Tamatant Tiley” is almost like a riff from a Bo Diddley record while the percussion keeps the song firmly in the Tuareg tradition.

Another rousing “Tinde” with Lalla Badi follows and then comes “Azawad” – a song that would be perfect for a motorcycle trip across an African plain. The guitar work on it is as almost like a piano solo. “Chaghaybou” is as hot as the band’s homeland can get from time to time. The percussion instantly gets you moving and the guitar work takes on a rougher edge. The song speeds up to whirling dervish pace before blissfully fading out into the wind. “Toumast Tincha” induces happy trances and dancing every time I hear it. The bass on it also comes to the front now and then, which is a nice touch.

“Tiwayyen” could’ve been a Jimi Hendrix song in another dimension, as the guitars in it are reminiscent of Hendrix’s psychedelic blues riffs. “Emin Assosam” continues the uncanny blues flavor thanks to the heartfelt vocals that sound like something from an old Mississippi Delta blues B-side, even in a foreign tongue.

The album fittingly ends with “Tinde Final,” which brings the audience and listener back from the wonderful spiritual journey this performance creates. My wife and I were lucky enough to see Tinariwen at Austin Psych Fest (now known as Leviation Austin) three years ago. They played a great set under a blue sky while people of various ages, races, religions, and, admittedly, states of mind danced with each other. This band heals spiritual wounds, and this album is a delightful tonic for a bad day.

Keep your mind open.