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Album review
Tinariwen
Imidiwan
Paris
05/10/2009 -
Imidiwan, recorded in the depths of the Saharan desert in Tessalit, northern Mali, is powered by the same raw energy that fuelled Tinariwen's acclaimed debut, The Radio Tisdas Sessions. Musically speaking, the group take a back-to-basics approach on their latest offering, their gritty new sound best symbolized when Ibrahim Ag Alhabib holds up his guitar in the open desert and lets the wind blow through his strings in a sort of mystic freestyle.
Imidiwan serves up an interesting mix of new songs and Tinariwen classics, all specially re-arranged for the occasion. Tinariwen's sound has significantly evolved since the group's last albums - Ammasakoul (2004) and Aman Iman (2007) - and every track on Imidiwan ("Comrades") is packed with the density of a rock in the Adrar of the Ifhogas.
Over the years, Tinariwen's Tamashek rock’n’roll has gained in sophistication, but the group still tap into the essential Tessalit groove that made their name (think electric bass, throbbing rhythms, stirring female backing vocals and just the right amount of communal hand-clapping and guitar distortion). Meanwhile, the lyrics on Imidiwan remain as topical as ever, the songs on the album - half of which were written by Ibrahim Ag Alhabib - celebrating the values of peace and resistance and urging local villagers to educate their children and cultivate their land.
The Tuaregs' situation has significantly improved since Tinariwen got together in the rebel camps in 1982, but the Saharan group's sound has been deeply marked by years of war and exile. Time has passed and peace treaties have been signed, but Tinariwen's desert blues is still filled with yearning nostalgia which Ibrahim sums up in one simple Tamashek word: "assuf."
Tenhert
Eglantine Chabasseur
Translation : Julie Street
05/10/2009 -
05/02/2007 -
14/01/2005 -
