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Album review
Tamikrest
Adagh
Paris
23/02/2010 -
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The Malian desert certainly seems crammed with talent! Tamikrest is a group of young musicians determined to take their music and poetry beyond the dunes. In the Tuareg language, “Tamikrest” can mean knot, coalition, or the future.
The group’s singer and songwriter Ousmane Ag Mossa Pendant spent his childhood in Tin-Zaouaten (a Saharan village 215 kilometres to the west of the regional capital Tessalit), listening to a wide variety of music, in particular the rebel guitars of Tinariwen. He grew up during a difficult period, marked by the great drought of 1984-1985 which forced many families into exile in neighbouring countries.
While still a child, Ousmane witnessed the outbreak of the Tuareg war in 1990, and was sent into hiding in the mountains with the women of his village. For him it was a period of rapid development of both his political and poetic conscience.
In 2002, Ousmane and his childhood friend Cheikh went back down to Kidal, guitars in hand. There they developed their style and met Pino, who became the group’s bass player.
During the 2008 Festival in the Desert, Tamikrest were playing out in front of their tents when the members of American group Dirtmusic joined them for a jam session. The two groups clicked, and met up again a year later, some 1,800 kilometres to the south in the Malian capital Bamako. With the support of Dirtmusic, Tamikrest recorded eleven tracks of ethereal music at Bogolan studios. Dirtmusic played on a few tracks, and the group themselves recorded their new album Bamako there. It’s just one among many examples of fruitful encounters at the Festival in the Desert. The result, rich in finesse, poetry and mutual respect, certainly merits our interest and attention.
Aicha
Tamikrest Adagh (Glitterhouse/Differ-Ant Distribution) 2010
Eglantine Chabasseur
Translation : Hugo Wilcken
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