Tinariwen, who create otherworldly guitar music rooted in the blues, have become the most unlikely of modern success stories. Drawing its members from the Touareg, a much repressed tribal people exiled from their native Mali, Tinariwen developed an expansive, rolling guitar sound over years spent in desert isolation. An amalgam of North African, Western blues and psychedelic rock influences converged organically to forge the trademark Tinariwen gestalt. Their broad fan base includes icons Robert Plant, Carlos Santana and the members of U2, who were inspired to record in North Africa by this spiritually rich music. Tinariwen’s extended songs are celebratory even as they pulse with the melancholy ache of exile. 2009’s Imidiwan: Companions is another international bestseller that finds Tinariwen further redefining the meaning of the blues.
“Tinariwen sound like a mirage come true: Keith Richards, Ry Cooder and Ali Farka Toure picking side by side under an unforgiving sun.” Rolling Stone “Tinariwen is unlike any musical group in the world, not just because of where they live, but because of their connection to armed rebellion, and because of their intense guitar-driven songs.” San Francisco Chronicle
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