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CD Review, by Roddy Campbell
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Penguin Eggs, CD Review, by Roddy Campbell >>
With the passing on of Ali Farka Toure, Tinariwen now reign as the unquestionable high kings of the desert blues. It's official. Their last recording, Amassakoul, won the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award for Africa. Aman Iman really ought to do likewise. These nomadic Tuaregs from the Western Sahara have four lead guitarists, an ever-revolving number of vocalists, hand-clappers and percussionists, who collectively create a warm, enticing and fabulously thrilling alchemy.
One of the most inhospitable environments on Earth obviously produces some of the most fertile musical minds. Singing mainly in their native Tamashek, there's a great deal of call and response that creates an easy, accessible ambiance. There's also a superior sense of diversity at play here as they stretch themselves, from "Ikyadar Dim" - a raw, acoustic track with a DNA directly linked to the country blues of the Mississippi Delta - to the electric mischief created on "Assouf" with its rock guitar god rutting. "Toumast", I might add, suggests John Lee Hooker cast a long and imposing shadow across the Sahara. Yet these western references are largely expedient, meant for convenience rather than a definitive depiction.
The wonderful, wonderful "Imidiwan Winakalin", "Matadjem Yinmixam" and "Tamatant Tilay", with their trance grooves and natural, tender, swirling vocal harmonies really have no set precedent. And yet there's massive crossover appeal on Aman Iman. Pure, unadulterated joy, after all, is universal.
- By Roddy Campbell
07/01/07
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