The act, formed by singer/guitarist Moussa Ag Keyna, is based on the music of the Tuareg people, a sometimes-nomadic group that inhabits the Sahara and has faced decades of strife with the governments of the nations in which they live, particularly Niger and Mali. Keyna, who was wounded in combat while fighting for his people in the 1990s, relocated from Africa to France, where he healed and pursued his musical interests influenced by the Tuareg group Tinariwen and Malian singer/guitarist Ali Farka Toure as well as Western blues and rock artists such as B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix.
The core of Toumast was formed when Keyna was joined by his cousin, Aminatou Goumar, herself a singer and instrumentalist.
"Ishumar," produced by Dan Levy, is at once surreal and accessible. Keyna employs hypnotic techniques of the Tuareg - chants, clapping and feisty rhythms - and puts them in American-friendly context, electric guitars that might suit a Louisiana blues club and emotional vocals that transcend their foreign words. And for what it's worth, the "Ishumar" insert offers English translations of the mostly depressing lyrics about frustrations and injustice that defy the celebratory feel of the music.
However, all of "Ishumar's" contradictions are somehow complementary - Keyna's rasp versus Goumar's ululations, frantic percussion versus steady guitars, Third-World themes versus First-World production. Resulting tracks such as "Ikalane Walegh" ("These Countries That Are Not Mine"), "Ammilana" ("O My God, O My Soul") and "Maraou Oran" ("For Twelve Moons") are both mesmerizing and stimulating.
"Ishumar's" tracks do fall into a predictable pattern that doesn't adequately exploit Toumast's diversity, with long instrumental stretches emphasizing Keyna's guitar at the expense of the fascinating vocals and percussion. But the over-indulgence in the one instrument makes everything else seem that much more special when it surfaces in the mix.
By: Chuck Campbell
03/14/08 >> 
