Tinariwen

Born in a region plagued by exile, constant warfare and ceaseless droughts, the music of Tinariwen vocalizes the political plight of the Tuareg people. For over a century, these tribes of the southern Sahara have searched the barren landscape for every weapon available, be it touba swords or the words of Che Guevara and Nasser, to maintain hope in the midst of ethnic cleansing and public executions. With the dawn of 21st Century communications, the Tuaregs have turned to the global circuit. A Tinariwen song claims, “If I could sing so that those in London could hear, then the whole world would hear my song.” Tinariwen formed in 1982, but they were forced to remain underground (Mali and Algeria banned the political lyrics) until the group moved to the Malian capital of Bamako in 1999. There the ten members drew on a rebel rock sensibility, openly playing their passionate, trance-like desert blues. Soon they became musical revolutionaries, creating a new style of music called ‘Tishoumaren’, or simply ‘guitar.’ The songs of Tinariwen have become a rallying cry for Tuareg youth. In a land void of laptops and TVs, cheap cassette recordings spread hope and determination, sick of the suffering caused by armed rebellion, the music of Tinariwen is the new weapon of choice.

Tinariwen's EPK on Link TV

"An intoxicating, hypnotic sound... What sets Tinariwen's music apart is the way in which the songs reflect the landscape that produced them... It's a shock to encounter such an intensely poetic attempt to understand the nature of one's relationship with one's surroundings and the effect that has on ones character."
- The Independent

“If they were not nomads from Mali, Tinariwen might be called a garage band. They share with the White Stripes, the voguish virtues of a stripped-down guitar sound, lent extra weight by the plaintive quality of Saharan electric blues.”
- Q

“The trick for all ‘world’ music is to take you there – and listening to this album from the group dubbed the Rolling Stones of the Sahara, you feel as if you could be out in the desert at night, huddled in a tent, talking rebellion as curls of smoke from an oily flame thicken the atmosphere.”
– The Observer Music Monthly

"One of the most devastatingly mean and lowdown sounds to have come out of Africa."
- Songlines