Tinariwen

Add Date: August 23 

Artist: Tinariwen 

Album: Tassili 

Label: ANTI- 

Genre: International


Comments: A fascinating record from the North African act Tinariwen. This long-running Tuareg band was founded in 1979, and throughout the years they've garnered praise and attention from musicians and critics around the world and across many genres. Says Pitchfork: "The music of Tinariwen is at once exotic and familiar--the scales and arrangements are as strange to our ears as the language they sing in, but there's a force operating on a more subliminal level that unites it to something rattling around inside anyone who was brought up on blues or rock and roll. It's music of longing and rebellion, weary wisdom and restless energy, and it sounds so, so good."

I certainly wouldn't argue with that description. On Tassili, recorded in the southeastern Algerian region of the Sahara, the band works primarily with acoustic guitars and traditional percussion--and, for the first time, they welcome in guest musicians: TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone joined Tinariwen for the recording session, while Wilco's Nels Cline and members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band added in guitar and horns, respectively, in post-production.

One of the best and most intriguing records you'll hear in 2011. Start with tracks 3, 1, 2 and 7.