Tinariwen - Amatssou (Deluxe) '2023

Tracks list

Tinariwen's tracks often begin with a meandering and suggestive guitar solo, in
the style of John Lee Hooker. Then comes the husky and rugged voice of lead
singer, Ibrahim ag Alhabib. The song then quickly takes shape, picking up the
pace and gaining momentum with hand claps, pulsating drums, backing vocals and
more guitars pumping up the power. This Tuareg electric music, invented by
Tinariwen more than twenty years ago, is particularly ritualistic, with its own
customs and conventions. On this Tinariwen album, the two come together as one.
The Tuareg group had intended to record it in Nashville at Jack White's studios,
together with local musicians, but due to the pandemic they had to take refuge
near Djanet, in the Algerian Sahara Desert. The American contributors then added
their remote input. On this recording, produced by Daniel Lanois, we are treated
to the steel-guitar, piano, banjo, and American fiddle. Nothing improper; simply
an echo of rural music and the traditional Tamasheq imzad, a violin-esque
instrument presented by the group on the album. Amatssou does not sound like a
Saharan country album. It's 80% classic Tinariwen, altered only by a few pensive
and melancholic country touches brought in by Lanois' sensibility. The
correspondence is fantasised, imagined. It's often been thought that this
hypnotic music could have originated in Oklahoma during the great drought, when
cracked earth and scarcity drove out its heavy hearted residents, despite the
impending homesickness and desire to return home. For Tinariwen, it comes at the
end of the recording with the tindé track, the traditional music of Tuareg
women. It represents an immense moment of mystical music.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Tinariwen - Kek Alghalm (3:32)
1.02 - Tinariwen - Tenere Den (3:32)
1.03 - Tinariwen - Arajghiyine (3:59)
1.04 - Tinariwen - Imzad (Interlude) (1:02)
1.05 - Tinariwen - Tidjit (5:13)
1.06 - Tinariwen - Jayche Atarak (6:00)
1.07 - Tinariwen - Imidiwan Mahitinam (3:33)
1.08 - Tinariwen - Ezlan (5:28)
1.09 - Tinariwen - Anemouhagh (3:45)
1.10 - Tinariwen - Iket Adjen (3:24)
1.11 - Tinariwen - Nak Idnizdjam (5:29)
1.12 - Tinariwen - Tinde (Outro) (2:13)
1.13 - Tinariwen - Tiwyaghe Falam Fakra (5:00)
1.14 - Tinariwen - He Layla (4:26)
1.15 - Tinariwen - Mayssasnan Imanine (4:32)
1.16 - Tinariwen - Emalinine (4:09)

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