Tinariwen-Bo Diddley meets John Lee Hooker in North Africa?

They rock more than Tartit, who I saw with a number of other Malian bands at the Smithsonian Folklife Fest a few years ago.

quick: name a blog that DIDN'T post the other music video today.

Did that many really post the live at Other Music in NYC video? I haven't watched it yet. How'd they fit everyone? Although I think someone who toured as part of the band on previous tours did not make this one. I saw them in '07 on this tour with View Farka Toure in DC.

Nottingham show cancelled due to poor ticket sales. We're generally a strong city for live music, but "world" acts have always been badly supported.

That's a total shame. They're great.

Truly a great live act... the whole Tuareg robes and electric guitar thing makes for great visual spectacle.

Where did you see them? Did Europe just get them and those Sublime Frequencies folks?

I had no idea how they sounded until I just came across them playing the FIFA world cup opening concert while zapping (had been quickly zapping away from Angelique Kidjo and Hugh Masakela and Black Eyed Peas earlier) and wow - very very impressive. Will be checking them out now.

love love love this band.

is that FIFA performance available online?

I think if you enter Tinariwen and FIFA into Youtube it might be there. They are doing some US shows this month (pretty hefty price tag for the DC one on June 25 at the 930 Club I think).

Via the ILE World Cup thread, this should be the whole concert
http://worldcup.vevo.com/

Started, but looks like it's a one-time-only stream.

Audio of their Womad 2007 show streaming at the BBC site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/womad2007/ram/tinariwen.ram

"Thank you so muttish"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkO7vBMIlUI

^ actually not the best pointer to what they are capable of live, imo

also, live stream @ bonnaroo at 1 pm ET today here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127088792

band's rad

hell yeah. one of my favorites. they need a new disc.

Truly a great live act... the whole Tuareg robes and electric guitar thing makes for great visual spectacle.

― The Real Dirty Vicar, Thursday, June 11, 2009

i've only seen them on tv but this, also the dancing and grooving generally

they remind me of led zepplin, for non-obvious reasons i can't -- blearly-eyed, at this late hour -- explain. something about the hypnotic guitar vibe.

new recording with Kiran Ahluwalia: covering Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4VqYHXwX5Y

Pretty inspired combination & recording.

I will have to investigate, as they are playing the Troubadour the week I am in LA in July.

That video of Kiran Ahluwalia singing with them is real nice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOV5jEa-vwc&feature=player_embedded

new album 08.30.11.

cool

Woah, English lyrics? That's a first. Excited about new music and their tour schedule looks up to their usual punishing standards, hope I'll get to see them again this year. Especially if they've still got that rad bass player.

What a beautiful album.

Some discussion of it here:

Rolling African Music 2011 Thread

great video! (starts properly at 2:30)

http://ballroommarfa.org/archive/tinariwen-on-la-blogotheque/

will hopefully be seeing them in marfa next week!

Marfa is a town in the high desert of far West Texas in the Southwestern United States. Located between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park, it is also the county seat of Presidio County. The population was 1,981 at the 2010 census.

Cool. Will they be playing outside...

I'm hoping to catch them in Dallas next week. One plus of leaving Maine as they would never have come there.

new album is a monster, and equal to the previous albums (tho for some reason, i haven't obsessively returned to it like i did with, say, aman iman (water is life)).

Tickets in hand, should see them take the stage in a few hours. Amazingly pumped.

jealous! this band is great.

They tore it up tonight. Small club, small crowd, but they didn't seem to mind. Had all 100 people or so clapping and dancing.

Youch, 100 people? Where you at?

I think he's in Dallas.

Yeah, Dallas. They're playing at Fun Fun Fest in Austin this weekend and that event has most of their likely crowd out of town for three days.

Grammy winners, btw. (Best World Music Album)

Were they there to accept it?

No idea -- it was one of the awards given out before the televised ceremony.

Probably not.

new album, emmaar, out in 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PduOJidnB_M

Good news!

recorded in joshua tree, california.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix76SFstT0I

this is going to rule.

They're playing Pappy & Harriets out in Joshua Tree in April.

there are three tracks on spotify right now which sound great

I noticed somebody had upped the gig with THAT Bono performance to Dime over the last couple of days. I didn't grab it cos I didn't want his carcrash presence.
It does look like the band made an unannounced appearance at a festival and had a couple of guests join them. Not sure if the youtube links to the Bono bit are on this thread or if that was a thread of its own a couple of years ago.

HAHAHA! OH MY GOD BONO NOOOO SOMEONE MAKE HIM STOP OH THE HUMANITY

new album emmaar streaming, in full, at npr

NYC show was cancelled last night :-(

why?

in the absence of a contrary explanation, i'd assume it was because of poor ticket sales, which would be an unbelievable travesty. this is one of the world's best rock bands.

glad to report my fears were unwarranted.

Hello, our NYC show @ Rough Trade is cancelled because the venue was not ready for "live" shows... We'll see you at Brooklyn Bowl next March, the 23rd!! thank you...

(from the band's facebook page).

npr description of the record says it has a certain "americana," which nails it perfectly. this is great.

this album rules. maybe my favorite by them.

Album's great, sounds great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbdiCDsilCs&noredirect=1

these guys look like so much fun live, I really hope I get to see them in Madison next month

They are fun live (although I seem to be the only person not wowed by the latest album)

I want to know why the one dude doesn't cover his head/face.

Also, I now these guys are always nomadically touring (always Tuareg!), but what do they do with all the fees they must be earning? Do they still live in the desert? Do they have awesome houses in France? Are they actually poor or struggling?

Know, not now.

New album did nothing for me. But I'd still go see them again if they came through town.

In 2013--Tinariwen did not participate in the revolt, but were dragged in as they became targeted by militant Islamist group Ansar Dine, resulting in the kidnapping of back-up vocalist Abdallah Ag Lamida who allegedly got captured trying to collect his guitars as the band made their escape, knowing that they had been targeted by Ansar Dine because of their “satanic music”. Two members, bandleader Al-Habib and guitarist Elaga Al-Hamid had to flee into refugee camps in Algeria, and were temporarily unable to join Tinariwen’s ongoing world tour. Al-Lamida was eventually freed, and after Malian and French forces pushed back the rebels both Al-Habib and Al-Hamid were able to leave the refugee camp.

http://upflun.squarespace.com/utrikesperspektiv/2013/11/17/rebel-rebel-a-nomad-rock-band-and-its-involvement-in-touareg.html

Also, I now these guys are always nomadically touring (always Tuareg!), but what do they do with all the fees they must be earning? Do they still live in the desert? Do they have awesome houses in France? Are they actually poor or struggling?

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, March 4

Per the above, I just interviewed their bassist and he says:

Bassist Eyadou Ag Leche says that when not on the road or recording together, the musicians live far apart. “Some of us are staying in Tamarasset, South Algeria, others are around Tessalit, Northern Mali, and one of us travels around South Algeria, Northern Mali, Niger, and Mauritania,” he explains.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2014/03/19/imarhan-timbuktu-and-tinariwen-talk-malian-desert-music-and-western-pop/

Not in the interview he said that their concert fees go to helping their families and their community.

Their bassist is my favorite thing about them live.

Just saw someone tweet the same thing, after seeing their DC gig last night. I think the way the sound is mixed live versus on the albums plays a role. A good show. Place was packed (I've seen other Malian bands play to 50 or so people crowds in DC, but this was at a more accessible location, better promoted, and Tinariwen are getting the crossover hype w/ the Chili Peppers connection).

I think they're doing 2 or 3 sold-out NYC gigs

They were great as usual tonight, maybe even a little better than usual. Minus a couple of the members - Ibrahim Ag Alhabib is back in Mali tending to various crisis, afaict - has forced them to change things around a tad. Newer young guy (I think?) with the big hair took a lot of the lead vocal/guitar duties, while guy who mostly sang and danced got some lead vox and lead guitar as well. And the bassist got a solo!

What's the Chili Pepper connection?

chili pepper Josh Klinghoffer guested on latest Tinariwen album, and Tinariwen opened some shows for Chili peppers

very annoyed to have missed their show here a couple months ago

yeah I'd like to see them live

they're great on record though

thread title should include Dire Straits

Ha, when I first created the thread I didn’t know about their love of Dire Straits.

'haters'

Haters target Winston-Salem concert by African band that stood up to Islamists https://t.co/fFT58Ho8bf pic.twitter.com/dgzv92Je2j

— Triad City Beat (@Triad_City_Beat) July 19, 2019

People need to stop saying "this does not represent our organization/community/country" immediately

They were great as usual last night. Every time I see them there's a slightly different line-up, but it all always seems to come together in a familiar way.

My gateway, still a fave, in ca. 2009 Columbus oh show preview I wrote:

Tinariwen
Tuesday @ Wexner Center
Spiky tendrils of electric guitar spread through tomato patches, desert campfires, and back to a man who stands up in daylight on a rocky hillside, to gently sing. “People of Africa/I have a question/Is the revolution like some trees/Whose branches grow/Only if we water them?” That’s on the DVD which accompanies Imidiwan: Companions, Tinariwen’s recent CD. All songs are translated, though calmly kaleidoscopic connections of clarity and mystery, of poise and risk, are self-evident. Sources of truly psychedelic blues echo and extend through the routes of these purposeful wanderers.

This is the first show of theirs I've seen that didn't have Eyadou Ag Leche on bass.

Wiki says they have a new album Amatssou, produced by Daniel Lanois. I wonder if Eyadou Ag Leche is on it?

I think he is, yeah. For what it's worth, I think Lanois only produced and played on part of it, maybe just a third, because of covid; I believe most was recorded in the desert, with some guest contributions added remotely.

sounds great but also sounds more or less like all their albums (to my ears)

enjoying the production, similar as it is sounds a bit more detailed than usual

might be fun to poll their discography, Emmaar is probably my fave but could also go with Elwan

More variety, incl. of performers' ages, refreshing on recordings that go back to early 90s on Kel Tinariwen, the band-supervised collection released last year, along with remastered The Radio Tisdas Sessions, from 2001.

Also good for variety and energy, even a featured female guest: Live In Paris(2015).

I feel like the first time I saw the band they had female singers with them, maybe the second time as well? But not recently.

Yeah, they've done that sometimes. Another reissue I really liked ( incl. liked better than some of the subdued acoustic later albums): Amassakoul!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGJwMhVICg0