With their long desert robes and Tuareg turbans or shesh, Tinariwen are the originators of what’s become known as ‘desert blues’, a style of music they themselves call ‘assuf’ which also means ‘longing’ or ‘homesickness’ in the Tamasheq language. Exchanging Kalashnikovs for guitars after participating in the 1990 Tuareg rebellion, Tinariwian really are rock ’n’ roll rebels, drawing people into their growling vocals, spacey guitar lines and clapping rhythms. Over the past two decades, they’ve been popular and regular guests at festivals all around the world where they’ve done a lot to raise awareness about Tuareg culture and identity.
The songs on this album were recorded in 2002, 2006 and 2008, the first about a decade after the band started to become known internationally.
‘Namouss Idraow’, like all four of the unreleased songs on this album, was recorded in Kidal in 2006, by which time they’d released their second album 'Amassakoul'. It’s a song which grieves over a lost love. With lead vocals and guitar by Tinariwen’s founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, it sounds like a friendly community session with the female backing vocals of Kessa Wallet Hamid and Wonou Wallet Sidati. ‘Azaman Amikankanen’ is an unusual song about the breakdown of family loyalties, written and performed with acoustic guitar by Mohamed [sometimes also spelt Mohammed] Ag Itlale (nicknamed Japonais because of his oriental appearance). He didn’t like touring so was rarely with the band for their international concerts. Sadly he passed away in 2021 so it’s lovely to have this intimate focus on him here. Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, who takes lead vocals in ‘Adounia Nissan’ is another of Tinariwen’s main songwriters. The song says don’t complain about the pain of love. Again, this as well as ‘Amidinin Weur Hi Toyed’, a song saying please don’t leave me, features a tight core group with female backing vocals.
The four following tracks were recorded in Brittany, France in 2008. Notable amongst them is ‘Alkhar Dessouf’, a song about the pain of nostalgia, with its driving rhythm which sounds rather different from the version released in 2004 on 'Amassakoul'. As well as lead vocals and guitar, Ibrahim plays flute, rarely heard on Tinariwen tracks, which is more to the fore in this recording than on the 'Amassakoul' Amassakoul release which gives it a special character all its own.
