Aman Iman

New Internationalist, June, 2007 by Louise Gray

Aman Iman

by Tinariwen (Independiente ISOM 65CD)

Finding a band that is focused on its art to the exclusion of all else has been something of a holy grail for many record executives, but in Tinariwen it's quite possible that producer and guitarist Justin Adams has found it.

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Hailing from the wilderness--lavishly photographed on the liner notes to Aman Iman (Water is Life)--of northeast Mali, Tinariwen is more of a clan than a fixed band. But centred around three kel tinariwen (desert boys)--Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, Hassan Ag Touhami and Inteyeden--theirs is a story that started in the 1980s with a guitar and dreams of Tuareg independence. Like most stories, it didn't run smoothly--rebellion and time in Libyan military camps followed--until an encounter with the French band Lo'jo brought the Tuareg musicians the possibility of a wider audience.

With basic electric guitars, drums, voices and much improvisation, there's raw appeal to Tinariwen's music--a hint of Ali Farka Toure's ur-blues, but also surprising nuances. 'Matadjem Yinimixan' (Why all this hate between you?) reverberates around a loose guitar riff modulating in a way that conjures up Indian ragas as interpreted by Sixties psychedelic bands. There's nothing extraneous here, and it's glorious to imagine the chorus of voices--male as well as female--swelling beneath a desert sky. The lyrics have a poetry, too: 'Assouf' (Longing) likens exile to a profound darkness. The comfort of love, both romantic and home, as expressed in 'Izarharh Tenere' (I Lived in the Desert), is a song that draws you closer to the stereo speakers, so as to get the full warmth of the words.

VERY GOOD

www.tinariwen.com

LG