The Tinariwen story is already well marinated in startling myths; fierce nomadic desert tribesmen toting guns and guitars, Ghadaffi's poet-soldiers spreading their gospel of freedom throughout the world, turbaned rock'n'roll troubadours, Stratocaster on one shoulder, Kalashnikov on the other, 17 bullet wounds and rawest desert blues on earth. All this fabulous imagery is the modern equivalent of the legends that have always stuck to Tinariwen's people, the nomadic Touareg of the southern Sahara; the noble desert warrior, the blue man, the lord of the desert, mysterious, secretive, covered from head to toe with eyes only bared to the world.
Like all myths, like all legends, there's plenty of truth mixed in there with the wild fantasy and wishful thinking. But the real story is deeper, richer, more engrossing, and more universal. In the desert oasis of Tamanrasset, southern Algeria, three aimless teenage friends in exile – Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, Hassan Ag Touhami aka 'The Lion of the Desert' and Inteyeden - fall in love with the guitar, and with all the dreams of modernity and freedom that it embodies. They write songs about their own lives and about those of their friends, the modern Touareg youth, no longer lording over the desert on their camels, but living the clandestino life far from home, surviving by any means necessary, longing for friends and family, dreaming of retribution, of freedom, of self-determination. They are Kel Tinariwen, the 'desert boys'.
And now the third album, 'Aman Iman: Water Is Life'. No difficulties here, apart from the 1,200-mile journey from their desert home in Kidal, north-eastern Mali, to the recording studio in the capital Bamako. Tinariwen simply delved into their seemingly inexhaustible trove of songs and dusted down 12 classics, which they worked up with the help of live sound engineer Jaja, producer Justin Adams (Robert Plant's guitarist and producer of the first Tinariwen CD 'Radio Tisdas Sessions') and recording engineer Ben Findlay. It only took ten days at Bogolan studios to nail them down and freeze frame the raw power and tenderness of modern desert blues at its best. The result: Aman Iman has already made several top 10 best albums of the year lists (e.g. The Word and Songlines), and Tinariwen has just been nominated for the second time for a BBC World Music Award!
A rare opportunity to see Tinariwen in such an intimate venue, in the same year they have shared the stage with The Rolling Stones, Robert Plant, and Arctic Monkeys.
“Every two or three years a group of musicians comes along that is so special, so radically different and so unique that there is a spontaneous and often universal rush to sing its praises. Such a group is Tinariwen.This is music for the ages - ancient, modern, passionate, timeless and, amazingly, very accessible to Western audiences.” Bruce Elder, Sydney Morning Herald (Australia).
“If you make one discovery this year, make it Tinariwen. Saharan nomads with their roots in guerrilla warfare and their ears tuned to James Brown. Their music is raw, rich and fantastically uplifting – the soundtrack to your most exotic dreams.” Marie Claire 5/5 Stars (UK).
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