Every once and a while, certain bands come along that are able to translate their message across the globe, despite language and cultural barriers. Tinariwen is one of those bands.
Tinariwen is a desert rock band made up of Tuareg musicians from the Saharan part of northern Mali. Though the band formed in 1979, they did not receive international attention until 1998. Tinariwen has a storied history in their home country; they were the voice for a generation of rebellious Tuareg people who were fed up with the political inequalities they faced. French group Lo’Jo worked with Tiniariwen to establish the first Festival in the Desert in 2001, which gave Tinariwen the attention of international ears. Since then, the group has released multiple albums to critical acclaim. Their last album, “Tassili” won the Grammy award for Best World Music Album in 2011.
“Emmaar,” released on Feb 11, is Tinariwen’s sixth full-length LP. Recorded in Joshua Tree, California, deep in the Mojave Desert, it is hypnotic and atmospheric, filled with mesmerizing guitar licks and massive, Sahara-sized vocal chants. Their sound is very simplistic and earnest; lightly distorted guitars spiral around churning bass lines and traditional African percussion. All eight members of the band contribute their raw, honest voices, sung in their native Tuareg language that has existed in the nomadic culture for centuries.
Tinariwen manage to create a wide, immense soundscape; the silence and long, ringing notes are just as important as the quick guitar fills. Tinariwen also uses traditional Tuareg melodies as the core of their sound. For “Emmaar,” Tinariwen brings some American friends along, including Chavez’ Matt Sweeney and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Josh Klinghoffer, whose guitar work seamlessly joins with Tinariwen’s four guitar players.
The album opens with “Toumast Tincha,” a mid-tempo number that chugs along, fueled by relaxed hand drumming and a plump bass line. It sets out the sound that will be employed for the rest of the album. One of the best tracks is the second song, “Chaghaybou,” which is quite a bit more upbeat than the rest of the album. Acrobatic guitar riffs fly around a bouncy, 12/4 beat while lively hand claps add to the playful nature of the song. Midway through the album, “Imdiwanin ahi Tifhamam” swoops in to pick the listener up out of the sand.
Fiddler Fats Kaplin adds a uniquely Southern dimension to the Tuareg sound, resulting in a transcontinental musical hybrid that begs repeating. The slide guitar on “Sendad Eghlalan” is another well-placed American touch to their sound. The album closer “Aghregh Medin (Hassan’s Song)” is truly beautiful, replacing the electric guitars with warm acoustics. Though the entire album feels very organic and alive, this last track conjures up images of the band sitting outside under the desert sky sans electric instruments, playing their music in their natural element.
As great as some of the tracks are, they tend to run into each other, becoming a monotonous, droning mass rather than an album where the songs work off each other and are greater as a whole than when split apart. Songs like “Tahalamot” and “Koud Edhaz Emin” simply blend into the background of the album. The Tuareg melodies, while richly executed and enticing to the ear, tend to resemble each other quite often. There are some really great musical concepts on this album, and audiophiles will fall in love with the rich waves of sound that Tinariwen manage to create. But the album tends to circle around common musical themes without evolving them. The moments discussed above where Tinariwen do attempt transcendence are too few and far between.
Nevertheless, “Emmaar” is successful on the whole for one main reason. In an extremely exclusionary American music market, Tinariwen has found a way to create a unique, refreshing album that can capture Western ears. Like Bob Marley did with reggae music, Tinariwen mixes electric guitar with their traditional sounds to create a worldly music experience that has the capability to generate huge waves in America. “Emmaar” stands as a solid example of that musical experience, and it is a worthwhile listening adventure for all music fans.
Ryan Kaplan can be reached at [email protected].
