***Tinariwen***
Recently I attended a program called "Voices for the Earth throughout
the World" at the United Nations Plaza, a program of music presented
by children of many nationalities from NYC area schools and daycares.
There I picked up an issue of the United Nations Environment Programme
magazine, TUNZA, which featured an article on a truly amazing band.
Tinariwen are a group of nomadic Touaregs from northeastern Mali who
originally formed in one of Muammar Qadhafi's rebel camps in the early
80s. Their name means "empty spaces" and that's the feeling you get
when you listen to their music: it's sorta like Mississippi Blues
filtered through hot Saharan sands. Actually, they sound like what
Page and Plant were shooting for on their No Quarter album, only
dustier, more of-the-earth.
Aman Iman (which translates to "Water is Life") is Tinariwen's third
album, and it continues their exploration of musical links between
Arabic rhythms and a blues backbeat, between traditional flutes and
droning guitar licks, between ancient isolation and the modern world.
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