“I well remember hearing my first Tinariwen songs. I was about five. After the death of my mother, my father was obliged to take me to live with my grown-up sister. One morning I was sitting in front of the house and this guy walked by singing a song by Inteyeden called ‘Imidiwan Kel Hoggar’ (‘My Friends the Hoggar People’). It went straight into my brain.” (Ousmane Ag Mossa, lead singer of Tamikrest)
Tamikrest (from Northern Mali) recently toured Europe where they recorded this session for They Shoot Music – Don’t They.
–Tom Devriendt
I love this. I loved Tinariwen my whole childhood, but when I finally saw them live… seriously, amazing. Part of this love is based in all the wonderful Tuareg/Imajaghan/Berber musicians that have been inspired by Tinariwen to continue this new(ish) tradition.
It was summer 2010. I spent a week in an indigenous music festival in a green and wet valley in northern Norway. There were lavvos, the tipi-like tent of the sami people, smoke from all the fire places, music non-stop all the time, midnight sun and reindeer meat..
..and Tinariwen playing saturday night. Magical.
(Some days after the festival big stones fell down from the mountain, braking a part of the road, and the village people blamed the festival for being too spiritual, hehe.)
Hannema
(norwegian coastal sami)