[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuHW3X5QKzY&w=500&h=300&rel=0]

“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.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkmGBxcuoHs&w=500&h=300&rel=0]

Tom Devriendt

Further Reading

Kwame Nkrumah today

New documents looking at British and American involvement in overthrowing Kwame Nkrumah give us pause to reflect on his legacy, and its resonances today.

Goodbye, Piassa

The demolition of an historic district in Addis Ababa shows a central contradiction of modernization: the desire to improve the country while devaluing its people and culture.