Saturday, April 7th, 2012
Like good nomads ought to be, Tuareg desert blues super group Tinariwen are on tour. I hear good things about them as individuals, and I’m sure they’re all fine human beings, but I’m not a big fan. The music is alright, but the politics is rancid. Here’s why.
Monday, April 2nd, 2012
Tuareg musicians Tinariwen, on tour in Europe these days, spent some time in Belgium this weekend. Belgian public broadcaster VRT [they’ll do a feature on Mali blues once a year, usually at the end of June, covering...
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
A quick survey of Western media suggests Tuareg nationalist claims don’t carry the same weight as Malian, Nigerian or Algerian claims on Tuareg territory. For example, the current violence in Niger and Mali are covered as either...
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
TV On The Radio‘s Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone join Tinariwen for this song. BTW, Tinariwen is touring the US this summer. (They’re playing New York City on July 20.)
Friday, April 8th, 2011
I could listen to Tamikrest all day long. This is a new song from the Malian band’s album Toumastin. Now, my knowledge of Tamashek is non-existent, but something tells me the song title means “children of Tinariwen”....