A mighty impressive album from Tinarwen – in which the group puts down the electric guitars for acoustic ones – recorded in the desert and with a stunning clarity and beauty, it's among the best of their recorded music that we've heard to date! Much was made by the press of the hip modern rock accompaniment upon this great album's arrival, and truth be told, we were skeptical of it. But then we actually heard the record, and it's complete win. The subtle outer edge guitar textures by Nels Cline on one song, the
Dirty Dozen Brass Band horns on another, and vocal and guitar work by Tunde Adebimpe & Kyp Malone of TV On The Radio on a few tracks work brilliantly with this material. But nothing takes the spotlight off of Tinariwen, with their moody vocals and the haunting instrumentation of Ibrahim Ag Alhabib and the rest of the group. Includes "Imdiwan Ma Tenam", "Asuf D Alwa", "Tenere Taqhim Tossam", "Walla Illa", "Tiliaden Osamnat", "Djeredjere", "Iswegh Attay", "Ya Messinagh", "Takest Tamidaret" and more.
(Spine of digipak has a small cut from wear, but the package is otherwise in nice shape.)