This Week's Picks #49

The kings of desert blues, Tinariwen, are in the news (hehe, that rhymes!) . This weekend The Observer gave away an eight-track live album by them (which you can still download here for a few more days), Songlines magazine is soon to feature them on their cover, an album set to be released at the end of the month, and their extensive autumn tour will include London's KOKO. So, in anticipation, this week's picks are all Tinariwen inspired.


"Tenere Taqhim Tossam" - Tinariwen feat. TV on the Radio

This is a track off Tinariwen's new album, Tassili, due to be released at the end of this month. This has got to be my favourite track by them so far. They are joined by Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio, whose sound fits perfectly into Tinariwen's acoustic album.


"Nak Amadjar Nidounia" - Tamikrest  

The younger Touareg blues band, Tamikrest, have been doing their best to keep up with the pace set by Tinariwen. They recently released an album Toumastin to rave reviews. This is my favorite track from that album.


"Adounia" - Bombino

It's unsurprising that the popularity of Tinariwen in the past decade has given birth to numerous Touareg rockers. The latest on the scene is Bombino, and he's good. I had the pleasure to briefly meet Bombino at this year's WOMAD, if only to say hello. I highly recommend checking out his debut album, Agadez.

This Week's Picks (#25)

The next several series of This Week's Picks are inspired by an often overlooked important aspect of music: the visual. Music is almost always accompanied by costumes, dress, dance, makeup, and/or theatre. The visual can be as simple as a pair of shades on a blues singer or as elaborate as the grand performances of Japanese kabuki theatre.

Last week, we featured dance music. This week, our picks will focus on costume and dress. Please enjoy!


American Style Tribal Bellydance


While this could have been posted in last week's feature on dance, it fits perfectly in the costume/dress category. This is a recent form of dance, developed in California in the 1980s. It takes its inspiration from numerous dance and music styles including Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Spanish, Indian, and Balkan. The costumes aim to reflect the dance's diverse backgrounds. The dancers improvise in groups to music inspired by the same variety of cultures. They wear an elaborate collection of head-wear, jewelery and costuming representing these different cultures. The result is an entertaining and beautiful display of cultural harmony.


African Desert Blues


It is easy for a certain dress or style to become associated with a genre of music. Desert blues, for example, conjures images of light, flowing robes and howli head scarfs. While this may be the traditional Touareg style of dress, it becomes associated with the music the moment artists begin traveling and bringing their music to other cultures. Thus, groups like Tinariwen, rock out in full desert dress and a concert would not be the same without that accompanying visual.


AfroCubism


In other situations, the choice of dress may be a conscious decision. AfroCubism is a collaboration of musicians from Cuba and Mali. When seen in a live performance, like the above video, you can easily spot the Cuban musicians from the Malian musicians based on their choice of dress. In this case, the choice of dress is an reaffirmation of culture and background that highlights the collaboration between two different musical genres that are elegantly compatible.

World Cup Concert

Thursday night's World Cup Concert featured some amazing artists in the world music scene. Below are some videos from the concert in case you missed it.

Tinariwen (Algeria/Libya)

(A reader reviewed this group in this post)


Angelique Kidjo (Benin)



Amadou & Mariam (Mali)
"Africa" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCA7PTgjLtY (Embedding is disabled)
"Welcome to Mali" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16WHwEXGAUs (Embedding is disabled)


BLK JKS (South Africa)
 


Vieux Farka Toure (Mali)
"Diaraby Magni" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8elU2T2W6A  (Embedding is disabled)
"Fafa" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV90LgJ7_RM (Embedding is disabled)


Hugh Masekela and LIRA (South Africa)



Soweto Gospel Choir (South Africa)

Wednesday's Reader Picks

Have you recently heard a great track that you would like to share? Send in your review of a track for our weekly "Reader's Picks" series. Here, we want to know what you listen to.

"Imazeghen N Adagh" by Tinariwen

This track is from the recently released album, "Imidiwan: Companions." The group started slowly forming in the 1970s as young Touareg men in Algeria and Libya with a passion for music began performing together, gaining a reputation by 1979 as the Kel Tinariwen, or "Desert Boys." This particular album fuses field and digital recordings together into what becomes a beautiful version of the Desert Blues. This group mixes their influences—Malian refugees in North Africa who finally return to Mali in the 90s— to create a distinct Touareg sound.
(Submitted by joann3737)

How do I get my review posted?

Send the review you've written and a link to the track on YouTube to nomadsplaylist@hotmail.com. Please include the name you would like us to use as the author of the review (it can be your full name, first name, or user name). We will post up to three tracks in a given week.

I have a great track I would like to share, but I don't want to write a review. Can I still share it?

Of course! Please send us an email with a link to the track on YouTube and we might include the track in our "This Week's Picks" series.