Tinariwen founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib was one Tuareg exile who left his home country of Mali as a child. Armed with a group of like-minded musicians he met during military training in Algeria, Alhabib tapped into his people’s need for rebellion to flesh out Tinariwen’s sound in the late ’70s. In short, it’s because Tinariwen’s message never lost its relevancy–their collective struggle persisted. For the new record, Tinariwen invited guitarist Matt Sweeny (Johnny Cash, Cat Power) and indie rock innovator Kurt Vile to a Joshua Tree National Park recording session. In keeping with Tinariwen’s music collaborators through the years, the two guitarist are respectfully discreet, cleverly obscuring their presence.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 07, 2017 22:31 UTC