Blog March 3, 2022
Tinariwen’s Two Earliest Albums Get the Deluxe Reissue Treatment

We make no secret about loving Tuareg desert rock around here—Bombino, Mdou Moctar, any Farka Touré—and Tinariwen is undoubtedly the giant of the field. The group’s two first commercial albums date back to their 20th anniversary this year and they are getting the full repackage, remaster and reissue treatment from Wedge Records. You can pick up The Radio Tisdas Sessions and Amassakoul March 25.

Do these albums come with previously unreleased material? Buddy, you know they do. Hear “Ham Tinahghin Ane Yallah” right here:


After spending the '90s gaining regional buzz via handcopied cassettes, Tinariwen's The Radio Tisdas Sessions was originally released in 2001. It was recorded in a local Tamashek-language radio station in Kidal in Mali and the recording sessions were famously tricky because the electricity kept cutting out, so for the next album, 2004’s Amassakoul they recorded in Studio Bogolan in Bamako. As you can hear on “Ham Tinahghin Ane Yallah,” these albums sound absolutely great.

In the 20 years since these records came out, Tinariwen has toured the world, represented Algeria at the 2010 World Cup’s opening ceremonies, been nominated for Grammys, won Grammys and accrued a list of artists they’ve collaborated with that's a mile long. It’s hard to imagine their Tuareg homeboys getting the attention they now enjoy without Tinariwen forging a way through the musical desert.

The albums are available for pre-order now.


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