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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