Tinariwen

Tinariwen – Emmaar (Deluxe Edition) (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:01:51 minutes | 1,36 GB | Genre: World
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Wedge

The desert is a place of hardship and subtle beauty, a stark world that reveals its secrets slowly and carefully. For the renowned Saharan band Tinariwen, the desert is their home, their hypnotic and electrifying guitar rock reflecting the complex realities of their homebase in North West Africa. The band is set to release their new album Emmaar on February 11th. Emmaar is the follow up to the group’s 2011 album Tassili, recorded in the Algerian desert with an esteemed cadre of musicians including Wilco’s Nels Cline and TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone – the album won a Grammy for Best World Music.

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Tinariwen – Elwan (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 46:13 minutes | 492 MB | Genre: World, Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Wedge

For the last five years, Tinariwen have been busy criss-crossing the globe bringing their triumpant tours to all five continents and expanding their audience. During this time their beloved homeland in the Adrar des Ifoghas, a Saharan mountain range that straddles the border between north-eastern Mali and southern Algeria has, in effect, been transformed into a conflict zone, a place where nobody can venture without putting themselves in danger. These conflicts have forced the band into exile to record their 8th album, Elwan. Elwan means ‘the elephants ‘ – an animal metaphor to describe those ‘beasts’, whether militias or multinational consortiums, who have trampled everything in their path: in the desert, where both the human and ecological equilibriums are extremely fragile. Tinariwen chose to record this album is several locations around the world, including for 4 days at the desert hideaway of Rancho De La Luna studio in Joshua Tree, CA, the studio known as a favored refuge for many an eclectic artist from Queens of the Stone Age to Daniel Lanios to Arctic Monkeys to Iggy Pop and more. For Tinariwen, the geographical location of the studio proved to be particularly propitious in terms of creativity. And the human climate was just as favorable. A few friends dropped in during the sessions to add some magic to a few tracks including, Kurt Vile (electric guitar), Mark Lanegan ( Vocals on ‘Nànnuflày’), Matt Sweeney (electric guitar) and producer/guitarist, Alain Johannes (Cigarbox guitar). Sessions were also recorded in Morocco, where the band were accompanied by local musicians, in a land where they are considered musical legends. Lovers of those sensual yet abrasive riffs that are Tinariwen’s signature won’t be disappointed. But neither will those who love their funky, danceable side, which comes through loud and clear. All that potential has been wonderfully honed by the album’s mixing engineer Andrew Schepps, known well for his work with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Johnny Cash, and Jay Z.

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Tinariwen – Amatssou (Deluxe Edition) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:05:14 minutes | 722 MB | Genre: World, Desert Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Wedge

Some people have commented that Tinariwen have always been a country band, albeit a North African take on that most North American of genres. That idea is magnified on new album Amatssou, which finds the Tuareg band’s trademark snaking guitar lines and hypnotic rhythms blending seamlessly with pedal steel, piano and strings from guest musicians including Daniel Lanois, the embellished arrangements lending the songs an epic, universal application.

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Tinariwen – Amadjar (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 54:20 minutes | 583 MB | Genre: World
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Wedge

The best Tinariwen album hasn’t been recorded yet. Perhaps it never will be. Because the best Tinariwen music isn’t the music they perform in front of microphones. It’s the music they play at night around the fire, back in their own country, amongst themselves and at their own pace. Having eaten, and drunk their tea, the men bring out their guitars, chat, remember old songs and let the music come. In those moments, the music can become like the fire, free, magical and impossible to stuff into a box. It rises up like a shower of sparks or a state of grace, without premeditation; the momentary manifestation of a friendship, a community, an environment, a history; the revelatory connection with something that belongs only to them, and goes beyond them. Their discography stretching out over the last 17 years, all the tours and the international recognition have changed nothing: Tinariwen are still a desert band, only certain aspects of which the western music industry can ever hope to capture and present. Tinariwen existed long before any of their albums were recorded, and they still exist quite distinct from their discographic dimension. So, the best Tinariwen album doesn’t exist. But it’s still worth trying to go and find it.

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Tinariwen – Amatssou (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:05:14 minutes | 720 MB | Genre: Musiques du monde
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover

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Tinariwen – Amatssou (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 47:07 minutes | 519 MB | Genre: World, Desert Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Wedge

Some people have commented that Tinariwen have always been a country band, albeit a North African take on that most North American of genres. That idea is magnified on new album Amatssou, which finds the Tuareg band’s trademark snaking guitar lines and hypnotic rhythms blending seamlessly with pedal steel, piano and strings from guest musicians including Daniel Lanois, the embellished arrangements lending the songs an epic, universal application.

(more…)

Tinariwen – Kel Tinariwen (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 36:13 minutes | 794 MB | Genre: World, Desert Blues
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Wedge

A revelatory discovery in the Tinariwen archives, Kel Tinariwen is an early cassette tape recorded in the early 90s that never received a wider release, and sheds new light on the band’s already rich history. Not having yet developed the fuller band sound that they became internationally established with, Kel Tinariwen features their trademark hypnotic guitar lines and call-and-response vocals weaving in between raw drum machine rhythms and keyboard melodies that almost evoke an Arabic take on 80s synth-pop. There’s distinct parallels with the sounds found on this tape and the work uncovered in recent years by cratedigger labels such as Awesome Tapes From Africa, Sahel Sounds and Sublime Frequencies.

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Tinariwen – Emmaar (2014) [Deluxe Edition]
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 61:52 minutes | 1,35 GB | Genre: World
Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | Front cover | © Wedge

The desert is a place of hardship and subtle beauty, a stark world that reveals its secrets slowly and carefully. For the renowned Saharan band Tinariwen, the desert is their home, their hypnotic and electrifying guitar rock reflecting the complex realities of their homebase in North West Africa. The band is set to release their new album Emmaar on February 11th. Emmaar is the follow up to the group’s 2011 album Tassili, recorded in the Algerian desert with an esteemed cadre of musicians including Wilco’s Nels Cline and TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone – the album won a Grammy for Best World Music.

(more…)