World Music Wednesday is a new weekly segment on The North 103.3 FM. Every Wednesday at 4pm on Northland Afternoon, we will feature a brand new release or a significantly important past work from our vast library of music from around the world.
This week's World Music Artist Spotlight is Tinariwen.
Tinariwen is a collective of Taureg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. Considered a pioneer of desert blues, the group's Guitar -driven style combines traditional Tuareg and African music with Western rock music.
In the two decades since Tinariwen emerged from their base in the African desert to tour the globe, they have built a worldwide fanbase, have worked with renowned American country, folk, and rock musicians including Kurt Vile, Cass McCombs, and Jack White and in 2012 won the Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album for their release Tassili.
On Amatssou, their ninth studio album, Tinariwen set out to explore the musical sensibilities of banjos, fiddles and pedal steel to mix in seamlessly with the band’s trademark snaking guitar lines and hypnotic grooves.
Tuareg culture is as old as that of ancient Greece or Rome, but fusing traditional West African and Arabic styles with blues, country, folk and rock influences, the songs on Amatssou speak to the current and often tough reality of Tuareg life today.
The new album was produced by Daniel Lanois, whose production credits range from U2 and Bob Dylan to Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris.
