Review Summary: What is better than Tinariwen's first album? Tinariwen's second album.
What would
you do if you were part of an ethnic or cultural minority involved in uprisings, rebellions and massacres and fighting to retain their identity and traditions amidst a changing world? This question has had a number of questions over the years, but for the touareg youths of Northern Mali, the answer lay in electric guitars. That’s right: in the 70’s, while their elders fought a bloody war for their way of life, the younger generation of touaregs turned to the ultimate soul-freeing mechanism, music, as a form of making themselves heard to the outside world.
This effort was, in part, successful, although not immediately. It would take a few more years – decades, even – before the world became interested in ethnic music, and for a long while touareg music was strictly for internal consumption. One small group, however, changed all of that when they managed to get a CD released in the Western world, presenting their musical traditions to a whole new audience. That group was Tinariwen. Centered around guitarist, vocalist and mentor Ibrahim Al Aghabib, the ragtag group of performers saw their
Radio Tisdas Sessions become the target of a surprising amount of interest, encouraging them to further their musical career. Hence, they returned to the studio and, three years later, presented their sophomore effort,
Amassakoul.
In many ways, this was the real springboard for Tinariwen’s career, as it showcased better production, a more ambitious packaging (complete with absurdly interesting bonus DVD) more varied instrumentation and stronger songwriting than the sometimes repetitive
The Radio Tisdas Sessions. It also featured a rather pronounced and out-front attempt at making the group’s music more palatable to the Western audience, resulting in something which can only be described as “touareg pop”.
Fear not, however; the group have not started to infuse their music with cheesy keyboards or electronic beats. In fact, most of this album sounds like a continuation of the previous one, with its languid camelback rhythms, minimalist guitar picking and group vocals. However, there is a section of songs which decidedly try to break the mold and take Tinariwen’s sound in a whole new direction. As a result, the album shines whenever the focus is driven away from Al Aghabib – who seems stuck writing the same song over and over – and put on his band-mates, who present much more varied and appealing ideas in their songs. These tracks are where
Amassakoul really breaks free from
The Radio Tisdas Sessions, as there would be no space on that album for the rap section (!) in
Arawan, the festive ambiance of
Oualahila Ar Tesninam, the (this time definitely electrified) guitars in
Amidnin, or the almost religious atmosphere of closer
Assoul. Needless to say, these are the absolute standouts in the album, with the more typical songs actually detracting from the overall product this time around.
However, much as with
The Radio Tisdas Sessions, the quality is so high that even the occasional mis-steps do little to decrease its overall level. The album does have its downtime, particularly towards the end, but the overall quality of the aforementioned songs, as well as strong backups like
Amassakoul N’Teneré make it a mandatory listen for anyone who likes ethnic music, as well as all those who seek something truly groundbreaking to listen to. Upon listening to
Amassakoul, one can only label it a resounding success, making Tinariwen’s track record at that point an impressive two-for-two, and spawning the conclusion that the only thing better than Tinariwen’s first album is Tinariwen’s second album. Highly, highly recommended.
Recommended Tracks
Oualahila Ar Tesninam
Arawan
