Tinariwen: Kel Tinariwen [WEDGE]

Why you'll love it

This reissue comes in a gatefold sleeve with an obi strip, a printed lyric inner sleeve and a download code. AllMusic named it one of its favourite archival records of 2022.

This edition

• Gatefold jacket
• Obi strip
• Printed lyric inner sleeve
• Download card included
• Poster included

About the album

Long before the festival stages and the Grammy, Tinariwen were a collective of Tuareg musicians who had been playing together since 1979. In 1991 they recorded eight songs at JBZ Studios in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, and the result went out on cassette in 1992.

This is an earlier, more electric-keyboard version of the band than the one most people know. Liya Ag Ablil (known as Diarra), Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, Kedou Ag Ossad and Hassan Ag Touhami (known as Abin Abin) trade lead guitars and vocals, Pierre Houon adds keyboards and drum programming, and Keltoum Sennhauser sings and produced the session. "À l'Histoire" opens with a rolling groove, "Adounia Tarha" and "Matadjem Yinmexan" pull hard on the hypnotic guitar lines, "Ayat Sendad Eghlalane" and "Tenidagh Hegh Djeredjere" carry the second side, and "Arghane Manine" closes on a high. The lyrics come in French and Tamasheq. PopMatters gave it 9/10, calling it a testament to the band's artistic strength.

Twenty years later their album Tassili won the Grammy for Best World Music Album. Here's where the journey started, and it's much easier to find than the cassette.

Also at Kops: more Tinariwen on vinyl · browse World

Tracklist

Listen

On Wedge (cat# WEDGELP0122), a reissue of the 1992 album.