Acclaimed Tuareg band Tinariwen is reissuing two of its early albums, The Radio Tisdas Sessions & Amassakoul. The two albums have been remastered and repackaged with a bonus unreleased track.
The Radio Tisdas Sessions came out in 2001. It was produced by British guitarist Justin Adams and recorded in Kidal at the local Tamashek-language radio station, which was a difficult job, as the studio was powered by the public lighting network, and the electricity kept cutting out. However, the mixing took place at Justin Adams’ studio in Bath. The album includes songs from Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, Kedou Ag Ossad, Foy Foy and Mohamed Ag Itlal aka ‘Japonais’, who passed away on February 14, 2021. Tinariwen’s fame was spreading and after the album’s release they embarked on their first international tour.
Amassakoul, released in 2004 and recorded at Studio Bogolan in Bamako, was made by a band in which four of the six players were newcomers and represented a change to a more produced, intricate sound. It preserved the loose, camelback rhythms, call-and-response vocals, lively guitars, and handclaps of Tinariwen’s distinctive sound but added a vocal drone to “Assoul”. Amassakoul features songs from Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni, and Touhami Ag Alhassane.
Author: World Music Central News Room
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