Tinariwen - 'Aman Iman: Water Is Life' (Independiente) Released 05/02/07

 

The cyclical grooves, clattering percussion and call-and-response vocals of the highlights, such as the hypnotic 'Ahimana', cook up enough pure voodoo to match the most boogiefied peaks of champion blueschaps ala John Lee Hooker. The elemental urban-rural divide of the blues, meanwhile, pops up in the sharp contrast between the band's poetic lyrics, which gaze back at the tranquility of the desert life with longing and nostalgia, and their mesmerising music, which bustles with the electricity, energy and excitement of the North African cities where increasing numbers of Touareg now live in exile, displaced by droughts and conflict.

 

Above all, however, Tinariwen are a kick-ass rock 'n' roll band. Unlike 2002's predominantly acoustic 'Radio Tiswas Sessions' and 2004's 'Amassakoul', which suffered from the engineer's insistence on fingering the faders prematurely, 'Aman Iman' allows the jams to reach the boiling point, with the intricate webs of intertwining guitar licks alternating between snarling like pissed-off scorpions and gliding gracefully akin to a row of camels striding amidst the dunes. 'Tamatantelay' struts like the Saharan Stones, whilst the wah-wah fuelled 'Assouf' reverses the scenario wherein Led Zeppelin drew influences from North African music by displaying a bona fide desert blues outfit in thrall to the lemon-squeezing bombast of Plant, Page and co.

 

The band's authentic rebel stance - various members saw active service during the 90's uprising against Malian government troops - does little to hurt their rock 'n' roll credentials, but unlike the band's politically incendiary early local cassette releases, the rebellion here lurks below the surface, contained in the music's ample reserves of hard-as-nails toughness. Yet the sound is tender and wistful too, as attested by the serene beauty of 'Nak Assarhagh' and the stark '63', which shimmers like the final embers of a campfire.

 

Raw, rough and rugged, 'Aman Iman' is the real deal. Defiantly untamed but equipped with enough subtle newcomer-friendly touches (check out the dubwise delays on 'Toumast'), it should catapult Tinariwen straight out of world music margins and into the wider renown the remarkable band so richly deserve.