Tinariwen
Two years ago I came across a Nigerien band called Group Inerane whose debut album "Guitars from Agadez" had been released in 2007 by the independent record label Sublime Frequencies. The album was long sold out but I managed to get a taste of the band's peculiar ecstatic style of jamming from a video recording on Youtube where the band was performing live at a wedding party somewhere in Niger. These intriguing sights and sounds inclined me to order their second album, released in 2010, which came with some rather baffling liner notes. It was mentioned that Adi Mohammed – one of the band's guitarists on the first album – had been shot dead in a skirmish between Touareg insurgents and local junta forces in 2009. Having learned this, I had to find out more about these militant psychedelic rockers from the Sahara and about the culture and history of the Touareg people.
It turned out that the Touareg (or kel tamasheq, as
they call themselves) are a Berber people inhabiting a huge area in Africa between the Sahara desert and the more fertile terrain of the Sahel with a population of about 1.2 million. In addition to a love of music, they are known for their nomadic way of life, blue traditional clothing and for practicing a kind of Sufi Islam that includes many elements from ancient indigenous traditions. Furthermore, women's position in their society is more prominent than in most other parts of the Islamic world and it is actually the men, not the women, that tend to have their faces veiled by wearing what is called a tagelmust.
As French colonial power departed from North/West Africa in the 1950s and 60s, the Touareg were one of the ethnic groups left without a country to call their own. Having become a minority in newly independent states – most of them in Mali and Niger – many of the Touareg felt that these countries ruled by black Africans were no better than the old colonizer, trying to control their desert lives from another distant capital. The scarcity of arable land and water, ethnic tensions and a struggle for political control over a vast desert area rich in certain mineral resources have been constant sources of conflict. The Touareg who had already rebelled against the French colonizers are in fact still fighting the same struggle for autonomy and the 2012 uprising in Mali is in fact already the fourth major insurrection in recent history for the local Touareg.
As French colonial power departed from North/West Africa in the 1950s and 60s, the Touareg were one of the ethnic groups left without a country to call their own. Having become a minority in newly independent states – most of them in Mali and Niger – many of the Touareg felt that these countries ruled by black Africans were no better than the old colonizer, trying to control their desert lives from another distant capital. The scarcity of arable land and water, ethnic tensions and a struggle for political control over a vast desert area rich in certain mineral resources have been constant sources of conflict. The Touareg who had already rebelled against the French colonizers are in fact still fighting the same struggle for autonomy and the 2012 uprising in Mali is in fact already the fourth major insurrection in recent history for the local Touareg.
The political instability, lack of
freedom and terrible droughts of the 1970s and 80s forced a number of young
Touareg men into exile searching for jobs in the cities of North Africa, especially in the oil-rich and underpopulated Libya. General Muammar Gaddafi was quick to take
advantage of the dire situation of these expats and offered them
military training by which he hoped to form a loyal and mobile force to deploy in wars against Chad and Israel as well in his ambitions toward the Sahara. Thousands of job-seeking
Touareg answered the call to become mercenaries. In retrospect, this proved to play an important part in inspiring a series of Tuareg uprisings in Mali and Niger that followed, although obviously not everything went the way Gaddafi had envisioned it.
Tinariwen
Tinariwen
It was in the context of these military training camps that the band Tinariwen was formed. Tinariwen were the first known
Tuareg band to start using the electric guitar. The band pioneered a
new genre of poetic and music expression variously called tichumaren,
al-guitara, assouf – which is the Tuareg word for blues – or just "Saharan desert rock". As Tinariwen's manager Andy Morgan puts it, "the guitar was portable, extrovert, worldly and cool, a
universally recognised symbol of rebellion and youth, which is
exactly what Tinariwen were all about at the time."1
What made their music unique was that the Touareg expats started to play the guitar with a hypnotizingly repetitive rhythm, in a way that resembled how the teherdent lute would be played in their traditional music, but with a strong touch of gritty pentatonic blues. Mix that with call and response vocals, djembe or calabash percussion and handclaps, add the exciting image of rock-nomads with a guitar in one hand and a kalashnikov in the other and you've got the trademark package of Touareg rock which has been captivating the attention of more and more music connoisseurs worldwide.
What made their music unique was that the Touareg expats started to play the guitar with a hypnotizingly repetitive rhythm, in a way that resembled how the teherdent lute would be played in their traditional music, but with a strong touch of gritty pentatonic blues. Mix that with call and response vocals, djembe or calabash percussion and handclaps, add the exciting image of rock-nomads with a guitar in one hand and a kalashnikov in the other and you've got the trademark package of Touareg rock which has been captivating the attention of more and more music connoisseurs worldwide.
This new kind
of music allegedly also played a part in refurbishing the Touareg national
movement in Mali and Niger in the early 1990s. As a side note, it seems to me that the significance of Tinariwen in this respect has had certain similarities with the role that punk rock played in the era of perestroika and regaining independence from the Soviet Union in my native country Estonia. Although Tinariwen's Tamasheq language lyrics evade me, I have gathered that they often carry the message of longing for freedom. As the Touareg were fighting the governments during the 1980s and 90s, this message spread in the form of copied cassettes across the deserts, leading the Malian government to prohibit the possession of these recordings before the until the mid 1990s when a peace settlement was reached with the insurgents.
After that agreement, the rebel musicians had the opportunity reintegrate into civilian life as well as play, record and release their music commercially. And indeed, since the late 1990s, Tinariwen have achieved considerable success abroad, performing at major festivals around the globe and having taken home the Grammy in the category for their new album "Tassili" earlier this year. To put shortly, Tinariwen have become one of the hottest names in the world music circuit.
The Touareg bands of Niger
After that agreement, the rebel musicians had the opportunity reintegrate into civilian life as well as play, record and release their music commercially. And indeed, since the late 1990s, Tinariwen have achieved considerable success abroad, performing at major festivals around the globe and having taken home the Grammy in the category for their new album "Tassili" earlier this year. To put shortly, Tinariwen have become one of the hottest names in the world music circuit.
This upbeat mellow desert-trip of a song is one of
Tinariwen's more popular ones judging on Youtube views. It is
interesting to note that the video made to promote their album
"Imidiwan" shows scenes of rebels charging through the desert on
camels and jeeps as well as makes some references to the traditional blue
clothing and the writing system of their language, neo-tifinaghi.
The characters of that ancient script appear on Tinariwen's album
covers and have in fact become an important marker of Touareg ethnic
identity. Thus, while using new technologies and and calling for a
revolution, Tinariwen seem to be reiterating the need to hold on to their
defining traditions.
The Touareg bands of Niger
Tinariwen and their counterpart in Niger, Takrist n’Akal, have inspired, it seems, a whole generation of Touareg rock musicians. The band that caught my attention in the first place, as said before, is Group Inerane from Niger who have found themselves in a much more "underground" commercial setting abroad, touring alternative music clubs with bands like Flower-Corsano Trio. Their
record label Sublime Frequencies have chosen a different path from that of “world music” – the category in popular culture production and consumption criticized by some for being an
industry aimed to please the Western world's desire for something
exotic.
Releasing albums by less known
tichumaren bands from Niger, the Seattle based record company, founded by
members of US underground music legends Sun City Girls, seem to reject
marketing in any form, claiming instead to be focused on ethnomusicological documenting. For example, Group Inerane's first album was recorded with a single
microphone at a wedding party in Agadez, where the local band
had been invited to perform. In addition to rather primitive recording techniques, Sublime Frequencies also tends to issue cd's,
dvd's and vinyls in limited editions of 1000 which are usually sold out very quickly because the label does have a rather sizable and devoted following.
Group Inerane's second album was recorded by live takes in a studio,
maintaining its raw spontaneity which along with the minimalistic
harmonies and seemingly never-ending hypnotic rhythm
allows to draw comparisons with US underground greats Velvet Underground
and West German "kraut rock"
bands.
Another Nigerien Touareg band that got its first release abroad as part of Sublime Frequencies' "Guitars from Agadez" series is Group Bombino. With their second album "Agadez" and a documentary feature to go with it, the band lead by Omara "Bombino" Moctar and featuring members of Group Inerane has been making more of an effort to reach wider audiences. They have been giving concerts in pop, world and folk music as well as psychedelic rock contexts, having performed at this year's Austin Psych Fest.
The song "Tar Hani" showcases Bombino's persuasive guitar blues with a
warm and fluid sound and refined production, which has been establishing
Moctar's strong persona as a new Saharan guitar hero. I'm glad to see
that Touareg bands, while still writing protest songs for a local cause
and in their own language, can have such an appeal beyond their
homeland. And not just by placing their bets on the "world music" label.
The recent Touareg rebellion in Mali
While the last Touareg uprising in Niger took place in 2007-2009 – the one in which Group Inerane's guitarist was killed – in mid-January 2012, it was the Malian
Touaregs' turn to lift their weapons once again to fight the government. Bamako had in their view constantly ignored most of the promises made in previous peace agreements, instead imposing a policy of divide and rule on the clans in the Northern part of Mali.
This latest uprising, initiated by National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and inspired to a considerable degree by the events of the Arab spring, was fuelled by an influx of weapons and from across the Libyan border along with Touareg military personnel that deserted during Muammar Gaddafi’s last gasp. Indeed, in a short time they took control of most strategic points in Northern Mali, triggering the events of a military coup d’état in Mali after which the Touareg unilaterally declared an independent state of Azawad. However, whether this will become a “real” country depends on a number of challenges.
Unfortunately, the situation has become extremely complex and the desert of Northern Mali has become a lawless free-for-all with different armed groups proliferating in the region. There is drug and weapon trafficking as well as a murderous presence of mafia gangs posing as Islamic extremist militias allied to the Salafist terrorism of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) who have in effect closed the desert off to the outside world. And although the MNLA are trying hard to bolster the claim that Azawad will be for ALL the people of the north, there are many ethnic and tribal conflicts within Azawad and a lack of unity among the Touareg themselves, most of whom are neutral civilians who according to Amnesty International are currently facing the country's worst human rights situation since 1960.
This latest uprising, initiated by National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and inspired to a considerable degree by the events of the Arab spring, was fuelled by an influx of weapons and from across the Libyan border along with Touareg military personnel that deserted during Muammar Gaddafi’s last gasp. Indeed, in a short time they took control of most strategic points in Northern Mali, triggering the events of a military coup d’état in Mali after which the Touareg unilaterally declared an independent state of Azawad. However, whether this will become a “real” country depends on a number of challenges.
Unfortunately, the situation has become extremely complex and the desert of Northern Mali has become a lawless free-for-all with different armed groups proliferating in the region. There is drug and weapon trafficking as well as a murderous presence of mafia gangs posing as Islamic extremist militias allied to the Salafist terrorism of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) who have in effect closed the desert off to the outside world. And although the MNLA are trying hard to bolster the claim that Azawad will be for ALL the people of the north, there are many ethnic and tribal conflicts within Azawad and a lack of unity among the Touareg themselves, most of whom are neutral civilians who according to Amnesty International are currently facing the country's worst human rights situation since 1960.
The international community has increasingly voiced concern over the possible spread of terrorism, calling for a military intervention in Northern Mali if the powderkeg situation persists. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has reportedly set 3300 troops ready to commence intervention on approval of the UN Security Council. The Touareg do need help from abroad in the form of economic and political support and humanitarian aid but will a heavy-handed intervention of foreign armies and security services want to tell the difference between MNLA freedom fighters and the AQIM? Knowing the unrelenting conditions of the desert and how tough these rebels are, there will certainly be no easy fights. I hope that the strong presence the Touareg bands have established in global popular culture will help to direct the attention of the international community to the crisis. It will probably take a huge effort from all the stakeholders to ensure the solution to the crisis will be a peaceful one, sufficiently just for the people of Azawad so that there will be no grievances to fuel further conflict.
oooh awesomeee!
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