Tuareg guitar has become one of the most popular folk music in the contemporary Sahara. Originally political ballads, created in exile in Libya, today the sound has expanded to encompass everything from introspective love songs, blistering psychedelic rock, and synthesizer and drum machine. At its core, the music still relies on poetry to transmit a message, carried by the pentatonic solos of a guitar.
Browse the Sahel Sounds archive below for an extensive collection of posts, recordings, and albums about the genre.
photo: b. conrad lau “Is it true that during the Tuareg rebellion that started in 1990, he waged war against the Malian government with a Kalashnikov and a Stratocaster strapped across each shoulder? 'That's exactly what happened,' he says softly.” “Sands of Fate.” Peter Culshaw, Feb. 18 2007 1. Kidal…
The remix competition for Amanar's Tenere is completed. Big ups to the eight musicians/producers for their work on the stems. Very excited for the resulting tracks which all went in very different directions. You can download all the remixes at (mediafire) or listen below: El-Mahdy Jr. Remix (link) E3 Remix…
Mdou Moctar - La Super Everything that he had earned in Libya, he gave to his mother. He had nothing left. He asked her for his old guitar that he had left there in his absence, sitting abandoned in the corner. He put on new strings and took it out…
We arrive in TchinTabaradene at sunset. It's a calm village, one of the innumerable places throughout West Africa and the "under" developed world, places that lie off the paved roads and power grids, their physical isolation a stalwart against the creeping homogenization of a single world. Between here and the…
Amanar, the modern guitar Tuareg band from Northern Mali has been featured frequently on this site (1, 2) and numerous vinyl compilations. Their 2008 sessions, recorded locally in Kidal, are high energy guitar pop. While inspired by the preceding repertoire of guitar music, the album marked a departure from the…
Just finished up the new music video for Mdou Moctar's "Anar" (previously) - inspired by the lovelorn ballad using a pastiche of footage from the 1984 film "Tuareg - The Desert Warrior," an Italian Spaghetti "Western". The video is also available in 3GP format, the preferred video format for cellphones…