Tuareg Guitar: Welcome To Saharan Desert Rock

I have made my love of Tuareg Guitar music known to you, dear friends. So the following mix should come as no surprise. As if any of you are waiting around to be surprised by the music mixes I post. But, hey, you go have your own weird daydreams, alright?!

The Sahel Sounds Records Tuareg Guitar page says:

“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.”

Here is a mix of songs from some of my current favorite Tuareg albums.

Tracklisting:

1. “Itous” (Live) by Tamikrest

2. “Nar djenetbouba” by Tinariwen

3. “Wiwasharnine” by Mdou Moctar

4. “Idrach” by Timasniwen

5. “Afous Dafous” by Tartit

6. “Ici Bas” by Songhoy Blues

7. “ASCO” by Ali Farka Touré

8. “Chebiba” by Tallawit Timbouctou

9. “Imigradan” by Les Filles de Illighadad

10. “Alemin” by Group Inerane

11. “Tenere” by Afous d'Afous

12. “Tekana” by Etran Finatawa

13. “Dounia” by Toumast

14. "Amidinin Senta Aneflas” by Terakaft

15. “Tamudre” by Imarhan

16. “Ameji (douleur)” by Imaran

17. Tumastin by Amanar

• Browse other Holiday at the Sea playlists.

Holiday at the Sea's Favorite Music of 2019

2019 has been a great year for music. From 30-minute mind-melting jams to Tuareg guitar and all kinds in between. I LOVE year-end lists. I love seeing what other people loved, especially if I can find something I hadn’t heard before. And to a lesser extent, who doesn’t like having their tastes confirmed by people much cooler?

But I don’t necessarily like ranking everything. After all, every list is subjective. And is there really any music that is “best”? Maybe you preferred one album to others, but does that really mean it’s “better”? Excuse me while I step off of my soapbox.

And I don’t like not hearing what people recommend. So, as you already know, I made a four-volume mix of some of my favorite music of the year, which I hope you’ve already checked out. If not, feel free to do so here and here and here and here. Also, just one more time of review, I chose 50 songs this year but only 49 albums since ‘Sideways’ by Seryn was released as a single.

Now that you’ve had a chance to to hear the songs, here is the complete list in alphabetical order.

• I Was Real by 75 Dollar Bill

• Mandatory Reality by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society

• Ancestral Recall by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah

• U.F.O.F. by Big Thief

• Sahari by Aziza Brahim

• RE_CORDIS by Bruno Bavota

• i,i by Bon Iver

• V by The Budos Band

• African Giant by Burna Boy

• Shepherd In A Sheepskin Vest by Bill Callahan

• Ghosteen by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

• All My Relations by Cochemea

• A Good Time by Davido

• Grow Towards The Light by Dire Wolves

• Sun Cycle / Elk Jam by Elkhorn

• Pianoworks by Eluvium

• Blue Values by Eamon Fogarty

• All Time Present by Chris Forsyth

• Gold Past Life by Fruit Bats

• One Of The Best Yet by Gang Starr

• One Step Behind by Garcia Peoples

• The Unseen In Between by Steve Gunn

• Back At The House by Hemlock Ernst and Kenny Segal

• The Gospel According to Water Joe Henry

• Terms of Surrender by Hiss Golden Messenger

• More Arriving by Sarathy Korwar

• Miri by Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba

• Sauropoda by L'Eclair

• Ilana (The Creator) by Mdou Moctar

• Stars Are The Light by Moon Duo

• Three Chords and the Truth by Van Morrison

• All Mirrors by Angel Olsen

• Desire Path by One Eleven Heavy

• Phoenix by Pedro the Lion

• Rainford by Lee “Scratch” Perry

• Purple Mountains by Purple Mountains

• Rose City Band by Rose City Band

• ‘Sideways’ by Seryn

• Out of Darkness by Some Dark Hollow

• Illegal Moves by Sunwatchers

• Amankor / The Exile by Tartit

• Amadjar by Tinariwen

• Preserves by Matt Valentine

• Father of the Bride by Vampire Weekend

• Remind Me Tomorrow by Sharon Van Etten

• Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits by Various Artists

• Water Weird by Wet Tuna

• Ode To Joy by Wilco

• The Sisypheans by Xylouris White

• Walk Through The Fire by Yola

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• Listen to Volume 01 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 02 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 03 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 04 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

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Holiday at the Sea’s Favorite Music Label of 2019

My Favorite music label of the year would have to be, without a doubt, Brooklyn’s Beyond Beyond is Beyond. Self-describes as: "“Music for Heads, by Heads,” which just about sums it up. More a vibe than a genre. A way of thinking than a particular style.

With five out of my favorite 49 albums of the year; (Dire Wolves, Garcia Peoples, L'Eclair, One Eleven Heavy, and Matt Valentine (plus, if I had expanded my list or included an “Honorable Mentions” section, this list would have expanded even more. That De Lorians is really good to mention only one more), no other single label presented as much music that I wanted to hear this year.

I can’t wait to hear what’s next.

• Visit the Beyond Beyond is Beyond website

• Visit Beyond Beyond is Beyond’s Bandcamp page for all the goodies

• Follow the label on Facebook

• Follow them on Twitter

Holiday at the Sea's Favorite 2019 Music Mix (Volume 01)

I love year-end lists.

I love to see what other people loved. Especially people I respect who can introduce me to new music (and to a lesser extent, have my tastes validated by people cooler than me). But I don’t dig ranking everything. After all, it’s all subjective in the first place. You may not like what I like, and I probably don’t like what you do, and that’s OK. The past couple of years, I’ve done unranked, alphabetical lists. But this year I’d doing something different. (though there will still be an unranked, alphabetical list at the end).

Over the next several days, I’ll post four different playlists of some of my favorite music of 2019; selections from my favorite albums. Each mix is as close to an hour as I could get it. There are 50 songs, but if you want to be specific, there are only 49 albums represented since ‘Sideways’ by Seryn was released as a single and not part of an album. After lots of finagling, I just decided to leave it that way. It is what it is and it is all great. I hope you enjoy. Here’s the first installment.

Volume 01:

Volume 01 Tracklisting:

1. ‘Out Of The Blue’ by Bruno Bavota from the album RE_CORDIS

2. ‘Cuatro Proverbios’ by Aziza Brahim from the album Sahari

3. ‘Tetuzi Akiyama’ by 75 Dollar Bill from the album I Was Real

4. ‘All My Relations’ by Cochemea from the album All My Relations

5. ‘Family and Loyalty’ by Gang Starr from the album One Of The Best Yet

6. ‘Harmony Hall’ by Vampire Weekend from the album Father of the Bride

7. ‘Taqkal Tarha’ by Tinariwen from the album Amadjar

8. ‘Tomorrow Might as Well Be Today’ by Chris Forsyth from the album All Time Present

9. ‘Wiwasharnine’ by Mdou Moctar from the album Ilana (The Creator)

10. ‘Slabs of the Sunburnt West’ by Hemlock Ernst and Kenny Segal from the album Back At The House

11. ‘Fall in Your Love’ by Moon Duo from the album Stars Are The Light

12. ‘I Need a Teacher’ by Hiss Golden Messenger from the album Terms of Surrender

13. ‘Gold Past Life’ by Fruit Bats from the album Gold Past Life

14. ‘Sideways’ by Seryn // Released as a single

15. ‘Afous Dafous’ by Tartit from the album Amankor / The Exile

16. ‘Fear Song’ by Rose City Band from the album Rose City Band

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• Listen to Volume 02 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 03 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

• Listen to Volume 04 of my 2019 Year-End Playlist

Tartit: Amankor / The Exile

As if 2019 releases from Mdou Moctar and Tinariwen weren’t enough, earlier this year, Tartit released the long-awaited follow-up to their 2006 album ‘Abacabok'.

According to Last.fm:

“The Ensemble Tartit are Malian Tamashek (Tuareg), comprising five women and four men. Tartit means 'union' in their language. They met in a refugee camp in Burkina Faso, where their music was a means of survival against the social and political mayhem in the Sahara Desert.”

Worldmusic.net says:

”Originally created to safeguard the Tuareg traditional music which was slowing disappearing, Tartit’s members all originated from the Timbuktu region and formed the group whilst in exile between Mauritanian and Burkinabe refugee camps in the mid-90s during the Tuareg uprising. Fast forward a quarter of a century, and with the help of friends and aid agencies the band have played all around the world at many of the biggest world music festivals in Europe, North America & beyond, and have achieved iconic status as guardians of Tuareg music. With their traditional instrumentation and repertoire their music speaks directly to the issues of today, seeking to preserve a culture under attack.”

The group formed in exile from their homeland in the mid 1990’s (hence the album title) but used their music not only as a way to preserve their identity and heritage but to protest the injustices rocking their homeland. Tuareg music is born out of political unrest and that sense of urgency permeates almost of all of it, regardless of the performer. Though many of the songs here are slower tempos than someone like Mdou Moctar, the same sense of urgency is no less present.

The same swirling, droning, psychedelic desert blues guitar patterns are present but what’s immediately striking is the female vocals which helps distinguish Tartit from their other Tuareg counterparts. While other Tuareg groups have women sing with them, few others give women the lead. This, of course, is in keeping with the group’s name, which means ‘Unity,” or “Union.”

The group was founded with the idea of preserving Tuareg music and instruments and as such, Tartit take a somewhat more traditional approach than some of their counterparts. Playing instruments like the tende (Tuareg hand drum), teherdent (three-string ngoni), imzad (a type of violin made from calabash wood), and the wooden flute, Tartit don’t rely on electric guitar and solos the way many other Tuareg acts do. Instead, the songs hold you with their focus on the repeated patterns and call and response vocals.

This may initially seem to bring a more laid-back feel, as if these songs originated around a campfire and that’s where they belong. But the same driving rhythms and chant-like vocals remind us that this is music created by nomadic people to help find home in the journey. They express joy and anger, even in or because of exile. Accentuated by call and response vocals and insistent hand-clapping beats, the mesmerizing and often complex repeated rhythms take center stage with vocals weaving in and out of and around the percussion. The group brings joy to our struggles.

Watch the EPK for Amankor, including interviews with Fadimata "Disco'' Walet Oumar and live footage, filmed in Bamako, studio Akan 2018.

Watch the official video for ‘Asaharaden’.

• Listen to “Afous Dafous” by Tartit.

  From the 2019 album “Amankor / The Exile” on Episode 37 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow.

• Follow Tartit on Facebook.

• Purchase the album on Amazon.