Tinariwen and Tamikrest, two Tuareg bands from Mali, tour the world. Dressed in their traditional robes, with turban or chèche on or around their heads and guitars in their hands, they play dust-dry music that exudes an exotic charm for a Western audience. But they are only the top of the sand dune.
"As if one listens to a drop falling into a deep well," Robert Plant described his feelings when he first heard the music of Tinariwen. In 2003 he appeared with the band from Mali on the stage of the "Festival au Désert". The live recording of the desert event entered the World Music Charts worldwide. It was the initial spark and a foundation stone for the vitality of today's music scene in Mali and the attention it attracts worldwide. Tinariwen are certainly not the only renowned band from Mali today and they certainly weren't the first.
The desert lives - and how! The collective from the north of Mali has played around 60 concerts in the last three years, has been awarded a Grammy and has found many famous friends. That's why half of the new, eighth album was also recorded at the Rancho del la Luna Studios in Palm Desert - with the participation of Matt Sweeny, Kurt Vile, Alan Johannes and Mark Lanegan.
