CD Review: Imarhan Timbuktu's 'Akal Warled'

Imarhan Timbuktu
Akal Warled
Clermont Music

Formed in 1993, Imarhan Timbuktu is a Tuareg guitar group from Mali and spearheaded by Mohamed Issa Ag Oumar El Ansari. The album contains eight songs about the plight of Tuareg refugees in the camps of Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Algeria, and Niger. Mohamed is a guitarist and vocalist on the album. Mohamed is joined by his brother, Ousmane Ag Oumar El Ansari and backup vocalists, Fadimata Walet Oumar and Zeina Walet. There is also a lively percussion section that fills in the vocals and guitars with a nomadic presence. The music is soul-stirring and in the vein of other North African guitarists, such as Tinariwen, Toumast, and Tartit. The music saunters along with majestic cadences, back-up vocal trills, and lilting guitars performing memorable riffs, licks, and chords. One of the highlights, "Tarha Tazar," possesses a great rhythm and melody. Fans of North African guitar music will love it. Discover your inner nomad today! ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Mali's Khaira Arby

Khaira Arby

Timbuktu Tarab

Clermont Music

It seems nowadays any musician with any connections to the late-Malian blues guitar legend, Ali Farka Toure, rises to stardom. For Khaira Arby, the cousin of the late-Ali Farka Toure, the sounds of the Malian desert come alive with songs of history, social causes, and cultural influences. Khaira is a vocalist with a more traditional, but pop-edged repertoire similar to Dimi Mint Abba, Rokia Traore, or an all-female Tinariwen. There are electric guitars, njarka, drums, hand-claps, and a possible ardin and tidinit. Khaira's classic vocals represent the voice of women in North Africa. Khaira sings in Songhai, Tamasheq, Bambara, and Arabic languages. The mix of traditional North African guitar sounds and ethnic percussion and strings seems to be the right tone for Timbuktu Tarab. It is not as polished as anything by Mauritania's Malouma, or as traditional as Tartit. However, the goal for Timbuktu Tarab is to proclaim the music of Khaira by using a voice to instill social change locally and globally. Timbuktu Tarab is an album to be enjoyed by those with cravings for North African music. ~ Matthew Forss