Etran Finatawa - Tarkat Tajje/ Let’s Go!

(World Music Network)

If Ali Farka Toure paved the way for mesmerising desert blues then the Festival in the Desert held near Timbuctou has encouraged a new generation of musicians, including the all-male Etran Finatawa (The Stars of Tradition) who unite the two nomadic Tuareg and Wodaabe-Fulani cultures. Born out of rebellion and exile, think loping melodies sung by beseeching high tenor voices joined by a rich, ragged chorus of players – with plenty handclapping over compelling riffs on electric guitars and the rumble of slapped gourds. Songs serenade nomadic reality, from climate challenges, poverty and hardship to comradeship and the families and love of women which make it all bearable.