Before gaining worldwide attention with 2001's
The Radio Tisdas Sessions, Malian Tuareg collective
Tinariwen first debuted their vibrant Tishourmaren or "desert blues" style on a series of cassette-only releases. Recorded in 1991 in Abidjan in Ivory Coast,
Kel Tinariwen is one of these early recordings, capturing the fledgling ensemble as they were still developing their distinctive blend of rock, pop, and Malian traditions. Featured on the album is a track with Songhai and Tuareg singer, painter, poet, and songwriter Keltoum Sennhauser, who helped organize the session. It's her vocals you hear on the opening duet "À L’Histoire," a groovy, minor-key anthem punctuated by punchy synth accents that sound tantalizingly like something
Serge Gainsbourg and
Jane Birkin might have recorded in the 1970s. It's no secret that British and American pop/rock artists had a big influence on the members of
Tinariwen, who grew up listening to bootleg albums by
Led Zeppelin and
Santana right alongside Malian heroes like
Ali Farka Touré. It's that vibrant mix of influences you can really hear on the twangy, soulful cuts like "Matadjem Yinmexan" and "Kedou Kedou," which really do sound like
Van Morrison or
Bob Dylan collaborating with a Malian band. Equally evocative is the album-closer "Arghane Manine" which also features Sennhauser. It's a dancey number built around a prominent vibraphone riff whose infectious groove and call-and-response vocals slyly bring to mind
Stop Making Sense-era
Talking Heads. In fact, much of
Kel Tinariwen has the quirky, stylistically cross-pollinated vibe that singer
David Byrne cultivated on his Luaka Bop label. While
Tinariwen would hone their sound and achieve even greater sonic depths in the decades following their cassette releases,
Kel Tinariwen offers a compelling and charming aural window into that development. ~ Matt Collar