Product Description

The sounds of the Sahara desert sift into your stereo with DESERT CROSSROADS. The album presents Etran Finatwa, a groupformed by musicians from the Wodaabe and Tuareg tribes, twonomadic bands of desert dwellers. In the wake of fellow Tuareg group Tinariwen's worldwide popularity, Etran Finatwa's music was marketed to the West, but it's a horse of a different color. More acoustic-oriented and traditional-sounding (even if not strictly traditional), it bears the echoes of people who have drifted across the Saharan sands and grasslands for longer than anyone can recall. Over pounding percussion and tartly picked riffs that could only be described as bluesy, voices wail, sometimes alone, sometimes in group chants, telling tales of a life most of the world can barely envision.

Track Listing

1. Saghmar N Nanna
2. Kel Tamasheck
3. Iguefan
4. Tea Ceremony I
5. Jama'aare
6. Tekana
7. Ganyo Maada
8. Soto
9. Asistan
10. Bagui's Soundscape
11. Gaynaako
12. Alghalem Taxat
13. Tea Ceremony II
14. Amidinine
15. Naanaaye
16. Tea Ceremony III

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32049 in Music
• Released on: 2008-04-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Financial Times, (David Honigmann), April 19, 2008
(4 stars) Laments the threatened nomadic culture, and the siren lure of the cities...the loose, loping grooves are a powerful counter.

The Guardian, (Robin Denselow), April 18, 2008
(4 stars) The best songs, like the sturdy and cheerfully melodic "Asistan", mix acoustic guitar, chanting and hand drums.

Songlines magazine, June 2008 issue (#52)
How they must hate the T word. If it wasn't for Tinariwen, Etran Finatawa would surely rank as major stars of the desert blues. It's true that they don't have quite the power, confidence or exhilaration of Tinariwen at their best, although there are moments when their rolling, stuttering Touareg guitar styles sounds remarkably similar. But this is an impressive band who are well worth checking out, and their latest album seems to get better every time it's played. Unlike Tinariwen, they don't come from northern Mali but from across the border in Niger, and along with the Touareg players, the musicians here also include members who belong to a different group of Saharan nomads, the Wodaabe.
There are sections here where their electric guitar blues inevitably echoes Tinariwen, but there are other songs where they explore very different styles. There are times when lead singer and guitarist Ghalitane Khamidoune kicks off a song with harsh-edged wailing solo vocal work, and then makes use of acoustic guitar along with hand drums and calabash percussion, and the result is like an African answer to a stirring field recording of the early Mississippi blues. There are some great songs here, too. `Asistan' mixes light acoustic guitar work with chanting and percussion work, and is one of the best, sturdiest melodies on the album. The lyrics are also worth investigating, dealing as they do with the threats to the desert community and their remarkable culture.
Robin Denselow

Customer Reviews

Haunting and beautiful
Although ostensibly from Niger, this group do not recognise lines on the map and sing of their Taureg lifestyle with pride. That said the extensive sleeve notes prove that they have been exporting their music to all points of the compass so hopefully they will become better known than they are at the moment. Although not able to understand the lyrics, English translation is provided so you can effectively let the voice become another "instrument" and let the rhythms and moods flow over you. Inevitably compared to the slightly better known Tinariwen I find this album more mellow, as the rich mixture of indigenous percussion mixes with acoustic and electric guitar and bass to create a very pleasing wash of sound with vocal flourishes overlaid.

If you haven't tried West African music before this makes an excellent introduction. If you are already familiar with the rhythm of the Sahel then you really need to add this to your collection.