Track Listing

1. Imidiwan Afrik Tendam
2. Lulla
3. Tenhert
4. Enseqi Ehad Didagh
5. Tahult In
6. Tamudjeras Assis
7. Intitlayaghen
8. Imazaghen N Adagh
9. Chegret
10. Kel Tamashek
11. Assuf Ag Assuf
12. Chabiba
13. Ere Tasfata Adounia

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4857 in Music
• Released on: 2009-06-29
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: CD+DVD
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

CD Description
Legendary poet guitarists and soul rebels Tinariwen release their long-awaited follow up to the award-winning 'Aman Iman' CD. 'IMIDIWAN: Companions' is a return to the source. The album was recorded last winter in the depths of the southern Sahara desert by engineer / producer Jean-Paul Romann. It features thirteen songs composed and sung by Ibrahim 'Abaraybone', Hassan 'Le Lion', Abdallah 'Catastrophe', Mohammed 'Japonais' and Abdallah 'Intidao'. The themes are as powerful as ever; homesickness, loss, the struggle for freedom and love of the desert. The mood is vintage Tinariwen; defiant, fragile, raw and uncompromisingly real. 'IMIDIWAN' is reaffirms Tinariwen's global status as one of the most popular and significant groups ever to have come out of West Africa. The CD is accompanied by a DVD of a short film shot on location in the Sahara by French film maker Jessy Nottola.

Customer Reviews

More uncompromising 'desert blues' from Mali.
'Imidiwan' is the fourth album by the exciting Touareg 'desert blues' band, Tinariwen, which maintains the high standards of their previous recordings. Despite their popularity they show no signs of compromising their style for a Western rock audience and the passionate, mesmerising music on this marvellous CD transcends any language barrier. There is also a bonus DVD of a short film shot on location in the Sahara by French film maker Jessy Nottola. 'Imidiwan' should be a strong contender for the best album of 2009.

Mercurial Mali,s .
A band whose name has orbited the outer realms of my musical awareness Tinariwen,s fourth album has finally seen me part with some of my hard earned readies to see what the fuss is about. For more than 30 years, this raggedy band of rebel Touaregs from Mali have plied their trade gradually , inexorably surfacing into public consciousness . Are they worth the kerfuffle, the effort , the expenditure to find out what music is all about?
Well of course they are. The four stars give that away really . Fusing wiry but complex guitar patterns with errr wiry but complex vocal arrangements the music is resonantly personal and clearly of a place and a time. Without concessions to their burgeoning western audience ( at least to my ears ) Tinariwen have resisted the temptation to dilute their sound to accommodate , betting reasonably why change a winning formula.
Highlights of the albums thirteen song set include the harmonious hypnotic album opener "Imdiwan Afrik Tendam ", "Kel Tamashek " , a whirling dervish of a song with rhythms flying off a immeasurable tangents , the dense slow burn funk of "Tamult In" and the introduction of female harmonies on "Chabiba" is especially welcome .
You could also the admire the wiry circuitous riff of "Tenhert " or the way "Tenalle Chegret" is so delicately languorous without ever becoming tedious . Which occasionally the album is by the way. Closing instrumental "Ere Tasfata Adounia" feels tacked on and even a vocal track like "Assuf Ag Assuf " drags. The music does firmly stick to a formula but as it's one that has done so well for them that is understandable and for the most part it is intoxicating .
The accompanying DVD is worth a watch ,though may have a very limited repeat appeal. The music though is likely to enthral for many months, years to come. Like the desert which the Touregs roam -constantly shifting , evolving ..... spellbinding and beautiful but somehow always the same.

MALI MAGIC
Surely the time is right for this magic band to break through and become massive,Tinariwen are a visionairy grooup,lauded by stars such as Robert Plant they prove that language is not a barrier,they are part of the toureg race,dwellers in the Saharan Mali area and they make tough uncompromising pan cultural music,see their DVD"live at the shepherds Bush empire"for proof of haw to get an audience dancing!!!!
This is a great album which can only enhance their status as africasa premier blues band.excellent!!!