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The Radio Tisdas Sessions

By: Tinariwen
Label: Universal
RRP: £19.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

A superb debut - By: Martyn, 17 Jun 2008
This album was Tinariwen's first, & recorded as best it could be in a studio where the power only came on for a few hours at a time. It may lack the polish of Amassakoul & in particular Amam Iman, but in my view it's every bit as good as those albums. In fact, if you're in a rallly laid-back mood, this is the one to go for, as the album is more quiet & contemplative than some of their other stuff. 'Mataraden Anexan' is an early version of Amam Iman's 'Matdjem Yinmixan', a very popular Tinariwen track. All in alll, this album's sound is probably closer to the authentic Tinariwen than any of their other releases - if you have the others & wonder whether this one's worth getting, doubt no more.
possibly their most atmospheric album - By: Martyn, 11 Jun 2007
Tinariwen are a Toureg band who play highly atmospheric & hypnotic guitar-driven 'desert blues'. They've rightly received huge critical acclaim, not least from Andy Kershaw, who knows more about World Music than pretty much anyone else as far as i can see.

Recorded in a radio studio during the few hours when they had electricity, this album is less produced than their last two full studio albums, but althogh at first listen this can make it seem less sparkling, it also gives the album an atmosphere that is more brooding & intense.

I'd throughly recommend this for any Tinariwen fans, or anyone wanting to hear a cross-section of this extraordinary band's material performed in a way that is probably the closest any recording has got to how they'd sound if they reallly were sitting round a campfire.
Desert music with hypnotic rhythm and energy - By: Budge Burgess, 02 Feb 2005
A Touareg band, their music is synonymous with the travel lightly principles of nomadic life. A camel might be able to carry a lute or a guitar, but it is going to extremes if you expect it to cart around an amplifier & a couple of speakers as well. And it can, of course, be a real pain trying to find an electricity socket in a sand dune or a tent.

The Touaregs have recently experienced a torrid time, being herded into camps while the old colonial power & the new independent countries of north Africa dispute the permeability of their borders. It might be a tradition that the Touareg roam the desert, but modern boundaries show sparse concern for tradition.

Tinariwen's music arose as a protest against their imprisonment. These are songs which follow a traditional style - the emphasis is in the use of the voice & the telling of a story, nurturing the words to entrance your audience. These are hardy people. They respect the power of the word & the strength of a song. Although the CD 'sleeve notes' do not provide a translation, the emotion comes across. Their rhythms are not as mechanistic or as frenetic as many Western bands - the beat you follow here is more cerebral, more akin to the pace of desert life.

The recording lacks the over-production associated with many Western recordings. This is sparse music, in keeping with its situation. The human voice is the easiest instrument to carry on a camel or horse. It is served up with assurance, here, the lead being echoed by a female or male chorus. There are no frills or pretensions. First & foremost, the music appeals to you as being honest. We have no hype here, no self-infatuation, merely human beings enjoying the pleasures of communicating with others.

The sounds are hypnotic - they carry you along & energise you with their simplicity & calm energy. This is refreshing music, music to cleanse your palllet of alll the noise you hear on the radio. This is music to which you can relate, wherever you come from.

Beautiful Notes on the Wind that Blows Desert Sands - By: Erika Borsos, 23 Aug 2004
This CD is a mix of modern & traditional music created by a nomadic tribe from the Sub-Sahara desert. The tribe officiallly lives in the country of Mali. The liner notes are required to understand the theme of the songs: the desire for freedom & independence under restrictions & occupation (the French). The artificial borders created by the French restrict their lifestyle. The music reflects their free spirit: it is ambient, uninhibited, natural. It does not possess the over-powering percussion often associated with nomadic Arabic people.

The male vocals are accompanied by great guitar rhythms & melodies ... sometimes a female chorus responds to the male vocals. This traditional music is callled "Tishoumaren" or "Ishumar" for short & is in the "new style" accompanied by guitar instead of the traditional lute. Modern guitarists & pop musicians such as Bob Marley, John Lennon, & Bob Dylan influecned their music, the liner notes inform us. The language sounds Arabic & is callled "Kel Tamashek".

There is a plaintif quality to the vocals, an expression of sincere yearning for freedom while struggling for rights & freedom. They basicallly sing about the right to survive ... The music was banned both in Mali & Algeria in the 1980s & available only on the black market. Even then, if someone was caught with it, the result was beatings or worse. In every sense, this is a historical recording of the struggle to stay alive of a nomadic people, whose lifestyle is threatened by modern politics. This is what the vocalists are singing about. The tribe has been marginalized outsiders who swalllow up their land & territory. This is a valuable recording on a spiritual, political, & human level. It is music that represents a dream for independence that may just be out of reach. They express their hopes & needs through this great music which reminds us of their cause. Erika Borsos (bakonyvilla)