Customer Reviews

Guitars From Agadez (Music of Niger) (Reis)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you like the "Desert Blues" sound of bands such as Tinariwen, you may very well like this recording. However," Guitars from Agadez", unlike Tinariwen, is not the sound of a high-end studio recording. It's more live and rawer sounding; kind of like a Fat Possum take on desert blues. The grooves are also not as varied as Tinariwen. After repeated listening however, I have come to appreciate a sort of stylistic purity that "Guitars from Agadez" offers. I also like the fact that a western-style drum set is featured as the main percussion instrument. One can really get a feel for how the traditional rhythms of the Sahara translate to the drum kit. However, one drawback to this recording are those cheering type sounds that Bedouin women make (kind of like a turkey call) that punctuates every stanza. I wish I knew what the proper cultural name for what that noise is and what it means, but I don't. You get some of that same yelling with Tinariwen, but there's quite a bit of that in "Guitars from Agadez." That aside, the guitar work is the real strong point to this recording. You get plenty of those bluesy trance-inducing licks. All in all, a great addition to your "Desert Blues" collection.

I came to this via Tinariwen, whose disc I love, and whose hypnotic performance at Coachella this year blew me away. This disc is much rawer and more lo-fi than Tinariwen's, and to my ears, less interesting. I'm all for unadorned "on location" recordings, but the playing and sound quality on this one didn't do it for me.

This album is amazing. It's been awhile since I've been as obsessed with an album like this. It is the blues, it is psychedelic, it has a drone quality reminiscent of some krautrock. It is a real treasure. I'm sure it's not for everyone. But this drives and takes me places, like Faust or Maggot Brain. Dry, hot with a very very deep groove. Not as in a funk groove, but as in a spiritual groove.