Ichichila [IMPORT]

Tartit

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 14, 2000)
• Original Release Date: November 14, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Network Germany
• ASIN: B00004Z2V6
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #58,910 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > World Music > Middle East > Arabic

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Since its release in 2000, Ichichila has quietly assumed the status of a "desert blues" classic. Tartit are a group of musicians from the Timbuktu area of Mali, which explains the similarity of this music to that of their better known neighbor Ali Farka Toure. He draws heavily on Songhai and Tuareg traditions, while Tartit are Tuareg tribes people whose nomadic lifestyle seems to have prepared them well the for the international tours they now find themselves undertaking. Onstage they are a picture of grace and dignity with the men’s faces veiled and the women's proudly exposed--a unique reversal of the usual dress codes found in many Islamic cultures. Their songs are based on timeless hypnotic grooves created with only the sparsest arrangements. Unlike that other well known Tuareg group Tinariwen, the music of Tartit is largely "unplugged! ". They sometimes use a single electric guitar, but more often their cyclical melodic motifs come from the scrabbling notes of the Tuareg lute (tehardent) or fiddle (imzad). Rhythm is supplied by the softly booming tindé drum and insistent hand claps, over which call and response vocals, (usually led by the women) ululations and sudden screams pile on the atmosphere. This is music to sway rather than dance to; they play most of it sitting down in a semi-circle and you might just want to lie down and chill for much of it. Eminently recommendable. --Jon Lusk

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tartit rocks!, January 9, 2003

By	Imani Ingram (New York city) - See all my reviews

This album is a true treasure, especially if one is a world music lover, and also happens to love Berber and Tuareg music. This album is well done, with traditional instruments such as the imzab and the tinde drum. The vocals are on the point and the women get really creative on tracks such as elan heyelan and bulouboulba. Those of you who are acquainted with the music of Agricantus,may have heard of the singer Fadimata Walet Oumar,she is a member of this group and sings many of the songs on this album.She does an excellent job.