Tuareg Quo ?

Another act being pushed very hard by the world music cadre of the music biz are Tinariwen. I bought this album, Amassakoul, before the hype went into overdrive and I have to admit that my opinion of it has been coloured a little since then and I don't have much desire to purchase the latest release. That may be my problem more than Tinariwen's though, I have always tended to shy away from the more commercial tendencies in rock and pop music and it just seemed a shame to see them begin to infoltrate the world music scene ( Tinariwen are by no means the only example ) looking at the album dispassionately, it is an excellent example of the desert blues genre where instead of a shuffle boogie you get the camel lope beat. There is a certain sameness to the material though, especially when you can't understand the lyrics ( translations are thoughfully included but I don't tend to listen with the notes to hand every time ) I would also say that they lack a truly distinctive vocalist. They are a very tight band though and it is churlish to criticise them for not turning down support band slots for the Rolling Stones and the exposure that brings. as I said, I don't feel the need for more than one Tinariwen album but if you are going for only one, the latest effort has slightly better production values and a more spacious sound.