- country:Mali
- style(s):Desert Blues, Touareg
- label:Glitterbeat Records
- type:Band
- gender:male, female
- instrumentation:instrumental, vocal
- artist posted by:La Candela, artist booking & promotion
Line up
- Aghaly Ag Mohamedine (djembe, backing vocals)
- Cheick Ag Tiglia (bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals)
- Fatma Walet Cheick (backing vocals)
- Ibrahim Ag Ahmed Salim (drums, calabash)
- Ousmane Ag Mossa (vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar)
- Paul Salvagnac (rhythm guitar, slide guitar, dobro)
- Wonou Walet Sidati (backing vocals)
Links
Territory: Worldwide
Period: Summer 2015, 2016 all year on request, Festivals 2016
„It isn’t easy following in the steps of Tinariwen, but Tamikrest are the brightest young contenders among the new Tamashek-speaking desert blues bands mixing traditional styles with elements of indie rock …” – The Guardian
2014 by Songlines Music Award winning artist
New live-album “Taksera” released on April 18th 2015, Glitterbeat
“On April 18th 2015 Tuareg-band Tamikrest released their new album “Taksera” on Glitterbeat. “Taksera” (which in Tamashek means ‘a celebration with music’) is a rough and ready live album that is sure to give jolt to Tuareg-rock group Tamikrest’s already heady reputation. Recorded on a summer festival stage during their 2014 “Chatma” tour, the album vividly showcases the visceral and improvisational power of the band. The material on “Taksera” visits all three of the band’s acclaimed studio albums and gives a sharply focused argument as to why in the last few years Tamikrest has been one of the most lauded young bands from the African continent.
Tamikrest means “crossing” in the language of the Kel Tamashek, a traditionally nomadic Saharan people that are commonly referred to as the Tuaregs. It is an apt name for a band that so successfully merges the values of their timeless culture with the sounds and visions they have encountered on a headlong journey to the concert stages and ipods of the world.
Since the band emerged onto the international scene four years ago with their debut album “Adagh”, they have been in constant motion, moving between the Sahara and Europe as though these places were next-door neighbors. All the while, during this same time period, their homeland has suffered increasingly profound and catastrophic events. Originally hailing from Kidal, in the northeast of Mali, as the result of ongoing war, persecution and political collapse most of the band now lives in exile in Algeria.
Their new album “Chatma”, their third, was released in September 2013 and deftly navigates these experiences and fasions them into a fully persuasive and poetic musical document. It was honored as No. 1 in the World Music Charts Europe and Top of the World Album at Songlines but also No. 2 in Mojo’s Top 10 World music albums of 2013 list . The album is filled with sober reflection, moral indignation, musical experimentation, cultural celebration and the kick of rock and roll.
“Chatma” is also Tamikrest’s first album to be wholly written around a defined theme. In Tamashek “Chatma” means “Sisters” and the band has dedicated the album in their own words to: “the courage of the Tuareg women, who have ensured both their children’s survival and the morals of their fathers and brothers.”
And on an album where the title translates as “Sisters”, it makes perfect sense that this time around we hear the full emergence of the haunting voice of female vocalist Wonou Walet Sidati in tandem with lead vocalist Ousmane Ag Mossa. A new guitarist, Paul Salvagnac has also joined the band, bringing with him fresh textures and possibilities.
One also gets the sense, when listening to “Chatma” that there is something uniquely innovative and exploratory about Tamikrest’s musical quest and that at last they have stepped into a wide-open space of their own.
“Hypnotic nomad rock, best at its most subtle.” – Timeout London
“Plenty of heft and juicy reverb, the loping drone of lead and twin rhythm guitars redolent of a spacey, hypnotic Seventies rock ambience.” – The Independent