Here are the first two Wikipedia entries for Mdou Moctar:
Mdou Moctar (also known as M.dou Mouktar; born c. 1986) is a Tuareg songwriter and musician based in Agadez, Niger, and is one of the first musicians to perform modern electronic adaptations of Tuareg guitar music.[2][3] He first became famous through a subtle trading network of cellphones and memory cards in West Africa.[4]
Mdou Moctar is a popular wedding performer and sings about Islam, education, love and peace in Tamasheq.[5][6][7] He plays a left-handed Fender in a takamba and assouf style.[5][8] He is originally from Abalak and has also lived in Tchintabaraden and Libya.[9][10][11]
I looked Moctar up after seeing two friends drop his name within minutes of each other. Both were attending Wilco's Solid Sound festival is Massachusettes and both raved about Moctar's performance. The great Steve Wynn went as far as saying that "Ilana:The Creator," Moctar's newest release, was his favorite record of 2019. I had to find out for myself.
"Ilana: The Creator" is not my favorite record of 2019, but it just might end up in the Top 5. This is one of the most exciting records I've heard in a long time. I am no expert on Saharan music, but I love a good jam and Moctar's guitar playing is a stand-out, kind of John Lee Hooker meets Sonny Sharrock.
5 comments:
I think this is just me being English-centric, but I just can't get into songs have lyrics aren't sung in English - no matter how good they might be.
I can deal with songs with made-up words (like "Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot"), but I feel like I'm missing something when I can't get what the singer is trying to get across.
I've tried, but when I have to work "too hard" to listen to a song, it doesn't work for me. I've been wracking my brain (and searching my iTunes collection) trying to see if I'm missing something that's sung in a non-English language and other than "Sofa" by Zappa, I couldn't come up with anything that wasn't a one-off.
(This is a ham-fisted way of saying I listed to what you posted, but it didn't do anything for me...)
There is something enticingly hypnotic about this African slash blues style. I like it in small doses but these two tracks are worth it.
I would tend to agree with the post above about English lyrics but I couldn't tell you the last album I bought where I got to know the lyrics. And I am a lyric guy. I think it is the production style to bury vocals or there isn't very much left to say.
Hmmm.. could be the start of interesting discussion. Firstly, I liked the music... some really interesting playing here. Many thanks for the heads up. I am also enjoying (most of) the new Santana album, with most of the lyrics in Spanish and Portuguese.
I am also a "lyrics guy", but sometimes you have to just listen to the musicality and enjoy that. I cant dredge one up right now, but there have been tracks where the shear awfulness of the lyrics has detracted from a great tune. I'm sure someone will come up with one here!
I suggest a bit of listening to the Ry Cooder/Ali Farka Toure Talking Timbuktu, and then some Fado and then some Gaelic... Julie Fowlis, Dick Gaughan or even Enya for Christssake. Just sit back and enjoy the music.. There are still plenty of words out there to listen to later.
Coincidentally, Kodak, I just picked up a nice original UK pressing of Deep Purple's "Who Do We Think We Are," an album I hadn't heard in ages, and a band whose lyrics were probably the last thing I cared about, aside from singing along to "MY WOMAN from TO-KAY-O." You think Deep Purple, you don't think, "Oh the lyrics!" Well, this time out, for whatever reason, I noticed the lyrics to "Smooth Dancer," a song I thought I loved. Talk about shear awfulness. So much for paying attention.
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