Tinariwen is a band on the run
TINARIWEN “ELWAN” (ANTI)
Nothing changes; everything changes. Tinariwen, a name that means “deserts” in their native Tamashek language, were formed in the Saharan desert in the early 1980s by Tuareg musicians who had been drafted into war. Eventually putting down their guns for guitars, they evolved into international ambassadors for the desert blues style of northern Mali, starting with their first Western release in 2001. Fifteen years later, they’ve fled their home environs due to the threat of Islamist militants who have been desecrating historical sites and banning music itself — in one of the most culturally rich areas of the world, no less. To make matters worse, one of the band’s former associates became a born-again Salafist, leading the charge against music’s “corrupting” influence and founding a movement, Ansar Dine, that invades towns and sets all musical equipment on fire. One member of Tinariwen was kidnapped by Ansar Dine, and later released.
And so Tinariwen became a band on the run. “Elwan” is the second Tinariwen album since their exile; like 2014’s “Emmaar,” it was partially recorded in a tent in the California desert, with members of Queens of the Stone Age and other kindred spirits in trippy, guitar-driven psychedelia (Mark Lanegan, Kurt Vile). Other sessions were held on the Algerian coast and in Paris, where they recorded a fine 2015 live album.
Very little ever changes from one Tinariwen release to the next; sometimes the magic is there, sometimes it’s not. With such potentially transcendent music, that’s hardly surprising. “Emmaar” found the band sounding out of place and uninspired; the California desert was clearly not their home, and the invited guests/hosts didn’t help matters any — their presence seemed more like stunt casting to tweak interest in yet another Tinariwen album. This time out, however, something has clicked, even in California: there is a firm resilience in the languid grooves, a quiet strength that never bubbles over. There are more acoustic guitars, bass lines that bring a sparse funk feel to some tracks, and the trademark group vocals and distorted blues guitar leads.
Of course, “Elwan” arrives at a curious time. Tinariwen have an American label and U.S. dates on their upcoming tour (they’re scheduled to play Massey Hall in Toronto on April 12), but because of their roots in the Western Sahara countries of Libya and Algeria — two countries on Donald Trump’s “Muslim ban” list — one has to wonder if they’ll make into that country at all. If they do, expect those shows to be a necessarily cathartic release for both audience and band, each persecuted by despots and theological madmen, long after they believed such battles should have been long over.
THE SADIES “NORTHERN PASSAGES” (DINE ALONE)
For the first 10 years of the Sadies’ existence, they were easily the hardest-working band in Canada: Six albums, one soundtrack, one double live album, three full-length collaborations, and hundreds of live dates a year. The last 10 years have not been as productive — only one album every three or four years — but their writing is no longer merely a vessel to showcase their superior talent as players and as a band. Their psychedelic take on country and punk gets increasingly complex on tracks like “The Elements Song; their lyrics hit direct targets on the timely “God Bless the Infidels” and on the haunted storytelling of “The Good Years.” The production remains the same: the brothers Dallas and Travis Good love trebly guitar tones and hazy washes of sound — that’s the Sadies sound, and they’re certainly not getting any slicker in their old(er) age. Nor would their fans want them to.
Stream: “Riverview Fog,” “Through Strange Eyes,” “God Bless the Infidels”
BEGONIA “LADY IN MIND” (INDEPENDENT)
This year’s Grammy Awards will be held Sunday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m., and it will be a battle of the divas: Adele versus Beyoncé. Hours earlier, Winnipeg singer Alexia Dirks, a.k.a. Begonia, a former member of vocal group Chic Gamine, will perform in Guelph as part of Hillside Inside, where local audiences will discover a singer with every bit the talent and range of those two powerhouses. “I Don’t Wanna (Love U)” will no doubt be her signature song, one that will be bringing down the house at folk festivals all summer. She claims to be equally influenced by ’90s R&B, ’70s folk and Fiona Apple — which sums up this EP almost a little too perfectly. Catch Begonia in an intimate setting now — while you can.
Begonia plays Hillside Inside on Sunday, Feb. 12, at 11.30 a.m. at Miijidaa Café.
Stream: the whole thing. It’s only five songs.