It’s only rock ‘n’ roll (@ East Bay Express)
Desert Rock — Tinariwen brings rebel music out of the Southern Sahara
A slow Hendrix blues riff, deep, rough and insistent, slashes through the aural space. Broken down and repeated, the opening riff is joined by the offbeat upstrokes of a second, trebly electric guitar establishing a shuffle counterpoint. A fast rap barely breaks through the sound of the guitars, becoming louder when it morphs into a sung chorus with backing vocals (three, maybe four words). About four minutes in, the guitars drop out and the song is stripped down: a fast rap over a loopy funk bass line, accompanied by handclaps and soft percussion. The offbeat guitar upstrokes return joined by an arpeggiated riff on a second guitar, then a lead guitar. The vocals become secondary as the guitars propel the song to its ending and the opening riff returns. While the description could fit a performance of an up-and-coming indie band at the Noise Pop festival later this month, (to read more click here for the East Bay Express article)
A couple of other recent pieces on Tinariwen in the New York Times and S.F. Bay Guardian
Deciphering Culture
Deciphering Culture 
[…] story) but the headline my editor wrote included “rebel music” as a descriptor (see: It’s only rock ‘n’ roll – also links to two other recent pieces on […]
Addendum to: It’s only rock ‘n’ roll Desert Rock (Tinariwen) « TRANSGRESSIONS: A POP CULTURE BLOG
February 20, 2010 at 10:45 am