Browse by Artist: TERAKAFT

Artist:	TERAKAFT
Title:	Akh Issudar
Label:	WORLD VILLAGE (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	WORLD 468084

"Malian group Terakaft's second album, Akh Issudar (the title refers to an old Touareg proverb - 'Aman iman, akh issudar' -- 'Water is life, milk is survival'), sweeps onto the U.S. scene like a searing sirocco fresh off the Sahara. Their keening, scratchy singing veers off onto curvy, Islamic-flavored tangents and passages of 'talking blues,' discursive chanting, and raucous call-and-response, punctuated by wailing, cries, ululations and even an underlying, buzzing drone. Note how the chorus matches the sinuous lead vocal note-for-note on 'Islegh Teghram.' But the multi-layered guitars crown all, with their rich, round, sensually tinny chords and lead riffs, inexorable, multi-layered and impulsive. They evoke the Mississippi Delta at high noon, T. Rex and the early Stones, garage bands without number, and even the late, great Ali Farka Touré, but with ornate, back-leaning rhythms that stride, limp, twirl and spring ahead at the speed of light. The closing instrumental interplay on 'Amdagh' is mind-boggling, but only one of many such highlights. Wielding their guitars like icy-hot torches of change and enlightenment, these indigo-swathed musicians, masked to their hawk-like eyes, have fashioned a potent, blues-like sound that makes the hips itchy -- it's impossible to stand still around this music!"

Artist:	TERAKAFT
Title:	Aratan N Azawad
Label:	WORLD VILLAGE (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$19.00
Catalog #:	WORLD 479052

"Formed in 2001, the Malian group Terakaft (whose name is Tamashek for 'caravan') affirms its reputation as a genuine desert blues-rock band in this, its hypnotic third album. With their swirling guitar riffs, subterranean bass and shattering percussion, these blue bloods of the Sahara mine the legacy of master guitarists John Cipollina and Jimi Hendrix. The stark, harsh conditions of the desert permeate their wild riffs, and they are the perfect embodiment of all that is wild and free in desert blues today. Terakaft was formed in 2001 with a line-up that included two former members of Tinariwen. The band features a perfect mix of two rhythm guitars (one keeping the beat effortlessly, the other soaring and sweet) and the deep, heartbeat tones of the bass, resembling the delicate but strong steps of a camel making its way through the desert."

Previous Page Index of Artists Next Page