Etran Finatawa - Tarkat Tajje/Let's Go

by Lisa Torem

published: 3 / 7 / 2010

Label: Riverboat
Format: CD

Passionate third album recorded in the UK from Niger-based group, Etran Finatwa

Review

‘Introducing Etran Finatawa’ and the follow-up CD ‘Desert Crosswords’ revealed the scorching Saharan desert sonar landscape that Niger-based Etran Finatawa have passionately cultivated. These World Music purveyors have entertained US audiences three times and have also traveled throughout Europe and their native land drawing appreciative accolades. The latest project, ‘Tarkat Tajje/Let’s Go', produced at Real World Studios in the UK by Colin Bass, is both sweltering and hypnotically irresistible. The band consists of tribes men from the Tuareg and Wodaabe peoples; they live side by side and draw from distinct musical traditions, but made the decision to merge these disparate styles to form nomadic blues. Anivolla Alhousseini Mohamed, the Tuareg guitarist, plucks, wavers and intones hypnotic repetitive riffs. Wodaabe singer Bammo Angonla’s voice has a high-pitched pure and child-like grace. Vocal call and response, upbeat, but subtle, rhythmic handclaps, percussive slaps on gourds and those intricate string configurations fuse to showcase a stunning oasis of contagious sound. These nomads, though committed to their rich traditional lifestyle, are currently fighting for survival. With grazing pastures in peril and the threat of poverty and global intervention imminent, they use their music to heal and communicate their woes and accomplishments. Their mission resembles paths taken by mavericks such as the rail-riding Woody Guthrie; though impassioned by their heritage, they are compelled to keep alive their stories for posterity. Children in their native Niger know their songs by heart. The lyrics are sung in their native languages; Tamashek and Fulfulde, however, the warmth and earnest messages don’t get lost in murky translation. ‘Tarkat Tajje/Let’s Go’ does wonders for the soul.