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Tag: Mdou Moctar
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Mdou Moctar plays the world’s greatest anti-imperialist desert psychedelic guitar
“If we stay silent, it will be the end of us,” Mdou Moctar sings in French on the title track of his new album, Afrique Victime (Matador). If there’s one thing you can say for sure about Moctar, it’s that he’s not silent. The Nigerien guitarist keeps one hand on the tradition of Saharan Tuareg […]
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Tuareg guitar group Les Filles de Illighadad lock into their groove as a touring band
Fatour Seidi Ghali is surely not the first person to become enamored of an older sibling’s guitar. When she was about ten, her older brother, Ahmoudou Madassane (who currently plays rhythm guitar for Mdou Moctar), brought a guitar from Libya back to their home in Illighadad, Niger. Since Tuareg girls aren’t encouraged to pick up […]
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After a 16-year wait, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Matt Sweeney resurface as Superwolves
When wolves form a pack, they form bonds that last a lifetime. A similar feeling of familiarity and connection suffuses the duo project of Will Oldham (aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy) and Matt Sweeney. Each musician is an indisputable titan in his field: Sweeney made his name as a guitarist for 80s cult favorites Skunk and […]
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Mdou Moctar is ready to rock
The story of Mdou Moctar’s early years reads like show-business boilerplate. Growing up in a conservative rural town in central Niger, he had neither money nor parental permission to buy a guitar, so he scavenged items such as bits of wood and bicycle brake cables until he had enough parts to build his own. Moctar […]
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Hairspray at Pritzker Pavilion and more of the best things to do in Chicago this week
The film A Quiet Place and more goings-on 6/4-6/7.
Posted inMusic
The stylistic range of Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar runs as deep as the communal roots of his music
Mdou Moctar’s albums bring to mind the parable of the blind men and the elephant; taken individually, each one gives a misleading impression of the Nigerien artist’s full measure. His first recording, Anar (Sahel Sounds), is a cheap digital production with galloping drum loops and liberally auto-tuned vocals that would be the perfect soundtrack for […]
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The brightest lights at the 2017 World Music Festival
The World Music Festival is a constellation of international stars—including Afrobeat scion Seun Kuti, rambunctious Cape Verdean accordionist Bitori, and Afro-Venezuelan flame keeper Betsayda Machado.