Group Inerane
Guitars From Agadez, Vol. 3
Sublime Frequencies
In many ways, the
nomadic Tuaregs of
the Sahara remain
stubbornly immune to
modernity—a small
miracle in these days of
hyper-connectivity and
viral culture. But over the last 30 years or so, the
barriers to cultural homogeneity (brought about
by geography, politics, and tradition) enabled
a unique musical bouillabaisse to brew among
the Tuareg—an electric guitar-based mélange of
traditional Arab song and the sounds of Hendrix,
Dylan, James Brown, and John Lee Hooker
gleaned from cassettes carried on foot and camel-back
between Saharan trading posts.
A few of these groups—most notably Tuareg
guitar pioneers Tinarawen—have reached
European and North American listeners, but few
offer a Tuareg guitar experience as raw and fiery
as Group Inerane.
Guitars from Agadez Vol. 3 is
essentially a field recording of a band making
supremely intense, imaginative, and original guitar
music in the face of no-joke, real-world adversity.
Before this recording, second guitarist Adi
Mohamed was shot and killed in violence related
to the political strife in Tuareg lands.
Fellow guitarist Bibi Ahmed and the rest of
the band carried on in the wake of the tragedy,
and the results are some of the most intense
and ecstatic guitar grooves ever committed to
record. If you’re a stickler for high fidelity, these
are not antiseptic studio recordings. But they
are absolutely thrilling for their naked grittiness.
Through these heated and hazy trances you can
hear the echoes—or is it seeds?—of John Lee
Hooker’s swamp grooves, Keith Richards’ stinging
open-tuned explorations, and the Velvet
Underground’s street-trucking rave ups. It’s white
hot and hypnotic, truly electric folk music by
some of the most original electric guitar players
alive today.