Tinariwen – The Radio Tisdas Sessions
This is a record that I found from trawling the racks. It was the cover that intrigued me – a guy playing electric guitar in desert robes in a tent. I had to find out more. Tinariwen were a band that had an extended tribe, so people would come in and take over the vocals. They had different players. Later I learnt that the leader would take his guitar and go off into the desert and write the album under the stars. Years later I met up with them and discussed me and Brian Eno going out and spending time with their tribe, the Tuareg, and recording with them in the hills of Mali. We talked about it and started to plan it out, and then Underworld went on tour and that was that. Brian and I still talk about it. I listen to a lot of African music, that fantastic polyrhythmic, joyous tumbling sound which, for me, was techno. They did it so beautifully and made it sound haunting. They are a phenomenal group. This album was their first – it was recorded by a French group who had heard about their music and just went out to the desert and found them. It’s crudely beautiful.