WAY LATE TO THIS PARTY

Last night just before shutting down the fort and going to bed, I clicked on one last thing just for the hell of it, a random African looking video in the YouTube sidebar . Mdou Moctar. Never heard of him. Click. Holy shit. I'm sure this outfit is well known, the gotta be. They're simply too interesting not to be. The video I checked documents what was supposed to be a video shoot of a band playing in someones yard in the outskirts of town in Niamey, Niger. From the description of the video: "One day, we quietly set up in front of the house to film a few songs. Despite our relative isolation, the noise of the band inevitably attracted a crowd. What started as the four of us simply playing a few songs for a camera turned into a three-night run of rowdy concerts, bringing in hundreds of eager listeners." Cool.

So what does he/they sound like? Hard to describe. His Wikipedia page says his music is "modern rock music inspired by Tuareg guitar music". So what is "Tuareg guitar music"? This is where it gets sticky. Wikipedia says that is what critics refer to it as a "fusion of blues and rock music with Tuareg, Malian or North African music". That tells you as much as it tells me. So, here's my take. First off, I wouldn't really call it rock music, psych yes, though when I was listening a few unrelated bands came to mind, whether it was the instrumentation or overall sound.  I'm sure that they weren't influences, only a shared sound. Some of the music was drone-like, sort of like the Velvet Underground at their most repetitive. Other parts reminded me of the Talking Heads, Stereolab or the first Modern Lovers LP. The one thing that really struck me was that, in parts, this is what the Beatles were attempting when George hauled out the sitar. It's good shit if you like exotic sounds with really intricate guitar. Seriously, the playing is amazing. Oh yeah, that's another thing. The interplay with the stringed instruments brought to mind Televsion's fret work.

When I did a web search I found tons of shit. The stuff posted here is just the tip of the iceberg. In other words, there goes my night.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Mdou Moctar - Chismiten mp3 at Internet Archive
Mdou Moctar - Taliat mp3 at Internet Archive
Mdou Moctar - Ya Habibti mp3 at Internet Archive
Mdou Moctar - Six more at Internet Archive
Video:
Mdou Moctar - Live at the Niger River at YouTube