Abacabok
Since coming to the attention of Western audiences as part of the Festival In The Desert, the popularity of this mixed-sex band from theTimbukturegion of the West African nation of Mali has nearly equaled that of Tinariwen, anotherTuareg(desert nomad) ensemble. Their sound, while electrifyingly sensual and riveting, is less frenetic and more mellow than that of their more famous compatriots. This second album, recorded studio live in a mobile studio, captures their folkloric, acoustic-electric mix to perfection. In an interesting switch for Muslim tribes-people, the men are veiled while the women go bare-faced and female voices, led by the astonishing Fadimata Walett Oumar, dominate the chant-like vocals. Feverish, repetitive rhythms are pounded out by seated women drummers, wreathed in handclaps and high-pitched, trilling ululations, crowned by guitars, traditional lutes and theimzad, a fiddle graced with but one string and seemingly infinite possibilities. Tartit’s plangent sound is often lumped under the term "African blues", a marketing cliché that has long since become tiresome and anyway does not remotely apply. Their songs, often built on five-tone scales, discuss female empowerment, family matters, gossip and the vagaries of fate. These people are stark realists but there is not a single note of complaint, however dignified, within earshot. --Christina Roden