Tinariwen - Aman Iman: Water is Life

For a group of desert nomads, Water is indeed Life. Tinariwen's Aman Iman: Water is Life seems to make it clear that second only to water is music and the expression it offers. Aman Iman is high-level world music. It's not for dilettantes or dabblers; it's too inaccessible, too untamed, too intense. Hard-core world music listeners, though, will not be able to resist, for the exact same reasons.

Tinariwen's music can best be described as wailing. The guitars wail, the voices wail, even the drums and handclapping seem to wail... it's a sound one might expect from a group of people whose lives have been steeped in unbelievable pain, hardship and persecution. The Tuareg people are nomads, reviled by most regional governments, frequently hard-up for basic needs like food and water, frequently finding themselves in the middle of wars and famines. The members of Tinariwen are real Tuaregs, who live this lifestyle as their daily existence - they've got the bullet scars to prove it.

Music this intense doesn't come from people who live easy lives, or even most people who live hard lives. It's not easy listening, to be sure. Even without understanding the lyrics, it's clear that they're full of the most acute kind of pain. From the heavily polyrhythmic opener "Cler Achel" to the quietly plaintive closer "Izarharh Tenere", Aman Iman is a simply breathtaking album.

March 13, 2007