It’s been twenty years that Tamikrest representing the music and culture Kel Tamasheq (Touareg) people of the Sahara and Tamikrest means ‘connection’ or ‘union’ in Tamasheq. Assikel is the band’s new album and the title means ‘voyage’ or ‘journey’ and draws on just how the band have come in those two decades.
Earlier albums such as Tamotaït (2020) and Kidal (2017) feel more upbeat and, despite what they describe as the “simmering intensity” of their “passion for their people and the centuries of injustice they’ve endured”, there is an inherent and optimistic bounce to the songs. Assikel is their sixth studio album and feels far more motivated by a sorrowful rage. We might not understand the language but there are times when you can hear the frustration and anguish of the many Kel Tamasheq people forced to leave Northern Mali (250,000 people have fled to Mauritania since 2012). The brooding melancholy of the album’s overarching tone would speak to any refugee cut off from their native land.
“O my soul… what can I do in the face of this pain,
Without escape, without refuge,
That follows me like a shadow
Since my first breaths as a child.”
From ‘Imanin’
Musically, the album has all the wonderful aspects of desert blues. Where I hear the influence of a humid delta and the clatter of freight trains on the songs of John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, and Elmore James, Tamikrest have baked their blues in the hot sun and somehow manage to capture a widescreen view of the Sahara as well as the lush aspects of the country’s fertile south. As with all their music guitars, bass and the myriad other stringed instruments overlap and dance together in dizzying perfection and the percussion that often drives the songs adds so much fizz and syncopation that your body can’t help moving. The vocals put me in mind of the forever turning patterns of fractal geometry with elegant tunes that curl over the backing like smoke from a fire. There is also wonderful use of slide guitar on ‘Aiytma’ and lap steel on songs like ‘Adagh Oyantid’ and some heart-breaking playing on ‘Iman Derhan Nasn’ that could make Dave Gilmour weep.
Most impressively this is an album recorded live. It perfectly demonstrates the telepathic relationship the band members have with each other. To be able to play with such effortless fluidity is a testament to their skill and trust in each other, and you could be forgiven for thinking that the music plays through them as much as they are the players.
The longing and sadness from being part of an unwilling diaspora is woven into Assikel but it has led to Tamikrest making their most atmospheric and affecting album to date.
Ousmane Ag Mossa: lead vocals, electric & acoustic guitar / Cheikh Ag Tiglia: bass, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, djembe, percussion / Paul Salvagnac: electric guitar, lap steel, dobro, tumba tumba / Cédric Momo Maurel: calabash, dhol, bendhir, tumba tumba, djembe, tube
Tamikrest: Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
Glitterbeat Records: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram | YouTube
Mon 8 June – The Hug and Pint, Glasgow venue change
Tue 9 June – Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds
Thu 11 June – Norwich Arts Centre, Norwich
Fri 12 June – Strange Brew, Bristol
Sun 14 June – Jazz Café, London
Mon 15 June – Band On The Wall, Manchester
Tue 16 June – The Hope & Ruin, Brighton
Sat 22 August – Green Man Festival, Wales
Review by Paul F Cook
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