'Let's Go'
Etran Finatawa bring their Nigerian desert rock to Levitt Pavilion
By Bliss 07/15/2010
We talk about living in a desert here, but let’s be real. Thanks to the diversion of the once-mighty Colorado River we live in a land of well-manicured plenty. Even the Joshua tree-speckled steppes of the Mojave, to the east, seem downright hospitable when compared to the merciless dunes of the African Sahara. Yet nomadic tribes have survived there for centuries — and in recent years the desert rock made by bands from the western Sahara has sparked global interest. One such group, Nigeria’s Etran Finatawa, headlines Levitt Pavilion Friday night.
It’s all but impossible to discuss Etran Finatawa (“the stars of tradition”) without mentioning Tinariwen, a crew of Tuareg nomads and onetime rebels from Mali who’ve gone from packing Kalashnikovs alongside their electric guitars on camelback to opening concerts for the Rolling Stones and rocking Coachella. In the eyes of the western world, at least, Tinariwen have set the template for Saharan desert rock, while attracting reams of uncommonly enthusiastic press. Other contemporaries who have also achieved world renown include blind Malian duo Amadou & Mariam, Tuareg/ex-refugee ensemble Tartit and Toumast, featuring ex-Tinariwen member Moussa Ag Keyna.
Etran Finatawa is comprised of nomads from the occasionally feuding Tuareg and Wodaabe tribes; since coming together six years ago they have embraced the symbolic importance of their musical endeavors. Their newest album, “Tarkat Tajje/Let’s Go,” produced by Colin Bass at Real World Studios amidst a UK tour, is a percussive set heavily laced with electric guitar, but it dances with the melodic lilt of the West African folk popularized by Ali Farka Toure and Habib Koite.
In contrast, Tinariwen’s primal, droning rhythms evoke the physical and spiritual isolation of the desert, and front-man Ibrahim Ag Alhabib’s electric guitar leads and keening edge have drawn ample comparisons to Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin. Etran Finatawa, while far from being merry pranksters, echo Jerry Garcia’s idealistic communal gather-ings. With songs like “Aitma (Brother)” and the handclap-introduced “Daandé,”
and even the compulsively danceable “Ummee Ndaaren (Stand Up and Go for the Right Thing),” they’re more inclined to celebrate sunnier human joys wrought by togetherness than the darker forces that often preoccupy Tinariwen’s more dramatically compelling rock. Yet the songs don’t avoid harsh realities. “Diam Walla (No Water)” and “Gourma” address drought and environmental devastation, which is not a matter of academic debate but an everyday challenge to the wellbeing of their communities and livestock. Rhythmically undergirded by calabasse, or Wodaabe gourd drum, and sung in native Tuareg Tamashek and Wodaabe Fulfulde tongues, it does more than Etran Finatawa’s first two albums to establish their individual musical identity.
Etran Finatawa perform at Levitt Pavilion in Memorial Park, 85 E. Holly St., Pasadena, at 8 p.m. Friday. Free admission. Call (626) 683-3230 or visit etranfinatawa.com.
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