we’re back folks! welcome us!

i was inspired to post by the always righteous Sublime Frequencies label’s new release, Guitars from Agadez, Vol. 2, featuring the Taureg band Group Bombino. I’ll let the label’s press clipping speak for itself, but let me just say this is amazing stuff. if you’re not up on the Western Saharan guitar “scene” (if you will), and you’re into African music or just want to hear something completely new, original, psychadelic and full of life, do yourself a favor and check this release out. in fact, if you’re into “world” music at all, check out Sublime Frequencies to really find a goldmine of really fantastic stuff from all over Asia, Northern Africa and the Middle East (the label was started by Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls to give you a reference point.) they also have a couple of pretty amazing, extremely lo-fi dvds documenting some of the stuff they’ve released.

here’s the description from SF:::

“Group Bombino is the latest salvo from the Agadez music scene. Led by the guitar virtuoso Omara Mochtar (Bombino), the group’s debut LP– Volume two in the Guitars from Agadez series, represents the latest chapter in the modern sound of the Tuareg revolution. As of 2008, the Tuareg rebellion is in full force again, and Bombino is in exile to parts unknown. Agadez has been cut off from the rest of Niger. The only road that connects this legendary city with the rest of the country is littered with land mines and the only escorts are the military. This music and its messages of hope, justice, and desire for validation of the Kel Tamachek way of life ring louder than ever. Group Bombino are gaining mythic status in and around the Tuareg community for their incendiary live performances. Coming from the same scene as Group Inerane and sharing some of the same musicians, Group Bombino showcase both sides of the Tuareg Guitar style. Side one features the “Dry Guitar” sound, an unplugged selection of songs sung among the dunes and stars of the Tenere desert. Side two showcases the electric fury of the full band, a melding of heavy, psychedelic guitar heroics with a raw garage sound, back beat percussion, all swirling in extended trance rock moves. Recorded live and unfiltered in Agadez and the surrounding desert in early 2007, with the band’s equipment powered by generators and an unflinching dedication to the rebellion, Group Bombino’s music transcends any influence and ignites the raw passion of its message to the outside world. This is a one-time pressing of 1,500 copies. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl and comes in a gatefold full color jacket stocked with great photos of the musicians and liner notes by Hisham Mayet.”

here’s a track to get you started from Group Bombino:
Boghassa

and a video from another picklebilly favorite, the band from Guitars from Agadez Vol. 1, Group Inerane:

dinger pictured here in 1971 with Neu! mate Michael Rother

in the how did i find out so late about this column goes the untimely passing of the great krautrock drummer Klaus Dinger, who passed away on March 21nd as a result of heart failure at age 61. founding member of one of the essential krautrock bands, Neu!, early member of Kraftwerk and later member of La Dusseldorf and the combo band La! Neu?, Dinger was (at least to me) instantly recognizable for his self-described “apache beat”, the quintessential definition of “motorik.” r.i.p. klaus