The fourth album from Mali’s Touareg blues rockers Tinariwen – Imidiwan:Companions – is released on Independiente on June 29. But you can hear the whole album right now exclusively through Songlines by following the link below.

With a rock’n’roll backstory to put most to shame, Tinariwen’s founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib discovered the electric guitar and the sounds of American and British rock’n’roll in the Libyan training camps Colonel Gaddafi set up to train Touareg tribesmen fighting against the central government in Mali in the 90s.

Tinariwen eventually became an important part of the Touareg rebellion, playing to the fighters before they went into battle. Their rolling desert blues with raw guitar licks found a following in the global world music scene and their popularity has since spilled out into the mainstream, where they are being championing by the likes of Radiohead and Bono and supporting the Rolling Stones in concert.

Over recent years, the chord linking US rock’n’roll back through the blues to West African traditional music has become increasingly visible, thanks to Western collaborators like Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal and Robert Plant. What Tinariwen have done so well is to take up that link from the other side and create a fantastic fusion of the two estranged traditions that is bringing great Malian rock’n’roll to the US, the UK and the world.

Hear the new Tinariwen album Imidiwan:Companions now exclusively through Songlines:

http://soundcloud.com/songlines/sets/tinariwen-imidiwan-companions

Free Download

The Guardian is offering a free download of the track ‘Lulla’ from the new album:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/audio/2009/jun/11/tinariwen-lulla-download

www.tinariwen.com

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