Mdou Moctar shares “Tumastin” from upcoming album due March 29th.

Mdou Moctar presents his newest  single, “Tumastin,” from the upcoming full length, Ilana: The Creator (out 3/29 on Sahel Sounds). A departure from the high energy wedding rock synonymous with Tuareg guitar, “Tumastin” further showcases Mdou’s versatility, in what might be the first of its kind of Saharan shoegaze. Singing with ghostly reverbed vocals over echoing-with-whammy wow and fluttering guitars, Mdou sounds a plaintive note for his “Tumastin,” or “people back home.” Nostalgic with a steady loping drum crash, it ends in dreamy, Julie Cruise-inspired reprieve.
 

LISTEN TO “TUMASTIN”
https://youtu.be/kqaHGTQpoTY

 
The song is premiered in conjunction with an interview with Stereogumwho today named Mdou an “Artist to Watch,” making him, by our count, the first Tuareg guitarist to be named as such.
 
Don’t miss Mdou on tour this Spring, as he brings his electrifying shows to our continent.
 

“TUMASTIN” LYRICS
My people are dispersed
across different countries
It hurts my heart
With such pain
it stops the blood
from running in my veins
 
For me
it is my heart that pains me
with a deep sadness
as I pity the women
who live in the desert
 
Look at the other countries
And look at the world before us
The men don’t sleep
but work hard
To bring the women
into the shade
What a beautiful idea
 
PRAISE FOR “KAMANE TARHANIN”
 
“It’s easy to imagine the breadth of Mocatar’s musical influences. [‘Kamane Tarhanin’] is a droning, hypnotic, and psychedelic meditation.” – NPR Music
 
“blistering and gritty psych rock” – Stereogum
 
“While nothing captures the live Mdou Moctar experience, this is as close as I’ve heard.”
 Afropop Worldwide
 
MDOU MOCTAR TOUR DATES
Thu. March 28 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Andy Warhol Museum
Fri. March 29 – Cleveland, OH @ Now That’s Class
Sat. March 30 – Detroit, MI @ Trinosophes
Sun. March 31 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe
Mon. April 1 – Newport, KY @ Southgate House Revifval – Sanctuary
Tue. April 2 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
Wed. April 3 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop
Thu. April 4 – Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
Fri. April 5 – Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee Psych Festival
Sat. April 6 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
Sun. April 7 – Omaha, NE @ Pageturners Lounge
Mon. April 8 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
Tue. April 9 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Wed. April 10 – Garden City, ID @ Visual Arts Collective
Fri. April 12 – Olympia, WA @ Octapas
Sat. April 13 – Portland, OR @ Star Theater
Sun. April 14 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
Tue. April 16 – Felton, CA @ Flynn’s Cabaret
Thu. April 18 – Oakland, CA @ Red Bay Coffee
Fri. April 19 – Visalia, CA @ The Cellar Door
Sat. April 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
Sun. April 21 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
Mon. April 22 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole
Tue. April 23 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister
Thu. April 25 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas
Fri. April 26 – Lafayette, LA @ Festival International de Louisiane
Sat. April 27 – Lafayette, LA @ Festival International de Louisiane
Sun. April 28 – New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Tue. April 30 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
Fri. June 28 – Sun. June 30 – North Adams, MA @ Solid Sound Festival
 

Pre-order Ilana (The Creator) – 
https://mdoumoctar.bandcamp.com/album/ilana-the-creator

Hi-res images, album art & bio available here: http://pitchperfectpr.com/mdou-moctar/

Mdou Moctar Online:
https://mdoumoctar.bandcamp.com/
https://sahelsounds.com/mdou-moctar/
https://www.facebook.com/mdoumoctarofficial/

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you split.]

Mdou Moctar’s new album, “Ilana (The Creator),” due March 29th.

Tuareg guitarist and songwriter Mdou Moctar is proud to announce his new album – his first recorded in a proper studio – Ilana (The Creator) – out Mar. 29th on Sahel Sounds. He has shared the first single, “Kamane Tarhanin,” and has announced spring tour dates in support of the new record.

LISTEN TO “KAMANE TARHANIN” https://bit.ly/2QOrZBh

Mdou Moctar immediately stands out as one of the most innovative artists in contemporary Saharan music. His unconventional interpretations of Tuareg guitar have pushed him to the forefront of a crowded scene. Back home, he’s celebrated for his original compositions and verbose poetry, an original creator in a genre defined by cover bands. In the exterior, where Saharan rock has become one of the continents biggest musical exports, he’s earned a name for himself with his guitar moves. Mdou shreds with a relentless and frenetic energy that utterly sets him apart.

Mdou Moctar hails from a small village in central Niger in a remote region steeped in religious tradition. Growing up in an area where secular music was all but prohibited, he taught himself to play on a homemade guitar cobbled together out of wood. It was years before he found a “real” guitar and taught himself to play in secret. His immediately became a star amongst the village youth.

In 2008, Mdou traveled to Nigeria to record his debut album of spacey autotune, drum machine, and synthesizer. The album became a viral hit on the mp3 networks of West Africa, and was later released on the compilation Music from Saharan Cellphones. In 2013, he released Afelan, compiled from field recordings of his performances recorded in his village. Then he shifted gears, producing and starring in the first Tuareg language film, a remake of Prince’s Purple Rain (Rain the Color Blue with a Little Red in It). Finally, in 2017, he created a solo folk album, Sousoume Tamachek, a mellow blissed out recording evoking the calm desert soundscape. Without a band present, he played every instrument on the record. “I am a very curious person and I want to push Tuareg music far,” he says.

A long time coming, Ilana is Mdou’s first true studio album with a live band. Recorded in Detroit at the tail end of a US tour by engineer Chris Koltay (the two met after bonding over ZZ Top’s Tres Hombres), the band lived in the studio for a week, playing into the early hours. Mdou was accompanied by an all-star band: Ahmoudou Madassane’s (Les Filles de Illighadad) lighting fast rhythm guitar, Aboubacar Mazawadje’s machine gun drums, and Michael Coltun’s structured low-end bass. The album was driven by lots of spontaneity – Mdou’s preferred method of creation – jumping into action whenever inspiration struck. The resulting tracks were brought back to Niger to add final production: additional guitar solos, overdubs of traditional percussion, and a general ambiance of Agadez wedding vibes.

The result is Mdou’s most ambitious record to date. Ilana takes the tradition laid out by the founders into hyperdrive, pushing Tuareg guitar into an ever louder and blistering direction. For Mdou, his style is to draw on both modern and traditional sources and combine elements into new forms. In “Ilana” Mdou reaches back into Tuareg folklore for inspiration, riffing on the hypnotic loops of takamba griots, or borrowing vocal patterns from polyphonic nomad songs, and combining them with his signature guitar. You can hear the effect in tracks like “Kamane Tarhanin,” where a call and response lyric lifts up over a traditional vocal hum before breaking into a wailing solo with tapping techniques learned from watching Youtube videos of Eddie Van Halen.

As Mdou travels the world, he divides his time between two places, alternating from lavish weddings in Agadez to sold out concerts in Berlin nightclubs. It offers a unique perspective, but also means that he needs to address different audiences. At home, his compositions send a message to his people. Abroad, his music is an opportunity to be heard and represent his people on a world stage.

ILANA (THE CREATOR) TRACKLISTING 1. Kamane Tarhanin 2. Ashet Akal 3. Inizgam 4. Anna 5. Takamba 6. Tarhatazed 7. Wiwasharnine 8. Ilana 9. Tumastin

MDOU MOCTAR TOUR DATES  Tue. January 22 – Harrisonburg, VA @ The Golden Pony Thu. March 28 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Andy Warhol Museum Fri. March 29 – Cleveland, OH @ Now That’s Class Sat. March 30 – Detroit, MI @ Trinosophes Sun. March 31 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Tue. April 2 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups Wed. April 3 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop Thu. April 4 – Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle Fri. April 5 – Milwaukee, WI @ Milwaukee Psych Festival Sat. April 6 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center Mon. April 8 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall Tue. April 9 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge Fri. April 12 – Olympia, WA @ Octapas Sat. April 13 – Portland, OR @ Star Theater Sat. April 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon Sun. April 21 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah Tue. April 23 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Thu. April 25 – Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas Fri. April 26 – Lafayette, LA @ TBA Sat. April 27 – Lafayette, LA @ TBA Sun. April 28 – New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

Pre-order Ilana (The Creator) – https://mdoumoctar.bandcamp.com/album/ilana-the-creator

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you split.]