Mdou Moctar
"Afrique Victime" (Matador)
Nigerian guitarist and bandleader Mdou Moctar cites Eddie Van Halen and Prince as inspirations, but he belongs to the lineage of Tuareg desert blues that includes the venerable Ali Farka Toure and Tinariwen, and younger peers such as Bombino and Songhoy Blues.
The music of the nomadic Tuareg people has traditionally been an act of life-affirming protest, and on "Afrique Victime," his sixth studio album, Moctar sings, in Tamashek and French, of displacement, women's rights and the ravages of colonialism alongside songs of religious devotion and earthly love.
Although recorded in studios in the Netherlands and the United States while his band was on tour, the album crackles with the energy and immediacy of a live performance. Rhythm guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane, drummer Souleymane Ibrahim and American bassist Michael Coltun lock into forceful grooves, and it's easy to imagine these songs, most of which are in the three- to five-minute range, stretching much longer to give Moctar's dazzling solos room to grow. The seven-and-a-half-minute title track, which builds to some wild, noisy feedback, is the album's centerpiece.