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Wednesday 9 June 2021

Niamey Blues

Some new music news for you today. About six weeks ago we featured "Tihoussay Tenere", a great new track from our friends Dag Tenere, and mentioned that an EP was on the way. That EP has now arrived.

The EP is called "Iswat", it is available on Bandcamp and at just €5 is an absolute bargain. It is an excellent record from start to finish but if I had to choose only one song it would maybe be the title track. Its just drums and vocals but close your eyes and you can feel yourself being transported to a different place.

Dag Tenere are based in Niamey in Niger. Another band with a Nigerien connection are Kel Assouf who are based in Brussels but whose main man, Anana Ag Haroun, hails from Niger. I was lucky enough to see them live in 2016 when a work trip to Brussels happened to coincide with one of their gigs. They were promoting their album "Tikounen", and it was a great show. Here's a track from that album and one from their heavier follow up "Black Tenere" (both also on Bandcamp).

"Azawad" - Kel Assouf

"Fransa" - Kel Assouf

Hopefully when the world is in a better way we'll all have the chance to see Dag Tenere live. Until then, their records and videos will more than suffice.

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