America's knowledge of African culture is quite minimal, but the tireless work of Alan Bishop and his Sublime Frequencies label has helped us come to a better understanding of some of the music and many folk rituals found across the greater African continent. The latest from Niger import Group Bombino provides another mind-altering picture of musical idioms from an ocean and a lifetime away.Guitars from Agadez Volume 2 serves not only as a passport to exotic African ports of call but as an empowering recording. Brimming with a spirit often neglected in America’s cogs and gears, Group Bombino unleash protest after protest in vibrant song. Akin to the folk explosion that occurred during the '60s, Group Bombino are keeping their own folk traditions alive in the face of injustice—and though the plight of Agadez is far more sinister than the less than civilized clashes between flower power and '50s conservatism, it is an energy that any listener with the slightest amount of soul can relate to with each listen.
Group Bombino perform two distinct styles throughout the course of Guitars from Agadez Vol. 2.The first half of the album is ‘dry,’ a bucolic style reliant on flesh-created percussion and acoustic guitar. It is the sound of defiant buskers singing of poverty, neglect, and their second-class status. The melodies aren’t far removed from the ragas and psychedelic finger pickings of modern Western folk but the tone is far more exultant and less understated. The idea of music as celebration is explored and that it is done so without any other pretense beyond making music for the masses of Agadez, the results are triumphant.
The energy is dialed up as Guitars from Agadez transitions from acoustic roots into the frenzied electric stylings associated with Taureg. The atmosphere is still thick with oppression and defiance but the happy mood of celebration continues to infect each jangly strum. Just as a generation of hippies protested the shackles of commonality in the face of Vietnam, the music of Group Bombino and his village do so to their Nigerian governmental objectors. This is the beauty of Guitars from Agadez—we are witness to a movement, not only of body but that of mind and soul. We may stand aghast at the idea of a people trapped by landmines and fear but we can also relate to the idea of celebrating community and the resources and family you do have.
The work of Sublime Frequencies does more than we may ever know to educate a generation of adventurous music lovers about the trials of African life, and though we may never fully comprehend the ups and downs of the motherland, we can appreciate its majesty in the songs of its indigenous people. Group Bombino takes pride in maintaining Agadez’s rich music heritage and the sacrifices they make only fuel the soul of Guitars from Agadez. We’re a society spoon-fed on technological spoils and slick corporate creations but Ghoumour Oumara Moctar Bombino and his ragtag crew is untouched by what we take for granted and emboldened by what they do not.
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