Tinariwen and Tunng

Collaborations do seem to have a niche spot in the music world, be it Bing Crosby and David Bowie or Motorhead and the Nolan sisters. Tonight, following on from a spot on Radio 3's late Junction, Tinaraiwen, and Tunng have got together to present their own fusion of folk and world music desert blues.

Tinariwen, meaning 'desert', 'land' or 'Space', first came to my attention via a sampler CD many years ago which was enough to wet my appetite but not quite enough to put 2 feet in the water, which is a bit odd for a band from the desert. I did manage to see them at the Cambridge festival in 2005 where they came across as rather enigmatic but their sultry grooves captured and created a soothing vibe that maybe confused but amused the more fully qualified folkie.Since the release of their 2007 album 'Aman Iman' they've gone from strength to strength.

Tunng formed in 2003 and are loosely described as 'folktronica'. It's all quite wonderful how different genre's kept being bandied about year on year and how they seem to represent an era of music should their sucess transcend local support. Maybe we're due some 'credit crunch punk' soon which may be a good thing in these desperate cash struck times. Tunng have been noted for often using odd instruments during their gigs( e.g. sea shells) which gives us a certain degree of quirkiness. I do remember seeing a band called This Heat in the past where the drummer added a Quality Street tin to his lo-fi kit. This didn't provide a quality sound and there were no roses on offer either.

At 8.45pm a trio of Tinariwen members take to the stage dressed in tribal robes and a swirling sound of acoustic and electric guitars, aided and abetted by a hand drum swathes over the crowd. You can see straight away why descriptions such as 'hypnotic' are often used in connection with this band. They really could be Derren Brown's warm up if they wanted.They hit us with a couple of songs that are by turns soothing, menacing and welcoming. Meanwhile the crowd try to work out what dance moves go with this sort of stuff but it really is going with the flow really.The songs create an aural soundscape rather than any real semblance of a traditional structured song and it works just fine.



After this introduction they are joined by Tunng and it's announced that this will be a slightly experimental evening with both bands playing each others songs and seeing how it all pans out.The energy level is upped a notch with the addition the Tunng collective and songs of powerful rhythmns start to gather momentum with added bass that would resolve any blocked ear type problems.

Tinariwen lead on a song about a freedom fighter who died in 1985 and the music matches the passionate and powerful message. Becky Jacobs (a bit of a Bjork lookalike) from Tunng takes vocals on and starts off with a wind up toy birdcage so the quirky instrument box is nicely ticked and to be fair we all like a good ticking every now and again. I also get the feeling that the bands are really starting to enjoy the interaction between their own musical styles and there's an understated effortlessness to the sounds being presented to us all.

There really is some joyous guitar work going on here and it blossoms during a song about...well tea. This is an important aspect of desert life and it's introduced with the explanation that this drink can be bitter, sweet and light which is a certain philosophy on life generally. Ok, it's not quite the next Ty-Phoo soundtrack but it's a fine song and one that might be given a PG certificate in the future.



Towards the end there's a guitar freak out of a distinctive desert heavy metal bent that wouldn't be out of place at the next Download festival.It's quite a sight with the a full ensemble giving it their all.The combined group end with Tunng's signature tune 'Bullets' and it's a strident and compelling performance that doesn't fire blanks and the crowd sing along with the refrain at the end, a hail of bullets if you like.

There's a brief gap, presumably to have some tea, and they're all back to encore with some very palatable if slightly indulgent bluesy tunes. As an experiment I think it's fair to say that this was pretty much a success. It won't get you dancing in any traditional way but making up your own moves would be half the fun anyway.

The cross cultural mish mash of styles influences both bands and takes them into each others musical background with a surprisingly commercial sound at times. They'd be a certainty for Jool's Holland's 'Later' and would fit the 'something different' section very nicely. So, whilst I'm not converted quite yet I was entertained and interested by both bands adventurousness in going for this collaboration. Now, I'm off home for a cup of tea.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.