There have always been two sides to the music of Nigerien guitarist and bandleader Mdou Moctar: the electric and the acoustic, the sweaty ballroom and the evening campfire, the wedding dance and the lament.If Mdou Moctar’s terrific 2024 album Funeral for Justice was the electric sound of the furious political …
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Five months ago, Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar released a new album called Funeral for Justice, a furious, frenetic fusion of psychedelia, hard rock, and West African desert blues that left critics across the globe stunned. “It’s hard to miss the sound of righteous fury in its opening guitar chords,” wrote …
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Ahead of tour dates in Europe and the United States, Mdou Moctar have released video of a special performance in Agadez, Niger, that they filmed last year. A 47-minute video, titled The Agadez Folders: Live at Sultan’s Palace, shows the band rocking out as men on camels watch and people …
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In 2021, Mdou Moctar toldRolling Stone,“My music is going to become more inspired by revolution.” That promise was truth in advertising. For more than a decade, the Tuareg guitarist/singer-songwriter, who fronts the band that shares his name, has been staking out a space as a radical guitar innovator as well …
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Mdou Moctar have dropped a scorching new plea, “Imouhar,” off the Nigerien band’s upcoming album, Funeral for Justice, out May 3 via Matador. “Imouhar” begins with a shaggy, lo-fi groove but quickly launches into the kind of propulsive, head-spinning desert blues Mdou Moctar’s best known for, replete — of course …
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Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar and his band are back with a new song, “Funeral for Justice,” the opener and title track for his next album, out May 3 via Matador Records. The scorching new track is stuffed with dizzying riffs that always seem to lead to downbeat punches. The lyrics …
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Mdou Moctar, the acclaimed Tuareg guitarist, has launched a GoFundMe to help him and his bandmates stay in the United States since military officers in his home country of Niger overthrew its leadership in a coup d’état last month. Moctar, whose full name is Mahamadou Souleymane, and his Nigerien bandmates …
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What is a folk festival to do after becoming a global news story? That was the central question for this year’s Newport Folk Festival, which over the past half-decade has drawn increased attention with a slew of surprise guests, world premieres, and special appearances — from Dolly Parton to Chaka …
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Jeff Tweedy, Waxahatchee, Björk, and more will share new music and insights into their creative lives and relationships with sound on the new podcast series, Listening. Hosted by Elia Einhorn, each episode of Listening will find guest artists discussing the way they listen to music and hear the world, while …
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