Rolling Stone Mdou Moctar’s Songs of Revolution and Love
The Tuareg guitar hero on his excellent new album and the ongoing fight for freedom and justice in neocolonial Niger
By WH Moustapha
Mdou Moctar was halfway around the world, in the middle of a lengthy tour in 2019, when his partner gave birth. The Tuareg guitarist, who hails from the Saharan desert City of Agadez in central Niger and is the latest in a growling line of
tishoumaren (loosely translated to “desert blues”) musicians to find a receptive audience abroad, was already missing his hometown “the vibrations of my environment,” as he put it in a recent interview with
The circumstances of a fatal Catasauqua police shooting are similar to scenarios that play out across the country with distressing regularity. People suffering mental health crises, sometimes threatening suicide with a deadly weapon, end up in a standoff with police. Are crisis intervention programs the answer?
Spiral. Theyâve also shared a new song, âThe Limit.â Hear the track, and find the
Spiral tracklist and cover art, below.
Darkside announced
Spiral late last year and shared the track âLiberty Bell.â The LP is out July 23 via Matador. Back in 2013, Darkside issued their debut full-length
âFrom the beginning, Darkside has been our jam band. Something we did on days off,â Jaar said in a press release. âWhen we reconvened, it was because we really couldn t wait to jam together again.â
Harrington added, âIt felt like it was time again. We do things in this band that we would never do on our own. Darkside is the third being in the room that just kind of occurs when we make music together.â
Darkside s Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington. Credit: Jed DeMoss
Darkside, the duo of Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington, have revealed the details of their long-awaited sophomore LP. They previously announced the album late last year along with the single ‘Liberty Bell’, and have today (April 8) shared a new song called ‘The Limit’. Check it out below and scroll down for the album’s cover artwork and tracklist.
“From the beginning, Darkside has been our jam band. Something we did on days off,” Jaar said in a statement. “When we reconvened, it was because we really couldn’t wait to jam together again.”