{"title":"Mdou Moctar","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMdou Moctar is a talented musician from Tchintabaraden and Abalak, Niger. With his unique blend of traditional Tuareg music and modern electric guitar, he has captivated audiences around the world. Mdou's soulful vocals and mesmerizing guitar skills have earned him critical acclaim and a dedicated fan base. His music is a powerful reflection of his cultural heritage and personal experiences, making him an important voice in the global music scene.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThrough his captivating performances and thought-provoking lyrics, Mdou Moctar has become a symbol of resistance and resilience for the Tuareg people. He uses his music as a platform to address social issues such as inequality, political unrest, and environmental challenges faced by his community.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith several albums under his belt, including \"Afelan\" and \"Ilana: The Creator,\" Mdou Moctar continues to push boundaries with his innovative sound. Whether performing at intimate venues or major festivals, he never fails to leave a lasting impression on audiences with his raw talent and undeniable stage presence.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"funeral-for-justice","title":"Funeral For Justice","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eFuneral For Justice\u003c\/i\u003e is the new album by Mdou Moctar. Recorded at the close of two years spent touring the globe following the release of 2019 breakout \u003ci\u003eAfrique Victime\u003c\/i\u003e, it captures the Nigerien quartet in ferocious form. The music is louder, faster, and more wild. The guitar solos are feedback-scorched and the lyrics are passionately political. Nothing is held back or toned down. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe songs on \u003ci\u003eFuneral For Justice\u003c\/i\u003e speak unflinchingly to the plight of Niger and of the Tuareg people. \"This album is really different for me,\" explains Moctar, the band’s singer, namesake, and indisputably iconic guitarist. \"Now the problems of terrorist violence are more serious in Africa. When the US and Europe came here, they said they're going to help us, but what we see is really different. They never help us to find a solution.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Mdou Moctar has been a strong anti-colonial band ever since I've been a part of it,\" says producer and bassist Mikey Coltun, who has been playing with Moctar since 2017. \"France came in, fucked up the country, then said ‘you’re free.’ And they’re not.\" The song ‘Oh France’ tackles this head on: “France veils its actions in cruelty\/ We are better without this turbulent relationship\/ We must understand their endless lethal games.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn the lead single and title track, Moctar addresses African leaders directly, bidding them: \"Retake control of your countries, rich in resources \/ Build them and quit sleeping”. The song ‘Sousoume Tamacheq’ deals with the plight of the Tuareg people to which the band belong, and who are mainly spread across three countries: Niger, Mali and Algeria.\"Oppressed in all three\/In addition to lack of unity, ignorance is the third issue.\" Another song, ‘Imouhar’, calls on the Tuareg to preserve their Tamasheq language - it's at risk of dying out, and Mdou is one of the few in his community who knows how to write it. \"People here are just using French,\" laments Mdou. \"They're starting to forget their own language. We feel like in a hundred years no one will speak good Tamasheq, and that's so scary for us.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMdou Moctar in its current iteration is first and foremost a band. Alongside Moctar, it consists of rhythm guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane, drummer Souleymane Ibrahim, and American bassist and producer Mikey Coltun.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe band got their start performing at traditional weddings. These are high energy events – amps are dialed up to 11 and the whole town is invited to attend. \"I grew up in the DC punk scene and this is no different,\" explains Coltun. \"It’s a DIY punk show: people bring generators, they crank their amps. Things are broken, but they make it work.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConveying that energy and feeling of community to a new audience has been an important goal for the band. Their first concerts in the US were sometimes, mistakenly, organized to be tame seated affairs. That’s no longer the case. Over 100s of shows, they’ve proven themselves as one of the world’s most vital rock bands – a group rooted in Tuareg tradition, but undeniably its own singular organism. An Mdou Moctar concert is now recognized to be a place for dancing, if not full-force moshing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"‘Ilana’ was the gateway album, saying that this is a raw rock band. And ‘Afrique Victime’ was a summation of that vision,” says Coltun, who recorded the entire record over five days in a mostly unfurnished house in upstate New York. “With ‘Funeral For Justice’, I really wanted this to shine with the political message because of everything that's going on. As the band got tighter and heavier live, it made sense to capture this urgency and this aggression – it wasn't a forced thing, it was very natural.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn July 2023 – after \u003ci\u003eFuneral For Justice\u003c\/i\u003e had been completed – Niger’s democratically elected government was deposed in a military coup. The president was placed under house arrest and the nation plunged into a state of chaos and uncertainty. The French have withdrawn. The area continues to be threatened by terrorism. The band – then on tour in the US – was, for a time, unable to return to their families. \"I don't support the coup,\" explains Mdou, \"but I never in my life liked France in my country. I don't hate France or French people, I don't hate American people either, but I don't support their manipulative policies, what they do in Africa. In 2023 we want to be free, we need to smile, you understand?\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Matador","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50413061374283,"sku":"2184842","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Red LP","offer_id":50413064421707,"sku":"2184843","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50413061308747,"sku":"2184841","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/MdouMoctar-FuneralForJustice-3000px_2bd6b50d_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1726670665"},{"product_id":"afrique-victime","title":"Afrique Victime","description":"\u003cp\u003eMatador Records release \u003ci\u003eAfrique Victime\u003c\/i\u003e, the long-awaited new album by Mdou Moctar. With \u003ci\u003eAfrique Victime\u003c\/i\u003e the prodigious Tuareg guitarist and songwriter rips a new hole in the sky ­– boldly reforging contemporary Saharan music and “rock music” by melding guitar pyrotechnics, full-blast noise, and field recordings with poetic meditations on love, religion, women's rights, inequality, and Western Africa’s exploitation at the hands of colonial powers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe music listeners are the beneficiaries of the staggeringly powerful do-it-yourself musical ethic of Mdou Moctar – the man and the band – who’ve worked so hard to bring the spirits of families and communities in Niger to the West. \u003ci\u003eAfrique Victime\u003c\/i\u003e sounds and feels like a Tuareg hand reaching down from the sky, and we are very lucky for this chance to get lifted.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Matador","offers":[{"title":"Purple | LP","offer_id":50465361920331,"sku":"1120408","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50465362084171,"sku":"1137111","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50465362313547,"sku":"1115826","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50465362444619,"sku":"1115827","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0b6bc73a-ecdd-4b50-9041-3e0a6357a764_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727287241"},{"product_id":"ilana-the-creator","title":"Ilana - The Creator","description":"\u003cp\u003eBorn in a nomad camp in Niger and now a leading figure of desert rock, Mdou Moctar stands out as the most innovative artist in contemporary Saharan music. His unconventional interpretations of Tuareg guitar have pushed him to the forefront of a crowded scene. In contrast to polished “world music” fare, Mdou trades in unrelenting grit and has no qualms about going full shred. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA long time coming, \u003ci\u003eIlana \u003c\/i\u003eis Mdou's first true studio album. Recorded in Detroit at the tail end of a US tour by engineer Chris Koltay (who met after bonding over ZZ Top's \u003ci\u003eTres Hombres\u003c\/i\u003e), Mdou lived in studio for a week, playing into the early hours and accompanied by an all-star band: Ahmoudou Madassane's (Les Filles de Illighadad) lighting fast rhythm guitar, Aboubacar Mazawadje's machine gun drums, and Michael Coltun's structured low-end bass.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe result is Mdou's most ambitious record to date, taking tradition into into an ever louder and blistering direction. From the rock anthem \u003ci\u003eTarhatazed\u003c\/i\u003e, to the Van Halen tapping of \u003ci\u003eKamane Tarhanin, Ilana\u003c\/i\u003e stands amongst the greats of classic rock, albeit accidentally. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sahel Sounds","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50478833631563,"sku":"1054917","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/bf0ed974-de19-461e-9d8a-eef80b2215df_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1727492202"},{"product_id":"niger-ep-vol-2","title":"Niger EP Vol 2","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMdou Moctar\u003c\/strong\u003e released the two-part Niger EP series – featuring live and alternate versions of songs spanning the band’s discography recorded in their native Niger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIbitlan\u003c\/em\u003e is a love song,” says producer and bassist Mikey Coltun. “Mdou sings about his love for a woman, comparing her to a beautiful valley with a stream running through it, how her skin is a yellow flower and her smile is like lightning. This particular recording was done in Agadez in 2017 at a wedding. Mdou and I had played three weddings a day for about a month and a half on that trip. It was like bootcamp. I loved it. Ibitlan is one of Mdou's oldest songs and is covered by pretty much every Tuareg guitarist. We've played versions of this song lasting over 20 minutes. It's definitely one of my favorites to play!”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn innovative alchemy of Tuareg folk, blues, and rock, electric guitar pyrotechnics, field recordings, and electronics with poetic call-to-arms lyrics about the plight of his homeland of Niger, Moctar’s 2021 album \u003cem\u003eAfrique Victime\u003c\/em\u003e swept end of year lists, achieving high placements in The Economist, The Guardian, The New York Times, Uncut, MOJO, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, NPR, Rolling Stone, Dazed \u0026amp; Confused, DJ, Crack, and many others.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50504583119179,"sku":"2000190","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/MdouMoctar-NigerEPVol2-4000px_d9beefba_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727807173"},{"product_id":"niger-ep-vol-1","title":"Niger EP Vol 1","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eNiger EP Vol. 1 f\u003c\/i\u003eeatures recordings captured in Moctar’s native country, including previously unreleased 13-minute drum machine and electric guitar epic ‘Imouhar’, four live versions of songs from across Moctar’s albums \u003ci\u003eAfrique Victime, Afelan \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eAkounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai \u003c\/i\u003e(translating to “Rain the Color of Blue with A Little Red In It”, the soundtrack to Moctar’s Tuareg-language film remake of Prince’s Purple Rain), as well as a drum machine version of Afrique Victime opening track ‘Chismiten”. Watch a visualiser for ‘Chismiten’ (Drum Machine Version).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eProducer and bass player Mikey Coltun says: “In 2021, we started the Mdou Moctar mixtape series. These releases compiled field recordings, cellphone voice memos, interview clips, conversations captured in the tour van, and blown-out board recordings from shows all over the world. As a continuation of those mixtapes, we present the Niger EPs, which examine the roots of the Mdou Moctar band. Early Mdou recordings were contained on cassettes, though the humble tape was soon replaced by the quick and easy facility of cellphone technology. Long bus rides are common in West Africa. On one of these rides, you might be seated next to a stranger and ask, \"What are you listening to?\" Then a song exchange would begin over Bluetooth. This is a very real way artists found their music distributed far from home. In that vein, the Niger EP series features solely recordings taped in Mdou Moctar's home country of Niger. Volume 1 begin the series with a mix of recordings from 2017-2020, documenting the band at weddings, picnics, rehearsals, and even impromptu house concerts. A must have for any Mdou Moctar fan!”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn innovative alchemy of Tuareg folk, blues and rock, electric guitar pyrotechnics, field recordings and electronics with poetic call-to-arms lyrics about the plight of his homeland of Niger, Moctar’s 2021 album Afrique Victime swept end of year lists, achieving high placements in The Economist, The Guardian, The New York Times, Uncut, MOJO, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, NPR, Rolling Stone, Dazed \u0026amp; Confused, DJ, Crack and many others.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50508460917067,"sku":"2000188","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/MdouMoctar-NigerEPVol1-4000px_762af333_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727859027"},{"product_id":"tears-of-injustice","title":"Tears of Injustice","description":"\u003cp\u003eIf \u003ci\u003eFuneral for Justice\u003c\/i\u003e was the sound of outrage, \u003ci\u003eTears of Injustice\u003c\/i\u003e is the sound of grief.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMdou Moctar’s new album is \u003ci\u003eFuneral for Justice \u003c\/i\u003ecompletely re-recorded and rearranged for acoustic and traditional instruments. It is an evolution of the band’s critically-adored breakout – the meditative mirror-image to the blistering original.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn July of 2023, Mdou Moctar was on tour in the United States when the president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, was deposed by a military junta who made him prisoner at the presidential residence. They ordered the nation’s borders closed, leaving band members Mdou Moctar, Ahmoudou Madassane, and Souleymane Ibrahim unable to return home to their families. Plans to record a companion to \u003ci\u003eFuneral for Justice \u003c\/i\u003e– then still many months from release – had been in the works already, but the idea now took on new urgency and gravity. Two days after the tour wrapped in New York City, the quartet began tracking \u003ci\u003eTears of Injustice\u003c\/i\u003e at Brooklyn’s Bunker Studio with engineer Seth Manchester.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“We wanted to make a separate version of \u003ci\u003eFuneral \u003c\/i\u003efor people to hear,” explains the band’s US-based bassist and producer, Mikey Coltun. “We’re always playing around with arrangements at shows. We wanted to prove that we could do it on a record, too. And there’s a whole other side of the band that comes out when we play a stripped down set. It becomes something new.” \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey chose to track \u003ci\u003eTears\u003c\/i\u003e sitting together in one room, keeping the session loose, stripped down, and spontaneous. “We didn’t really work on the arrangements prior to going in,” recalls Coltun. “We’d just play, find the feel, and do the song.” Things came together quickly, with principal recording wrapped in only two days. The hypnotic 8-minute take of ‘Imouhar’ is actually two distinct passes through the song performed in quick succession – Moctar didn’t stop playing long enough to split the takes apart. After a month, the band was able to return home to Niger and, when they did, Coltun gave Madassane a Zoom recorder to take along. The rhythm guitarist used it to record a group of Tuaregs performing call-and-response vocals, which were later added into the final mix.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn \u003ci\u003eFuneral for Justice\u003c\/i\u003e, anger at the plight of Niger and the Tuareg people is plainly expressed in the music’s volume and velocity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn \u003ci\u003eTears\u003c\/i\u003e, the songs retain that weight sans amplification. They are steeped in sadness, conveying the grief of a nation locked into a constant churn of poverty, colonial exploitation, and political upheaval. It is Tuareg protest music in raw and essential form. “When Mdou writes the lyrics, he typically writes them with an acoustic guitar. So you’re getting closer to that original moment,” says Coltun. “It retains heaviness, but it’s haunting.” \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Matador","offers":[{"title":"Blue LP","offer_id":50510405960011,"sku":"2225973","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50510405435723,"sku":"2225971","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50510405108043,"sku":"2225969","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/MdouMoctar_TearsOfInjustice_LP2400x2400_front_blue_2_c0ef5d9c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727874084"},{"product_id":"ilana-the-creator-1","title":"Ilana (The Creator)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBlistering and hypnotic, \u003cem\u003eIlana (The Creator) \u003c\/em\u003e(2019) marked the beginning of a new chapter for Mdou Moctar. It is the Nigerien guitar hero’s first album recorded with a live rock band and perfectly captures the heavy, psychedelic sound – part Tuareg desert blues, part ZZ Top – that the quartet had honed through endless touring and which would come to explosive fruition on \u003cem\u003eAfrique Victime \u003c\/em\u003e(2021) and \u003cem\u003eFuneral For Justice \u003c\/em\u003e(2024). Ilana was the first step and its songs remain setlist standbys for the quartet’s soaring performances.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Matador","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":56408084578635,"sku":"R7859-6998","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":56408084611403,"sku":"R7859-8023","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/MdouMoctar-Ilana.jpg?v=1769599906"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_9e0999b7_thumbnail_4096_95f9bd64-32e0-4295-862c-bd88be1f96f8.jpg?v=1726670624","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/mdou-moctar.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}