Group Inerane was a part of a wave of bands that reset the defaults for northwest African guitar music a pair many years in the past. Its members belonged to a scene of Tamachek (Tuareg) musicians who coalesced round Agadez, Niger and different desert cities. The music they created was dropped at non-African ears by the Elegant Frequencies and Sahel Sounds labels. Collectively, these teams introduced a rawer, higher-energy mode of play than Tinariwen or Ali Farka Touré that favored galloping drum beats and in-the-red guitar tones. However whereas contemporaries comparable to Bombino, Mdou Moctar and Etran de L’Aïr went on discover audiences in Europe and the U.S., Group Inerane packed it in early in 2012 after guitarist Koudede Maman died in a automobile accident.
That might have been the top of Groyp Inerane’s story, however Marhajan Bianou has simply been launched to inaugurate Elegant Frequencies’ Archive Collection. Assembled from dwell tapes made throughout Group Inerane’s sole European tour in November 2011, it’s the best-sounding and most cohesive factor the band produced. Group Inerane’s different LPs have been recorded below tough circumstances in Niger. Guitars From Agadez (Music Of Niger) compiled work finished over a number of years by totally different lineups. The then-new version of the band that recorded Guitars From Agadez Quantity 3 in 2010 was a traditional beat combo with founder Ibrahim “Bibi” Ahmed and Maman (who changed Adi Mohammed, killed within the nation’s civil unrest) on guitar, whereas Abdulai “Koutana” Mohamed and Mohamed “Lalo” Atchinguel performed bass and drums, respectively.
Marhajan Bianou presents the identical group that made Quantity 3, however as a road-tested outfit that had developed a robust rapport. The unobstructed, mid-fi recording transmits sufficient room sound to convey the dwell vibe. The improved sonic high quality is variety to the rhythm part, including a strong backside to its loping grooves. The guitarists fluidly swapped the duties of supplying an dependable rhythm or blues-scorched, burning leads. And the entire band sang, enabling Group Inerane to carry down vocal drones on “Ikabkaban” and throw exuberant pitchman commentary into the combo on “Warat Adounia.”
If this Group Inerane had been in a position to preserve touring, the band may simply have staked out a place that encompassed Mdou Moctar’s message-oriented stance and Etran de L’Aïr’s continuous wedding-party spirit. As a substitute, Maman died a number of months after the European tour. Marhajan Bianou makes clear simply what a catastrophe the group’s disbandment was. [Sublime Frequencies]
—Invoice Meyer
