ctrl LIVE: Bombino (Niger)

On Thursday, October 16, Tuareg folk hero and guitar luminary Bombino returns - Niger’s first-ever GRAMMY-nominated artist is set to enchant our room once again.

He’s sharing with us Sahel, his most personal and politically-charged album yet - named after the vast, culturally rich African region that shaped him. It’s also his most sonically diverse, a quality meant to directly mirror the complex tapestry of cultures and people that make up the Sahel region itself.

Aside from loss of representation in those countries’ governments and the absence of the Tuareg in mainstream culture, Bombino sees that even with the instant interconnectedness that smartphones can bring, “the biggest threat I see is technology and modernization. A small, marginalized culture like the Tuareg risks getting lost in the homogenization of culture.”

Produced by David Wrench (David Byrne, Frank Ocean, Caribou, The xx), Sahel marks Bombino’s first release in five years, following the critically acclaimed Deran.

Wrench’s role was to present Bombino and his band in a way that captured the Tuareg sound (which spans centuries) while connecting it to our immediate present. It’s not a museum artifact, but a living ‘now.’ The rhythms are all in 3s instead of 4s, but it has a similar effect: the repetition and intensity and the feeling it has, it’s not a million miles away from techno. Listening to his music has a similar effect on you: it can definitely take you somewhere quite different.” 

Bombino - Tazidert: https://youtu.be/tDWHvq5Y11Q?si=cXFLg0b9WRPHiAER