Etran Finatawa - Desert Crossroads (Riverboat)

It’s gotta be hard to be the second (or third) band out of the Sahal following in the wake of the euphoric welcome extended to Tinariwen by the Globalistas. With western ears now attuned to Tuareg desert blues, it is virtually impossible not to contextualize Etran Finatawa without resorting to comparisons with Tinariwen. I guess that’s the way it goes with musical milestones. The familiar electric guitar work is present, but free of the crunchiness and hammer of the gods muscularity that characterizes the Tinariwen recordings. Considerably more space is made in the production for the percussion – notably the tendé drum and the water calabash – and acoustic guitar. Altogether it’s a much more subtle and understated affair. Etran Finatawa also distinguishes itself in that the band is evenly split between Tuareg and Wodaabe musicians and, stylistically and linguistically, the compositions reflect the two cultures, Etran Finatawa genuinely embodies a cultural crossroads in the desert and it’s a relief to know that the album’s title is not just another invocation of the tired blues trope – attempting to transpose Robert Johnson’s delta blues onto the desert sands.