En septiembre de 1969, el régimen monárquico del rey Idris I de Libia fue derrocado por un golpe de Estado militar encabezado por Muammar al-Gaddafi. Desde entonces, Gadaffi se convirtió en líder de Libia. Malí estaba bajo el control de Francia pero tras la independencia en los años ’60, el nuevo gobierno NO integró a los tuareg ni a otros grupos minoritarios. El gobierno impulsó una ley de reformas que atentaron contra las tierras tradicionales de las tribus tuareg. En estas condiciones, a los tuareg NO les quedaba más remedio que rebelarse. Sin embargo, las tropas de Malí usaron una represión brutal contra ellos; varias veces cometiendo masacres en pueblos y aldeas pobladas por tuareg desarmados, lo que llevo a muchos a huir a otros países vecinos. Muchos jóvenes tuareg fueron reclutados por Gadafi, que los envió a campos de entrenamiento libios con objeto de usarles contra cualquier sublevación popular que pudiera surgir en su país (Libia). En aquellos campos de entrenamiento los rebeldes tuareg conocieron la música occidental, puesto que sonaban canciones que iban desde Hendrix hasta Elvis. Los componentes de TERAKAFT forman parte de aquellos jóvenes tuareg. Así pues, la crudeza de la vida de los tuareg y la destrucción de sus antiguos modos de vida durante el siglo XX, necesitaba de un sonido más rudo que expresara toda aquella rabia. Muchos lo encontraron en el Blues, cuyos patrones encajaban a la perfección con su cultura, y la guitarra eléctrica y crearon un nuevo género musical, el teshumara: Blues del desierto. Recientemente se produjo un levantamiento popular contra Gadafi a consecuencia de las protestas por la intransigencia gubernamental y la brutal represión de éste. En Occidente, la resolución de Naciones Unidas permitió que una alianza entre países comandados por la OTAN pudieran intervenir en el conflicto. Mientras tanto, los guerreros nómadas del desierto fueron citados frecuentemente como el gran apoyo del dictador y NO es de extrañar, porque fue Gadafi quien les dio refugio, recursos económicos, tierras, etc. cuando desde los años '50 --durante el proceso descolonizador-- todas aquellas tribus fueron brutalmente reprimidas y marginadas por los nuevos gobiernos. La cosa es que el propio Gadafi más tarde cambió la causa tuareg por el uranio del Sahara en sus años de amistad con Occidente. Por otro lado, en los años '90, Malí inició un proceso democrático que nombró un Consejo Nacional de Reconciliación y los tuaregs fueron llamados para formar parte en el nuevo gobierno. Las guerrillas entonces quemaron sus armas y desde aquel momento viven en medio de un estado de paz frágil. TERAKAFT cantan al futuro del desierto y piden, por ejemplo, a los jóvenes que estudien, que aprendan la lengua tuareg Tamashek: “Los más jóvenes deben conocer su cultura para que su pueblo pueda conseguir la Libertad”. Las canciones de TERAKAFT significan nada más y nada menos que la conciencia de un pueblo milenario que se resiste a su desaparición y la denuncia de sus precarias condiciones de vida material y cultural. “Las guitarras son un arma mucho más poderosa que los rifles Kalashnikov. Las guía el corazón de un artista, NO el ansia de verter la sangre de ningún enemigo.” Son palabras de Liya Ag Ablil (nombre guerrero: Diara), quien junto a los demás componentes de TERAKAFT (“La caravana”) participó en aquellas rebeliones del pueblo tuareg contra el Gobierno de Malí.

SOCOTRA - Bikepacking the Lost Island / by Montanus from MONTANUS on Vimeo.

The latest expedition of Montanus duo transports us in one of the most isolated and little-known continental fragments on Earth. Socotra island lies in Indian Ocean between the Horn of Africa and Arabian Peninsula and it is home for surreal endemic flora and fauna. ‘Socotra’ is a short film that follows them in the exploration of this remote and alien-looking land.

Location: Socotra Archipelago / Yemen

Directed, edited and self-filmed by: Giorgio Frattale and Francesco D’Alessio Filmed with: Fujifilm XT-4 (XF16mm F1.4 R WR - XF35mm F1.4 R WR - XF55-200mm F3.5-4.8 R LM OIS), iPhone 14 Pro, DJI Mavic Air, GoPro 8 Black Edited with: Final Cut Pro Music: Awa Adounia - TERAKAFT, Your are not alone - MAVIS STAPLE, Aldhechen Manin - TINARIWEN

website: montanuswild.com instagram - instagram.com/montanus_thewildside facebook - facebook.com/MONTANUSthewildside vimeo - vimeo.com/user23760556

Morning blues riffs

Song recc similar to the last one: Alghalem - Terakaft

couldn’t listen all the way through | not my thing | it’s okay | kinda catchy | ok i really like this | downloading immediately | already in my library

This one also slaps

tuareg music gets me through the work day

TERAKAFT.

Akh Issudar es un antiguo proverbio Malì que significa ” el agua es la vida, la leche la supervivencia”. Así tituló el grupo TERAKAFT a su disco de 2008: 'Akh Issudar' - TERAKAFT

The Vulgar Boatmen interview- Dale Lawrence talks shop.

I had been thinking about sending some questions Dale Lawrence’s way ever since I’d heard the 2015 reissue of the band’s 1989 debut, You and Your Sister (reissued on Time Change Records out of Indianapolis). The band had formed in the late 80’s by two friends (well, sort of....see below) , Lawrence (who was based in Indiana ) and Robert Ray (who was based in Florida).  Back then they did it the old fashioned way, by mailing cassettes back and forth (the only way) and that seemed to work just fine. It had been years since I’d heard that debut and the reissue reminded me of how great (and underappreciated) the band was. You’ll hear elements of The Feelies (those jangly guitars and even in the rhythms, too) but also other classic bands like the Velvet Underground and even the Everly Brothers on certain cuts. Their sophomore effort, 1992’s Please Panic was just as good (maybe better) and I never heard 1995’s Opposite Sex (I hope to change that very soon…both recently reissued, see below) and then the band broke up.  If you’ve never heard the band’s music and have read this far then by all means do check them out, you won’t be sorry as their songs are truly excellent. Pop music with hooks and plenty of smarts. A month or so ago I sent some questions to Dale and he was more than happy to elaborate on my queries. Read on and when you have some time play “Drive Somewhere” at top volume today!

Robert and Dale, the early years. 

Where were you born/where did you grow up?         

I was born in Valparaiso, Indiana, and grew up one county over, on a farm outside a town called Hanna, an hour or so from Chicago.

 Was your family musical or at least supportive of your musical pursuits?    

Neither of my parents were especially musically inclined but I did grow up surrounded (and fascinated) by records. And my parents at least never tried to discourage my musical ambitions.

 What was your first band you ever saw live?    

I  was very lucky -- Neil Young, the 1973 Stray Gators tour (which resulted in Time Fades Away).

 What was your initial entry into the world of independent/punk/other music? (I know you were in The Gizmos…..that might need to be a whole other interview!!).      

My rock ‘n’ roll life began when I was nine years old and suddenly noticed Top 40 radio on the bus ride home from school: WLS, out of Chicago, 1965, a very good year for radio. (Again, lucky.) By 1976/77, I was in college and listening to the usual suspects, Modern Lovers, Television, Ramones. But hearing the Sex Pistols in the fall of ’77 was really the big corner. It hit me like nothing else before or since, made the world seem like a wholly different place. The sound of those records, the sound of Johnny Rotten’s voice, sounded exactly how frustrating it felt to be alive just then. And it made me want to be in a band, an old ambition I’d largely abandoned as a pipedream. Within weeks, I'd answer an ad and join the Ted Neimeic Gizmos on rhythm guitar.

 Ready to rock.

What were the beginnings of the Vulgar Boatmen?

The Boatmen actually began in Gainesville, Florida, a couple years before either Robert or I were involved. At that time it was a very different band, different aesthetic, different set of musicians (oddly enough, a situation pretty similar to the two different versions of Gizmos). Robert was friends with some of the band members and eventually joined, initially as rhythm guitarist. When the main songwriter, Walter Salas-Humara, left to form the Silos in New York, the Boatmen needed new material and started doing some of the songs I’d written in the Gizmos. Robert changed some lyrics, added a bridge or two – these were our first “collaborations.” I was in Indianapolis at that time, leading a band called Right to Left. It was then that Robert and I started collaborating in earnest, sending song ideas back and forth thru the mail.

 Where did the band name come from?                                                                            

The name was already in place when Robert and I got involved. It’s basically a third-graders pun on “The Volga Boatman,” a beginners piano piece. To the extent it doesn’t sound like we’re taking ourselves too seriously, I always liked the name. But we probably would have been smart to try to come up with something more fitting.

 Were you and Robert always based in separate states or was there ever a time that you lived near each other?                                                                                                                        

There were a couple years when we both lived in Bloomington, while he was a grad student and I was an undergrad at Indiana University. We met, weirdly enough, in a class on song lyrics. Robert was the AI and when he mentioned in class that he’d seen Elvis perform in Memphis, pre-RCA, I immediately scheduled office hours with him and we’ve been great friends ever since. Neither of us were in bands at that time, though I'd be in the Gizmos within a few months. We didn’t start writing together until years later.

 What do you remember most about working on the songs that would become You and Your Sister?                                                                                                                           

In terms of writing the songs, I remember consciously trying to use as few chords as possible (a lot fewer than I'd typically employed in Gizmos songs) -- and in particular, concentrating on the I and IV chords, a movement I could hear at the heart of so much music I loved, from the Soul Stirrers to "Road Runner." Also, I remember that having a fulltime songwriting partner was a distinct luxury: two sets of ears to hear rhythmic settings, better odds of finding the right lyrics.

 Recording-wise, the album was done at Robert’s house, on an 8-track machine, so I remember hanging out there in Gainesville for weeks at a time. The relaxed schedule that arrangement afforded us might in hindsight be the most important element in the recording process. We could afford not to rush anything. If a vocal or a tempo or a guitar sound wasn’t quite there, we knew we had plenty of time to get it right. I especially remember obsessing over snare-drum sounds. One we were especially happy with was on “Mary Jane” – except that when we tried recording a lead vocal, we discovered that most of what we liked about the snare sound was actually on the scratch vocal track. So that scratch vocal ended up being the actual vocal.

 The classic album!

Did you tour much for the record? Ever make it overseas?                             

We did tour quite a bit for that album, several swings through the south and the east coast, once to the west coast. We did not make it overseas until the second and third albums, when we played Germany, Austria, and England.

 At the time of You and Your Sister were you working regular jobs?               

I was working for a local record store, traveling on weekends to collectors conventions, hawking bootleg videos – already a bit like touring. Robert had a full-fledged career, teaching at the University of Florida.

 Was it basically the same lineup for 1992’s Please Panic?                          

Well, yes and no. Both albums were recorded by a combination of musicians from both the Gainesville and Indianapolis lineups. (So, for example, there are four different drummers on Sister.) The Indiana musicians used on the second album are mostly different than the ones who had contributed on the first, the Florida musicians were pretty much the same. One difference on the second album is that we had access to studio pro J.D. Foster, who is the main bass player on Please Panic.

 The other classic album!

How did the band end…..or did it not?                                                                                    The end for us came, as for many indie bands, when we signed with a major, Warners/EastWest, out of London. We finally had a bit of a budget to make a record and, at first, major promotional assistance. But a shakeup at Elektra resulted in Opposite Sex never seeing a US release, which was pretty much the end of the road. Our pending booking deal with Monterey Peninsula fell through and we were dropped almost immediately by the UK label as well. The band has never officially broken up, but it has become very much a part-time thing. The Indianapolis outfit plays out a handful of times every year.

 I noticed that you still play live these days. Is it under your own name or the Vulgar Boatmen?

The Vulgar Boatmen.

 What are your top 10 desert island discs?                                                         Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Louis Armstrong.

Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols.

The Complete Buddy Holly.

A Hard Day’s Night (or any of their first five albums), the Beatles.

Stranded (or Siren or Country Life), Roxy Music.

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Songbook.

The Sun Sessions, Elvis Presley.

Call Me, Al Green.

Astral Weeks, Van Morrison.

Bo Diddley (or The Duke at Fargo or The Definitive Otis Redding or...).

 Some of your current favorite bands/musicians?                                                                

I listen to way more older music than current stuff, always finding records I hadn't known about before. Right now, I’m listening a lot to Jimmy Reed. Thelonious Monk has been a constant on my stereo in recent years. Two current bands I love are Terakaft and Sufjan Stevens.

 A recent pic of the band. 

Final words? Closing comments? Anything you want to add that I didn’t ask?

I guess I can plug some rereleases that are about to happen. The first three Boatmen albums are being reissued on vinyl, by Play Loud! Records, out of Berlin. As with the Sister CD, Please Panic has been completely remastered. It will be the first time that Opposite Sex has ever been out on vinyl.

 Thanks so much for doing this!

 Relevant links below!

www.facebook.com/airportdecisionsinc/

 www.timechangerecords.com

 www.playloud.org

 Their 1995 album. 

  Such a classic!

Super Late Ask Answers

I think a few people asked me to complete one of these a while ago... @squeezemylemon you were one, but the names of the others escape me... Sorry about that, y'all 🙃! Here are my answers. ❤️❤️❤️

Name: Yup, got one. 😁

Nickname: Sugarplum up in this piece! 🙋🏽‍♀️

Age: over 21 traveler of both time and space

Orientation: straight

Favorite color: blue

Book recommendations: Return to Love, Marianne Williamson; Self-Compassion, Kristin Neff; Year of Yes, Shonda Rhimes; Tananarive Due's African Immortals series

Movie recommendations: Love Jones, Sorry to Bother You (saw it recently... crazy, captivating movie...)

TV recommendations: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place, Ghosted, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Queer Eye, Glow, The Crown, Endeavour, Victoria

Music recommendations: James Tilman, Kali Uchis, Mar (all on the R&B spectrum), Terakaft, Bombino, Tamikrest (all guitar-based West African music that would probably fit into our Robert's record collection)

Coffee / tea / hot chocolate: coffee or tea. I have phases of either. Coffee phase right now.

Cats or dogs: Cats.

I want to live long enough to witness: flying cars... They're late... 😜

Weird obsession: whenever I go to a new supermarket, I have to check out the international aisle, to see if there are any new foods/spices for me to discover.

Tumblr birthday: October or November 2017?

How many side blogs? Zero. But lately I have really, really considered starting a Lenny Kravitz one...

Random fact about me: I think Robert Plant is hot. 😎😜 Something new? I want to visit as many national parks as possible.

Goal for 2018: get my butt in a regular fitness routine.

My WVUD playlist, 4/18/2017

(filling in on All Tomorrow’s Parties)

Tinariwen "Sastanàqqàm" Bombino "Tamiditine Tarhanam (My Love, I Tell You)" Tamikrest "War Toyed" Terakaft "Alghalem" Shane Palko "Drift" Goat "I Sing in Silence" Wolf People "Thistles" Stonefield "Love" Jeb Loy Nichols "Come See Me" The Neville Brothers "Voodoo" Daniel Lanois "Moondog" Robbie Robertson "Somewhere Down the Crazy River" Mega Bog "She's History" Allan Holdsworth "The Things You See (When You Haven't Got Your Gun)" U.K. "In the Dead of Night" Level 42 "If You Were Mine" Wire "Short Elevated Period" Wire "Ex Lion Tamer" Wolf Alice "Fluffy" Century Palm "Then You're Gone" Toma "Going Nowhere" Martha And The Muffins "Echo Beach" The Feelies "Gone, Gone, Gone" Nada Surf "New Bird" Crack the Sky "She’s a Dancer" Principe Valiente "Strangers In the Night" Siouxsie & The Banshees "Cities in Dust"

Terakaft - Alghalem