“He was quite a recent discovery. Eddie Van Halen was someone I found out about when I went for the screening of my film in Portland, Oregon. I’ve got friends there too, and when I played they saw the vibrato I create with my fingers they loved it, and there was someone who said they wanted to introduce me to an artist they thought I would really like. So they played me Eddie Van Halen’s music from when he was younger and I found his solos really incredible, he does the tapping in his way, it was really his own invention and I could tell he’s a real pro. I loved it so I started listening to him and even trying out a few solos – it was a bit tricky for me, but I managed them in my own way.” From Van Halen to Bob Marley & The Wailers to Toumani Diabaté, Mdou Moctar shares his influences for The Quietus’s “Baker’s Dozen” series.
Mdou Moctar - Tiny Desk (Home) Concert 5/24/21
“Ya Habibti”
“Tala Tannam”
“Afrique Victime”
Today, Mdou Moctar’s sixth album and first for Matador, ‘Afrique Victime’, finally takes off.
Recorded across four studios and two continents, the album has already drawn universal praise as a powerful rallying call – a melding of guitar pyrotechnics and full-blast noise with poetic meditations on love, inequality, and Western Africa’s exploitation at the hands of colonial powers.
stream / purchase 'Afrique Victime’ : https://mdou.ffm.to/afriquevictime
band photo : WH Moustapha
Mdou Moctar On Tour, Tickets On Sale Friday at 10am ET (new dates in bold)
Thursday, September 2 The Grey Eagle, Asheville NC
Friday, September 3 Bonnaroo, Manchester TN
Saturday, September 4 Terminal West, Atlanta GA
Sunday, September 5 Motorco Music Hall, Durham NC
Tuesday, September 7 Ottobar, Baltimore MD
Wednesday, September 8 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA
Friday, September 10 Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
Saturday, September 11 Gateway City Arts, Holyoke MA
Sunday, September 12 The Sinclair, Boston MA
Tuesday, September 14 Thunderbird Café & Music Hall, Pittsburgh PA
Wednesday, September 15 Ace of Cups, Columbus OH
Friday, September 17 Lincoln Hall, Chicago IL
Saturday, September 18 Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis MN
Monday, September 20 Globe Hall, Denver CO
Tuesday, September 21 Globe Hall, Denver CO
Wednesday, September 22 Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City UT
Thursday, September 23 Treefort Music Festival, Boise ID
Friday, September 24 The Crocodile, Seattle WA
Saturday, September 25 Mississippi Studios, Portland OR
Sunday, September 26 Mississippi Studios, Portland OR
Tuesday, September 28 The Chapel, San Francisco CA
Wednesday, September 29 Starline, Oakland CA
Friday, October 1 Desert Daze Pre-Party, Pioneertown CA
Saturday, October 2 Lodge Room, Los Angeles CA
Mdou Moctar online
Official site
Instagram
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“This is how free rock & roll should sound.” Rolling Stone shares their four-star review of Mdou Moctar’s “Afrique Victime,” out tomorrow.
“His guitar playing is a searing, untamable thing… ‘Afrique Victime’ is the fullest portrait of Moctar’s gifts that he has offered yet.” Pitchfork names Mdou Moctar’s album ‘Afrique Victime’ (out tomorrow) Best New Music.
“His joyful contemporary fingerstyle playing blends the desert blues and Tuareg guitar styles with Western rock, psychedelia and jazz elements and if you haven’t heard it, you should. The consensus that is slowly forming is that he is not just one of the leading exponents of Sahel (Sub-Saharan) guitar music, but one of the finest and certainly most expressive, guitarists in the world.” MusicRadar features Mdou Moctar ahead of the release of “Afrique Victime,” out in just two days.
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