Tuareg guitarist, singer, and songwriter Omara “Bombino” Moctar today releases his Nonesuch debut album, Nomad, produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach. "Bombino’s playing is full of fast, stuttery, rhythmic hammering, coiling lines inside lines," says the New York Times. "But it also comes out in soft strums and battering single-note attacks, and its tone and phrasing have a flexible identity. In his playing, besides the sound of the pioneering Tuareg band Tinariwen, you might be reminded of Ali Farka Touré, Carlos Santana, Mark Knopfler, Jerry Garcia electric, Jerry Garcia acoustic. Bombino is never just one thing." Watch a short video about the album here.
Tuareg guitarist, singer, and songwriter Omara “Bombino” Moctar makes his Nonesuch Records debut with today's release of his new album, Nomad. At the invitation of The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, the Niger-born artist and his band traveled to Nashville for the recording, helmed by Auerbach at his studio, Easy Eye Sound. NPR calls the pairing "inspired," noting that Bombino's "sound and style are alluring on a global scale." For a brief look at the story behind that pairing, check out the video below by director Ron Wyman of Zero Gravity Film, featuring footage from his film Agadez: The Music and The Rebellion.
To pick up a copy of Nomad, head to iTunes or the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include a download of the complete album at checkout.
Nomad was reviewed in yesterday's New York Times by music critic Ben Ratliff.
"Bombino’s playing is full of fast, stuttery, rhythmic hammering, coiling lines inside lines," writes Ratliff. "But it also comes out in soft strums and battering single-note attacks, and its tone and phrasing have a flexible identity. In his playing, besides the sound of the pioneering Tuareg band Tinariwen, you might be reminded of Ali Farka Touré, Carlos Santana, Mark Knopfler, Jerry Garcia electric, Jerry Garcia acoustic. Bombino is never just one thing."
Read the complete album review at nytimes.com.
Nomad has earned four stars in Mojo and the Financial Times, which calls it "a revelation." The BBC World Service calls it "utterly, utterly fantastic." The album is the CD of the Week in the Observer and earns four stars in the Independent and at MusicOMH.
Bombino's "deft playing, off-kilter and juxtaposed riffs never let up over the course of the album’s 11 tracks," writes MusicOMH reviewer Darren Lee, who says that Nomad as "a highly enjoyable work packed with infectious licks and proves to be an easy album to get along with from the get-go." Lee encourages listeners to "sit back and enjoy."
Watch the story of Bombino and Nomad here via Bombino's YouTube channel and at nonesuch.com/media:
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