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BIZARRE: Mdou moctar - You Need To See This

“There are better players, better lyricists, better songwriters – but there’s an energy to their combined powers that is hard to rival at the moment”: The best guitar albums of 2024

The guitar albums that had the biggest impact in the guitar world and beyond, as chosen by GW editors and pro players

Guitar World

“This is like Santana’s Soul Sacrifice at Woodstock or Hendrix’s Machine Gun, an act of freeform radicalism”: The best guitar solos of 2024

From a supernova of tapping and pitch-shifted metal guitar anarchy to all-star team-ups, here is your year in lead guitar – featuring Mdou Moctar, Diamond Rowe and some dudes named Satriani and Vai…

Guitar World

The 50 best albums of 2024

Topped with Charli xcx’s swaggering yet vulnerable Brat, here are the year’s finest LPs as decided by 26 Guardian music writers

The Guardian - UK

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“They brought Orange stacks to a Tiny Desk”: Mdou Moctar delivers scorching solos at the NPR offices – and even ditches his Strat for an Acoustasonic

Moctar and his band showcased standout tracks from his latest album, the critically acclaimed Funeral for Justice, in an electric performance

Guitar World

Camels, swords and dance: The film of Mdou Moctar's concert at the edge of the Sahara desert is a thing of joy and magic

Nigerien desert rocker Mdou Moctar performed at the Sultans' Palace in the historic centre of Agadez

Louder

“I would need to show you exactly how to tune your guitar. Even at home, some people have trouble. Young guitarists tell me that regularly”: Mdou Moctar has ignored all of guitar’s standards – and become one of the world’s finest players in the process

How tuning by ear, recording live, and finding power in the message made Funeral For Justice Mdou Moctar's most radical album yet – an album lit up by one of guitar's most exciting new voices

Guitar World

“When I was very young I didn’t have access to Western music. In 2016, I was first introduced to Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix”: Mdou Moctar is one of Africa’s premier guitar heroes – and he’s using his Stratocaster to spark a revolution

As the Niger guitarist releases a bristling new collection of protest songs, he explains how injustice puts the fire in his fingers, what keeps him loyal to the Strat, and why everybody in his hometown wants to play guitar

Guitar World

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“Regardless of who picks one up and what they do with it, the Strat continues to excel in every environment”: The Fender Stratocaster can thrive in any genre – and these cutting-edge guitarists prove it

The Strat might be turning 70 this year, but its story is only just getting started – and these are the players writing the next chapter in its history

Guitar World

“He doesn’t like the sound of new strings. The ones on the guitar for the new album were two years old”: Mdou Moctar prefers old guitar strings – and the Roland Cube is his favorite amp for a very good reason

The gear (or lack of) behind Mdou Moctar's searing signature sound on Funeral For Justice, which fuses Saharan rock music with Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen flair

Guitar World

The best new rock songs you need to hear right now, including Black Country Communion, Mdou Moctar, The Picturebooks and more

Eight songs to start your week in the best possible way

Louder

Mdou Moctar: Funeral for Justice review – desert bluesman on incendiary form

The Nigerien guitarist and his virtuoso band set polemical fury to thrilling musicianship on this no-holds-barred release

The Guardian - UK

“Us guitar players in the West, we all have the same base vocabulary, the same handful of stereotypical licks. But Mdou’s music, it’s almost free of that stuff”: Mdou Moctar finds a new fan in Metallica’s Kirk Hammett

The Tuareg guitarist’s latest album continues to expand the horizons of contemporary rock

Guitar World

Music show: Émilie Simon on her introspective cosmic journey 'Polaris'

Émilie Simon is a French electronic pop pioneer who emerged some 20 years ago and is known for her organic, mineral-driven compositions. On top of creating her own instruments, the award-winning artist has also signed scores for documentary films like “March of the Penguins”. She's just released "Polaris", her first…

France 24

The best new rock songs you need to hear right now, including Mdou Moctar, St Vincent, Danko Jones and more

Eight songs guaranteed to make you feel better about life, the universe and everything

Louder

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Guitar World

“This song presents a kind of revisionist history where guitar solos were cool after all in the early noughties”: February 2024 Guitar World editors' picks

From neoclassical tapping clinics to cosmic, spaghetti western-esque guitar soundscapes, this month has provided an embarrassment of six-string riches

Guitar World

“Nothing is held back or toned down”: Mdou Moctar has announced a new album that will be “louder, faster, and more wild” than anything before it – hear the electrifying title track, Funeral For Justice

'The Hendrix of the Sahara' is using his music to shine a light on the political turmoil of his homeland, with the band set to tour the US in June

USA Today Sports Media Group

Coachella 2024 tickets: How to see Lana Del Ray, Tyler, The Creator, Doja Cat, No Doubt and more

Want to experience Coachella in person this year? Tickets are selling fast to see Lana Del Ray, Tyler, The Creator, Doja Cat, No Doubt and more.

MusicRadar

Mdou Moctar launches GoFundMe as band members are left stranded in the USA following military coup in Niger

“We are so appreciative of whatever you are able to do to help us in this unprecedented and scary time,” write the band, as they plan to stay in the US until the situation improves at home

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Guitar World

“The band is stuck in the United States indefinitely”: Mdou Moctar are stranded in the US following a coup in Niger – and need your help raising funds

The band has three members from Niger, including Moctar himself, and are facing mounting travel and accommodation costs due to their enforced stay

Chicago Sun-Times

Pitchfork Music Festival 2023: Day 3 PHOTOS

Bon Iver, Killer Mike, Mdou Moctar, Koffee, Illuminati Hotties, JPEGMafia, Soul Glo, Jockstrap and Lucrecia Dalt were among the acts in the Sunday lineup.

Chicago Sun-Times

Soul Glo, Lucrecia Dalt, Palm stir the crowds on Pitchfork Music Festival’s last day

Lineup at sunny Union Park includes headliner Bon Iver after Killer Mike, Mdou Moctar, Koffee, Illuminati Hotties, JPEGMafia and Jockstrap.

The Guardian - UK

The 30 bands and artists to see live before you die … or they split up

With festival season upon us, from stadium-rousing anthemicists to legacy-honouring techno wizards and bowel-loosening drone-metallers, here are the performers that every music fan will want to tick off their bucket list

Chicago Sun-Times

Pitchfork Music Festival 2023: The Smile, Big Thief and Bon Iver set to headline music fest; full lineup announced

Festival tickets — three-day passes ($219) and single-day passes ($109) — are now on sale.

Chicago Sun-Times

The Mix: Cool things to do in Chicago Sept. 1-7

“The Notebook” musical debut at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, North Coast Music Festival and the Chicago Jazz Festival are among the entertainment highlights in the week ahead.

The Guardian - UK

Mdou Moctar review – passionate shredding by Nigerien guitar hero

Moctar’s Tuareg-language rock has been justifiably compared to Eddie Van Halen – it is utterly thrilling

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