“The Malian desert guitar band changes things up with acoustic instrumentation and guest spots from Nels Cline and members of TV on the Radio. The invitation of outsiders into the songs is in one sense a measure of the confidence the band has in the integrity and singularity of its sound, and also a reflection of where they've been recently.”
“The cosmic, roiling Afro-Arabic groove this North African guitar band generates is like a sandstorm: not something one controls so much as learns to navigate. The outsiders on this acoustic-leaning LP – members of TV on the Radio, Wilco and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band – get this. On "Imidiwan Ma Tenam," Nels Cline stokes a distant bonfire of electric-guitar noise; on "Walla Illa," Tunde Adebimpe […]”
