Troubles

Description

Troubles is the title of the new album by Dirtmusic - Chris Eckman (The Walkabouts) and Hugo Race (Fatalists/True Spirit/Bad Seeds) - recorded in Bamako, Mali, in September 2012 at the height of a period of intense tension and tragic events during the crisis - hence its name, “Troubles.” Originally a trio with Chris Brokaw (Come/Codeine), Dirtmusic released its self-titled album in 2007. Dirtmusic’s meeting with the Tuareg group Tamikrest at the Festival au Désert was the catalyst for the second album, BKO (2010). Then, with Chris Brokaw’s departure, Race and Eckman decided to position themselves upstream, “at the source,” composing and recording an album from scratch in total collaboration with a selection of Malian artists. Dirtmusic arrived in Bamako with notebooks of lyrics, but no musical composition or conceptual strategy. Using the musicians from Ben Zabo’s and Samba Toure’s bands as the basis of the rhythm section, it was on the dance floor of Salif Keita’s Club Moffou that Race and Eckman produced the sessions, inviting singers Ben Zabo and Samba Toure to join them, as well as Virginie Dembele (from the Rokia Traore ensemble), rising star Aminata Wassidje Traore and soku-master Zoumana Tereta. Inspired by the collision between West African rhythms, digital sorcery and rock’n’roll, Troubles is a singular musical journey with sharp edges. Troubles is only the first volume of these sessions, the second volume is in the pipeline and should be released in early 2014 on Glitterbeat.