Mdou Moctar
Funeral for Justice
Matador
08 May 2024
Web Exclusive
Mdou Moctar (aka Mahamadou Souleymane) has come a long way since he made his first guitar out of wood and bicycle brake cables as a teenager. Armed with a white Stratocaster, Tureag guitarist (and band namesake Mdou Moctar) was thrust into the international consciousness when his 2021 record, Africa Victim, won praise from both the indie and mainstream press. And rightly so: this record showcased both Moctar's virtuoso playing and his signature blend of psychedelic rock and desert blues.
Funeral for Justice it's even better. Let's keep it simple: this thing rips. Moctar—along with his bandmates Ahmoudou Madassane, Mikey Coltun and Souleymane Ibrahim—has built on the foundations of Africa Victim and made a tighter record that's infused with garage rock energy. This is not a formal funeral: it is a rallying cry.
Unlike other so-called guitar gods of the modern era, Moctar doesn't seem interested in showing off technicality (although he absolutely shreds). His music is both emotionally charged and politically focused, criticizing the structural violence that the years of French colonialism have inflicted (and continue to inflict) on West Africans. He opens the record with a question to African leaders: “Why does your ear listen only to France and America?” Single “Imouhar” turns from restrained bluesy licks into a galloping grove over which Moctar pleads to preserve the Tamasheq language in which he sings.
Then there's the righteous indignation of “Oh France,” the call for pan-African unity in “Imajighen,” the call-and-response vocals of “Takoba” that mimic a common form found in real protests. A chorus of distant voices is layered beneath Moctar's vocals. The result is a record that begs you to sing, to participate, to engage. Only in the final track, “Modern Slaves,” does Moktar finally relent, lamenting the universal apathy toward the suffering of others. In an almost whisper, he repeats, “All you do is watch. All you do is watch.” (www.mdoumoctar.com)
Author Rating: 9/10
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