Ilana (The Creator)


Ilana is the 2019 studio album by Nigerien desert blues band Mdou Moctar. The album was recorded in Detroit and was released by the record label Sahel Sounds. The album was the first where guitarist Mdou Moctar turned his solo musical project into a full band, and has received positive reviews by critics.

Background and recording

Mdou Moctar released his debut album, Anar, in 2008, and rereleased it before creating the soundtrack of Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai. ''Ilana'' is Moctar's third album. In 2019, Mdou Moctar turned into an official band, adding bassist Mike Coltun, drummer Mazawadje Aboubacar Ibrahim, and guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane. The album was his first studio-recorded album.
The album was recorded in Detroit with studio producer Chris Koltay. According to the record label Sahel Sounds, they "lived in the studio for a week, play into the early hours". After recording the songs, the band returned to Niger to add additional guitar solos, overdubs of percussion, and a "general ambiance of Agadez wedding vibes".

Tracks

"Kamane Tarhanin" was released as a lead single. Music website Stereogum called it "hypnotic, plung forward with a spontaneous urgency". The song has various chanting sounds, with "sounds of Saharan tradition". Moctar said, "I’m just an ambassador, like a messenger of music, telling what is happening in my world".

Release and touring

A brief tour of the United States to promote the album started in the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on March 28, 2019, and ended in Hotel Vegas, Austin, Texas on April 25, 2019.

Reception

J. D. of The Economist wrote that this album was a "mastery of Moctar's craft" as a guitarist, as this album "makes use of brilliant and dense fingerpicking as well as the power chords favoured in hard rock". Reef Younis of Loud and Quiet scored this album a 7 out of 10, summing up his review "few have stories as compelling as Mdou Moctar but, as ‘Ilana ’ testifies, he also has the Saharan sounds to back it up". NPR's Bob Boilen called this "the most insane psychedelic guitar album of the 21st century" and recommended that listeners come at it "with the volume cranked". Editors at Pitchfork scored this release an 8 out of 10, and critic Andy Beta praised this release as "an incandescent set of guitar music with a spontaneous, celebratory air—and a latent urgency reflecting the region’s very real difficulties". At PopMatters, Adriane Pontecorvo rated this album a 9 out of 10, writing that the album builds on the desert blues tradition and yet "still sounds fresh and different from anything Moctar’s contemporaries do". She also stated that "Moctar goes all in on energy, lets loose tidal waves of melody, and shreds on electric guitar as only he can."

Track listing

All songs written by Mahamadou "Mdou Moctar" Souleymane.
  1. "Kamane Tarhanin" – 5:08
  2. "Asshet Akal" – 4:51
  3. "Inizgam" – 1:24
  4. "Anna" – 4:33
  5. "Takamba" – 2:50
  6. "Tarhatazed" – 7:27
  7. "Wiwasharnine" – 3:38
  8. "Ilana" – 4:46
  9. "Tumastin" – 4:21

Personnel

Mdou Moctar
Additional personnel