Prodigious Tuareg guitarist and songwriter Mdou Moctar boldly reforges contemporary Saharan music and “rock  music“ by melding Eddie Van Halen pyrotechnics, full-blast noise and guitar shredding, field recordings, drums  rhythms, poetic meditations on love, religion, women’s rights, inequality and Western Africa’s exploitation at the  hands of colonial powers to rip a new hole in the sky with the Afrique Victime album.  Mdou Moctar’s home is Agadez, a desert village in rural Niger. Inspired by YouTube videos of Eddie Van Halen’s  six string techniques and traditional Tuareg melodies, he mastered the guitar which he himself built and created  his own burning style. A born charismatic, Mdou went on to tell his story as an aspiring artist by writing,  producing & starring in the first Tuareg language film: a remake of Purple Rain called Akounak Tedalat Taha  Tazoughai - which translates to “Rain The Color Of Blue With A Little Red In It”, winning the approval of his  family and his community. The word and the sound travelled across West Africa via mobile phone data cards, a  popular form of local music distribution. Gruelling DIY world tours and albums on the independent US label  Sahel Sounds followed, including 2019’s landmark Ilana: The Creator album that earned Mdou Moctar an ecstatic  international audience.  Afrique Victime is result of the combined efforts of Mdou and the members of the band that shares his name.  Mdou’s crucial collaborator is Ahmoudou Madassane, who’s been his rhythm guitarist since 2008- their two  guitars are an alchemical combination. As a songwriter, producer and recording artist Ahmoudou is the premier  musical ambassador to Tuaregs in Niger, empowering young musicians with instruments, recording  opportunities, and visas. Masassane helped form the revolutionary first woman-fronted Tuareg guitar band Les  Filles De Illighadad, whose debut album and tours caused an international sensation in 2019. The band‘s youngest member is prodigal drummer Souleymane Ibrahim, also a member of both the well-known  Niger band Sultanat Star De L’air and the longest running wedding band in Agadez, Etran De L’air. Souleymane’s  playing on this album ferociously sets a new standard for the “rock” drumset.  Producer & bassist Mikey Coltun flies 20 hours from Brooklyn, NYC, then takes a 28 hour bus ride to reach  Agadez so the band can practice and record. With no support from a major label or a manager, they made this  journey out of Niger every time they toured. In the past three years, Mikey’s played over 500 shows on three  continents as Mdou Moctar’s bassist, road manager, producer/recording engineer, and friend. Coltun recorded  and produced Afrique Victime around the band’s travels in 2019- in studios, apartments, hotel rooms, venue  backstages, and in field recordings in Niger.  Recording and honing songs as a touring outfit forged a livewire new sound, and If Ilana was a late ’60s early  ’70s ZZ Top and Black Sabbath record – Afrique Victime is mid ’70s to early ’80s Van Halen meets Black Flag  meets Black Uhuru. The ferocity of Moctar’s electric guitar and the band’s hypnotic rhythm section are on awe inspiring display on songs like “Chismiten” and the mournful yet incandescent title track. Elsewhere, Moctar  finds inspiration in highlighting lesser known facets of the group: “While people have gotten to know Mdou  Moctar as a rock band, there is a whole different set of music with this band done on acoustic guitars which we  wanted to incorporate into this album in order to go through a sonic journey,” he says. Mdou pays homage to  one of his heroes Abdallah Ag Oumbadagou, the legendary Niger musician and political revolutionary, on songs  “Habibti” and “Layla”. “Abdallah was a contemporary of Tinariwen and helped to pioneer the sound of Tuareg  guitar music blended with drum machines and electronic sounds”. “From prison to Nobel prize. They ceded to Mandela / Africa is a victim of so many crimes / If we stay silent it  will be the end of us / Why is this happening?“ Moctar asks on the heartfelt and rallying title track. “I want the  world to know that we are making music to promote world peace and be with everyone on the same level,  fighting against racism”, he says. “All colors and genders are equal. Women, Men and children all suffer in the  desert due to the colonization by France and therefore there is a lack of the basics - hospitals, drinking water,  schools.”  The needs of Agadez are a major part of what drives Moctar as an artist, and promoting the region’s youth  through music is an especially personal cause. “I know what it’s like to have been in that position,” he says, “to  not have the support of your family, or the money for guitars or strings, it’s really hard. I have a lot of support  from the younger generation, because I help them out a lot. When I get back from tour, I give them gear that I  bought while I was away so they can go out and form their own bands.”  Says Coltun: “In Agadez the music and feeling at Tuareg weddings is exactly like the best of Western DIY/Punk  shows. It’s loud, energetic and powerful. There is a sense of everyone helping out. Tuaregs are a tight  community. If you’re Tuareg you’re considered family.”  The music listeners are the beneficiaries of the staggeringly powerful do-it-yourself musical ethic of Mdou  Moctar- the man and the band- who’ve worked so hard to bring the spirits of families and communities in Niger  to the West. Afrique Victime sounds and feels like a Tuareg hand reaching down from the sky, and we are very  lucky for this chance to get lifted.  

In recent years Southern California has proved to be fertile ground for heavy psych, prog and free rock. The amount of excellent bands growing out of the San Diego soil is simply unparalleled. Among the youngest generation of these bands are the four-piece Monarch, a band rooted in psychedelia and experimental prog, with a view towards broader horizons. There's something refreshing about Monarch's take on psychedelic rock: they aren't afraid to weave allman brothers-esque dual guitar lines with synthesizers and saxophone. They can be heavy, but there's an unmistakable panoramic quality to their compositions too, reflecting the rich and diverse environment they've grown up in, with dazzling pacific coastlines, mountains and desert highways.