Mdou Moctor – “Afrique Victime”
There have been pieces of this one filtering out, but this is the track right here. If ever there was an argument that Mdou is one of today’s modern guitar luminaries, its “Afrique Victime.” Built on Turareg rhythms, but hardly a standard desert blues, the song hovers over a vibrating bed of rhythm – traditional drums mixed with the electronic pulse that rings out through the song in echoplex perfection. But again, we’re all here for the moment that Mdou, along with help from rhythm guitarist Ahmoudou Madassane, burns the skies with stings that seem to move too fast for physics, but just fast enough to light up every synapse in the brain. He’s picked up the dropped mantles of Jimi, Prince, and Eddie proving that there should be a few more dry ice draped posters of Mdou on childhood bedroom walls these days. To deepen the blow, the song is a resounding indictment of the world’s treatment of the continent, calling out to the world to step up, reminding us that “If we stay silent it will be the end of us.” The song is the centerpiece of the upcoming album of the same name, out May 21st from Matador.
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