Filmed by Anja Riden, this session films Tissilawen at the foot of the Tassili n’Ajjer, the sandstone plateau over Djanet in the southeast of Algeria that handed them their name. The song they carried out there is “Kel Tamasheq,” the word the Tuareg keep for themselves, those who speak Tamasheq.

The song first appeared on their 2012 debut Toumastin, an album whose name means “my origin.” Guitarists Bakrin Timlfati and Cheikh Taberni formed the band in 2008, childhood friends from Djanet who took Tinariwen as their model. “Kel Tamasheq” is their core desert blues: looping electric guitar over bass and hand percussion, with vocals in Tamasheq.

Listen to “Kel Tamasheq” HERE and get your copy of Toumastin following THIS LINK