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Tantabara
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Tantabara Image
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 6 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: The third full-length release for the Nigerian band was recorded by Jamie Carter and features a guest appearance from Zara Moussa.
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  • Record Label: Fat Cat
  • Genre(s): Alternative/Indie Rock, International, West African, African Traditions, Afro-Pop, Afro-beat, Nigerian
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Exclaim
    Mar 12, 2018
    90
    This release has the same charge as the early entries of Ali Hassan Kuban or Konono No. 1, both who set the bar for raw energy. The colonial demarcations of Africa have a lot to answer for, but this fusing of Songhai, Fulani, Hausa and Tuareg peoples has created gifts worth having. This is amazing music.
  2. Rolling Stone
    Mar 12, 2018
    80
    Tantabara has a scruffy, econo, indie-rock vibe reminiscent of beautiful Brooklyn afrojazz punks Sunwatchers or Tel Aviv-born Brooklyn guitarist Yonatan Gat, who shreds aggressively on Tal's "Entente."
  3. AllMusic
    Mar 12, 2018
    80
    Tantabara puts on an ever fiercer show than its two predecessors, its wild polyrhythmic grooves and ebullient group vocals lending an unyielding sense of vigor to every song.
  4. Mojo
    Mar 20, 2018
    80
    A fourth album of brisk Saharan grooves, heavy jamming and trance percussion. [May 2018, p.98]
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  5. The Quietus
    Apr 3, 2018
    80
    The record ends brilliantly with the superb one-two of ‘Trankil’, a truly brilliant pop track, and the immensely sympathetic ‘Aminiata’. The brisk, crisp, ‘that’s your lot’ ending on each of these two tracks somehow makes listening in so much more enjoyable.
  6. The Wire
    Mar 12, 2018
    80
    The result is often similar in sound to the classic Malian groups, but much gnarlier. ... The drumming is a pummelling, clattering hailstorm of toms and snares, thrashed out at heart attack tempos. It’s all-consuming, exhilarating and fearfully hard playing, and as a truly disorienting backdrop to a virtuoso band, it pushes Tal National’s music into the realm of the unique.[Mar 2018, p.51]
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