A Tuareg performer at the Festival au Desert. Photograph: Shehani Fernando
This Music Weekly extra comes to you from the unlikely setting of the Festival au Desert, a music event that takes place every year in the Saharan desert. As well as extreme temperatures, noisy camels and nomadic rebels, Rosie Swash experienced some of the absolute finest in Malian music - and you can hear all about it here.
We were lucky enough to record exclusive sessions with some our favourite acts from the festival, so there is music from and interviews with desert bluesman Vieux Farka Touré, the first lady of Tuareg music Khaira Arby, and the latest Tuareg group to go electric, Tamikrest.
Another musician who couldn't be ignored was Tiken Jah Fakoly, the politicised reggae artist currently in exile from his native Ivory Coast. We caught up with Fakoly just before he closed the Festival au Desert on Saturday evening, and he was typically candid about corruption in African governance and his empathy for the Tuaregs and their differences with the Malian government.
Finally, it wouldn't be Music Weekly without some dongle reviews. We decided to choose the track Mansard Roof by the "Upper West Side Soweto" band Vampire Weekend, asking the aforementioned Vieux Farka Touré and Ngoni specialist Bassekou Kouyate for their thoughts on this Africa-influenced pop song.
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