Terrific, headlong, in-your-face, dense, hypnotic guitar-music from Niamey, the capital of Niger, lashing together Tuareg blues, the Songhai of Malian griots, and Hausa percussion, amongst other influences. Intensely refreshing and warmly recommended. 'Kaani' means uplifting, happy. Tal National is a band from Niamey, the capital city of Niger, West Africa’s largest nation (and one of the world’s poorest). Although they are hugely popular in their homeland where their music is heavily featured on Niger national TV, they can still be found selling their CDs on roundabouts in Niamey, since the country has no distribution system. Each year they do national tours, travelling 18,000 kilometres throughout Niger, performing shows in over forty cities. In their joyously hypnotic, highly unique contribution to West African guitar music can be heard the history of Niger as a cultural crossroads along ancient trade routes. Collected within the borders of the former French colony can be found Songhai, Fulani, Hausa, and Tuareg populations, all of whom are represented in the musicians of Tal National. These different ethnic groups tie Niger closely to the peoples of its more powerful neighbours Nigeria, Mali, Algeria, and Libya. In the band’s ‘tradi-modern’ music the listener can hear strong reverberations of the rolling 12/8 rhythms in the Hausa’s Fuji percussion, the pensive aridity of the Tuareg’s assouf or “desert blues”, and the exquisite “griot guitar” of Mali’s Songhai. These African roots sounds are all delivered with virtuoso precision and a driving, energetic immediacy that typifies the sound of nightlife in a modern African city.