Record Label: Island Records

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Tom Jones, now seventy years old, appears to have taken something of a spiritual turn.  ‘Praise & Blame’, his thirty-ninth album, finds him moving away from the somewhat garish pop that made his name, and entering the more contemplative territory of gospel and blues.  The material is a mixture of traditional spirituals and a selection of covers; the album opens with a version of Bob Dylan’s ‘What Good Am I’ and also includes songs by John Lee Hooker and Billy Joe Shaver.  For someone like Jones, a project like this can either go very well or very badly.  Happily, ‘Praise & Blame’ is a success; the song choices, production and, most importantly, the nuances of Jones’ vocals are all spot on.  Comparisons with the final recordings of Johnny Cash seem inevitable, even though he and Jones are rather different figures.  But in both cases we find legendary singers reflecting on spirituality later in their lives, and releasing some of the finest music of their careers.  If Tom Jones follows the same trajectory as Cash and puts out a few more records like this, then we have much to look forward to.

Record Label: Loose Music

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‘Restless Feet’ is a traditional sounding number, which sounds eerily reminiscent of Bob Dylan and The Band collaborations. With the Byrd’s later work also in mind, it’s truly difficult to find anything here that sounds updated or especially distinguishable from these. Not that’s it’s a bad single, it’s just too much of a pastiche of American country rock c.1970. ‘Restless Feet’ has a nostalgic, rueful, yet hopeful quality – all spun together in a happy sunset sort of a way.  The backing vocals add romance, with a yearning, reaching tone to lyrics which chase disappearing dreams down dusty highways.  Authentic steel guitar twangs along pleasantly, and all in all, though the imagery is a little hackneyed, it’s a likeable and polished single from ‘Danny and the Champions of the World’. Shortly after listening to the single, you may want to put your feet up and gaze ruefully out of the window for something symbolic. Or you might want to go for a shit. The world’s your oyster.

Finally, after much consideration, Uncut have announced that Tinariwen have won this years coveted Uncut Music Award.

Tinariwen’s fourth album,  Imidiwan: Companions, won over some very stiff competition, from Kings of Leon, Bob Dylan, Wilco, Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear and The Low Anthem to be crowned the most inspirational and rewarding album of 2009.

Now in its second year, the Uncut Music Award has already gained a reputation as the most credible award in music. The artists’ nationality, age and sales figures are completely irrelevant as a judging panel of industry figures come together to decide on the winner.

Tinariwen were unanimously chosen, by a distinguished judging panel of eleven key industry figures who included musicians Billy Bragg, Rachel Unthank and Robin Pecknold of last year’s UMA winners, Fleet Foxes, broadcasters Mark Radcliff, Bob Harris, Danny Kelly and Christian O’Connell and, ex-EMI chief executive and chair of the BPI Tony Wadsworth, Stiff Records founder Dave Robinson and Mark Cooper, BBC Head Of Music Entertainment.

Tinariwen are a band of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali, whose mix of electric blues and Middle Eastern & African traditional drumming, has created a unique sound of their very own. Formed in 1979, they rose to prominence in the 1980s as the musical voice of a new political and social conscience in the southern Sahara. In the early 2000s, Tinariwen started to gain a following outside Africa, first in the world music community and then on the wider rock scene, through frequent tours and appearances at major festivals in Europe and the USA.

Ibrahim Ag Alhabib of Tinariwen, said of winning the Uncut Music Award: ‘This makes us really really happy, all of us and I’m glad that this important magazine should recognise our music. It gives us the strength to carry on working and spreading the message about the peace of our desert home, and I’m glad that our music can cross the frontiers and talk to people around the world. Thanks very very much.’

Uncut’s Editor Allan Jones says of Tinariwen – Imidiwan: Companions: ‘With so much great music to chose from, the judges’ task this year was extremely difficult, but in the end, the panel was unanimous in voting for Imidiwan.
It’s a fantastically exciting record, full of great, powerful music, passionately and brilliantly played. It had everything the judges were looking for in a potential winner.”

Artist Billy Bragg says: ‘I think this band will be hugely influential. In the next couple of years we’ll be hearing young bands lifting the tensions and the rhythms of Tinariwen. You find yourself reaching back to the blues to explain what they do, it’s like they’ve turned the whole bloody thing upside down. I really do think they are an Uncut band.’

BBC’s Creative Head of Music Entertainment Mark Cooper says: ‘I love the fact that this is a world music record that saves world music from the liberals. That’s really cool, I think a rock audience can like it, it’s not precious or worthy. It’s real.’

Artist Rachel Unthank says: ‘Tinariwen were the only group that united the panel. Their hypnotic rhythms must have cast a spell over us all as we were all captivated. Beautiful, powerful and brooding music. Hurray!’

Broadcaster Bob Harris says: ‘If we’re talking about what’s the most amazing, creative, forward-looking, political record we’re discussing, then this album is very, very special. There’s a lot of words here, that don’t completely or properly translate into English. There’s so much to discover, to know about this record, but you find yourself asking, ‘How much do I want to know, or how much do I just want to be entranced by it?’

Stiff Records Founder Dave Robinson says: ‘Tinariwen – Imidiwan: Companions Timeless organic and a truly unique album with a great sound.’

The full shortlist in alphabetical order, was:

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
Bob Dylan – Together Through Life (Columbia)
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (Domino)
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (Warp)
Kings of Leon – Only By The Night (Columbia)
The Low Anthem – Oh My God Charlie Darwin (Bella Union)
Tinariwen – Imidiwan: Companions (Independiente)
Wilco – Wilco (Nonesuch)