Kel Assouf (Desert Blues) // Yellow Arch, Sheffield

Yellow Arch presents KEL ASSOUF + support Tuesday 19th February // Doors 8pm £5 adv tickets available here - Psychedelic desert blues from Niger via Brussels. Stoner rock meets desert blues: Queens of the Stone Age meets Tinariwen. “Tuareg influences fused with heavy rock guitars and keyboard solos in full-tilt songs about love, hypocrisy and exile” – The Guardian In 2006, Anana Harouna arrived in Brussels after a long exile and created a new band: Kel Assouf. Since then he explored various styles and formulas gathering musicians from African and European countries. With one foot in the desert and the other in Europe, Anana Harouna sings about Sahara, Niger and Brussels. The melodies and rhythms are directly inspired by Berber music. His short sentences, laid on scales and rhythms from traditional keltamasheq music, remind us of the concision of Japanese haiku. With a new minimalist power trio, surrounded by Sofyann Ben Youssef on the organ and the Moog SUB 37, and Olivier Penu on drums, Anana Harouna’s revolt against injustices is made explicit by the saturated voice of his guitar. The African trance rhythms melted into the energy of vintage rock move us to a dance floor somewhere between London and Niamey – a powerful groove machine!