"A top-quality orchestra from Niamey, Niger, an ancient cultural crossroads in the Sahel from which little music reaches the outside world ... A reference point might be Tuareg blues, but here we have a wider, more sophisticated style. Tal National consists of Songhai, Fulani and Hausa as well as Tuareg musicians, and this is a full, big-sounding band ... Restless, involved melodic lines are repeated over a succession of unusual and intricate rhythms, with solo and choral voices coming ad going in one great melée. It's trance/dance music - exuberant, teetering on the edge of disorder, sure of itself, powerful. A special note for the central guitar playing by leader Hamadal "Almeida" Moumine which is quite spectacular - a masterly display of control and release. Not lead, not rhythm - more like a helmsman leading the band".