Another unexpected gem on a weeknight in Arcata courtesy of The Miniplex. TAKAAT is a side project of Mdou Moctar’s rhythm section. Like Mdou Moctar, Tinariwen’s influence is prominent, but TAKAAT set themselves apart by bringing the bite and chaotic rhythms of posthardcore to the desert blues, citing bands like Unwound and Fugazi among their inspirations. I’ve never been a jam band guy, but after watching this trio rip their way through a ten minute, distortion-laden improvisation off a Tinariwen song I get it.
TAKAAT means “noise” in the Tuareg language Tamashek. They’ve released two EPs (TAKAAT IS NOISE Vols 1 & 2) on Purplish Records, run by their bass player Mikey Coltun. Purplish also releases a batch series of tapes pairing artists with completely different sounds from completely different parts of the world that share a through-line on the release. Highly recommend checking out the project.
Easton Connell 
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