Tidiane Thiam is a guitarist, photographer, visual artist and folklorist from Podor in northern Senegal. New album, Siftorde, released on Portland-based label Sahel Sounds, introduces Thiam’s intricate fingerpicked guitar instrumentals. Thiam taught himself to play guitar listening to late-night radio broadcasts, drawing from an encyclopaedic knowledge of Sahel culture and folklore to create a sound both rich with history and very much his own.
The record’s title, translated by Thiam into four languages on the cover (Siftorde, Fateliku, Souvenir, Remember), references both these facts. The album is an act of remembrance of otherwise ephemeral moments, capturing not just Thiam’s guitar but also the warm hum of a thousand sibilant crickets, thus eternalizing a small moment in the warm dark of the Senegalese night. This sense of place is hugely important, and sets the guitar as just one small part of a wider ecosystem.
But the title refers also to a remembrance of older methods and styles. Thiam plays and updates these songs so that they may be remembered, using his guitar to reinterpret melodies traditionally played on the hoddu, some of which date back to the seventeenth century when Senegal was part of the Mali Empire. It’s here his knowledge as a folklorist, skill as a musician and curiosity as a listener combine, resulting in a sound that is part homage, part singular vision.
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While Siftorde is a showcase of Thiam’s skill and dexterity as a guitarist, it’s the emotional core that glows through brightest. From the stark honesty of the no-frills setup to the meditative melodies that unfurl and repeat, the album holds a sense of pensive serenity that is impossible to capture with words. Accentuating this are small moments of what can only be described as transcendence. Take for example the faint murmur of vocals on ‘Dannibe,’ which bubble softly to the surface like an audible memory, only to dissipate in seconds, leaving you wondering if you ever heard them at all.
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Siftorde is out now via Sahel Sounds and you can get the LP or digital download from the Tidiane Thiam Bandcamp page.
