zachsd

Yeah, Tinariwen is an amazing band, I saw them live a while ago when they performed at UCLA with dirt cheap ticket prices.

One musician you might want to check out is Ali Farka Touré. Like Tinariwen, Touré's roots are in Mali's north, which has a very different sound than the south where its much more tropical. The music in Mali's south generally sounds more, uh, "lush" I guess you'd say. If you want to compare the two regions check out Oumou Sangare, a great female singer that comes from the country's southwest.

Anyways, to get back to your question, like Tinariwen, Touré mixes a bluesy sound with traditional Saharan music, which works pretty well as you've probably already figured out listening to Tinariwen. I would suggest his eponymous album, "Ali Farka Touré". Generally it's considered one of his best and is my favorite album of his. I would post a link but I can't so.. sorry. He's worked with some famous western musicians as well. Ry Cooder comes to mind, but I'd avoid his collaboration album with him, titled "Talking Timbuktu", until your more familiar with Touré's solo work.

Another Malian group you might want to check out is Amadou and Mariam. They were popularized by Manu Chao and sort of have a similar vibe to the Spanish musician but are still very good. I would consider them more westernized than Touré, so it might be easier to listen to. I personally find them easier to listen to, but I think the musicianship of Touré exceeds that of Amadou and Mariam. One of my favorite Amadou and Mariam songs is "Je Pense a Toi", which you should be able to find easily on youtube. For an album to start with I'd recommend "Dimanche à Bamako".

This is sort of getting away from Tinariwen, but I would also recommend looking into some Senegalese music. Senegal, Mali's western neighbor, shares a lot of similar sounds that you might like. Youssou N'Dour comes to mind, but he uses more traditional instruments, not so much guitar like you'll hear in Tinariwen. Still very much worth checking out.