What does Tidane Thiam sound like?
Acoustic folk guitar wielded like it’s a kora in waiting.
The review of ‘Siftorde’ by Tidiane Thiam
One of my favourite finds in 2025 on Bandcamp from an album released years prior is ‘Siftorde’ by Tidiane Thiam. Hailing from Fouta Toro in Northern Senegal, Tidiane highlights African acoustic folk traditions and styles. For the majority of this album, he limits his sound palette to a single acoustic guitar. Self-taught from listening to radio broadcasts to learn the guitar, his fingerpicked playing style has hints of desert blues (Tuareg) and kora playing, too.
The beauty of this album is that it was recorded using one microphone at night. Crickets, the occasional shuffle of clothing, and the odd spoken comment between tracks are the only other sounds heard. Instead, the entire album is dedicated to the rhythmic flow of the fingerpicked guitar. Different tracks will have a swagger swing to them. ‘Dannibe’ has a lilting hop-skip-swing to it that banjo rockers will enjoy. It also contains a sparse moment of distant murmuring of singing as if Tidiane was caught in the moment before he trails off to focus on the guitar again. ‘Djatasoun’ uses the guitar frame to create a percussive slap in between careful spasms of energetic micro solos. The whole album has a campfire storytime informality that highlights the casual, familial warmth the music provides.
Each track approaches the Sahelian guitar in a new light. There is a kora-like cascading note trickle in ‘Hommage a Toumani Diabate’, who has made global waves with his kora playing. ‘N’Dianguene Demngal Men’ has rustic percussion framing the jam. ‘Douga’ has extended expressive string bending solos that sound like they’ve escaped straight from Persia. Whilst most of the album has an upbeat exhale vibe to it, ‘Minuit’ is a sensitive ballad that pulls back on the motifs and embellishments that Tidiane Thiam has expertly finger-danced into song, leaving a calming, reflective, and balming piece to bathe in. What I cannot emphasise enough is just how rhythmic yet loose the album is. There’s no metronome here, but Thiam’s innate inner rhythm switches speeds and cycles midsong with complete mastery of his craft. You are along for the ride willingly because no song misses a single beat.
‘Siftorde’ translates into ‘Remember’, and Tidiane says it’s an ode to the temporary nature of this one mic, one night, one performance setting. I’m delighted this pristine distillation of music has been captured and preserved because it is the perfect companion for a quiet night of guitar note collages and desert blues. Sometimes it’s the rawness and stripped-back approach that can make an artist shine. There’s confidence in the restraint of production or refusal to edit out background clicks and clacks. It makes me feel like I’m there for the first time each listen, and that’s what makes Tidiane Thiam’s ‘Siftorde’ feel like a gem.
Recommended track: Dannibe
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Tidiane Thiam - Siftorde
Simon's Verdict - 9
9
Excellent
The innate rhythm of desert blues and Sahelian folk will charm your soul.
Tidiane Thiam - Siftorde
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This review captures exactly why Thiam’s work feels so necessary right now. The way he lets space breathe between the notes – not as emptiness, but as tension – is rare. It’s almost anti-virtuosic: the guitar never rushes to fill every gap, and that restraint turns the listening into something almost physical. You can feel the Sahel wind in those long, suspended phrases.
What stays with me is the description of the production choices – the way the ensemble is recorded almost like a single breathing organism rather than a stack of overdubs. It reminds me of the best field recordings where the environment isn’t scrubbed away but allowed to live in the mix. That approach feels like a quiet rebellion against the hyper-polished, grid-locked sound that dominates so much contemporary music.
I’m curious about the title track especially. “Siftorde” as a kind of invocation – the review hints at it carrying a spiritual weight without turning mystical or heavy-handed. That balance is hard to pull off. If the piece really does feel like a slow walk through memory and landscape, then Thiam has done something substantial: made an album that doesn’t just reference tradition but extends it into something that can speak in 2026 without apology.
Grateful for the write-up. It’s made me want to sit with the record properly, headphones on, lights low. Not many reviews manage that these days.
Lovely comment, thank you for sharing.