The cosmic, roiling Afro-Arabic groove this North African guitar band generates is like a sandstorm: not something one controls so much as learns to navigate. The outsiders on this acoustic-leaning LP – members of TV on the Radio, Wilco and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band – get this. On "Imidiwan Ma Tenam," Nels Cline stokes a distant bonfire of electric-guitar noise; on "Walla Illa," Tunde Adebimpe adds ooh-oohs amid hypnotic fingerpicking. Gentler than Tinariwen’s more electric output, the music draws power from the guests. And in light of the current violence in their Tuareg homeland, the hush only deepens the blues.

Listen to "Tassili" preview:

“The Pretender”

This song wasn't part of the planned track listing for 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and was put together in a day. "It happened after we recorded a lot of stuff," said Dave Grohl. Yet it ended up as the album opener and the lead single. Grohl called it "a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it." The singer hinted at the lyrics' political overtones: "Everyone's been f---ed over before and I think a lot of people feel f---ed over right now and they're not getting what they were promised."