On May 21, Matador Records will release Afrique Victime, the long-awaitednew albumby Mdou Moctar. WithAfrique Victime the prodigious Tuareg guitarist and songwriter rips a new hole in the sky -boldly reforging contemporary Saharan music and "rock music"by melding guitar pyrotechnics, full-blast noise,andfield recordingswith poetic meditations on love, religion, women's rights,inequality,and Western Africa's exploitation at the hands of colonial powers.