Mali music reviews

With Mali Music it's possible at last to see how Damon Albarn's foray into Africa has worked out: most members of what Albarn's friend Michael Nyman has dubbed the "world-music police" would probably be happy to give it a qualified thumbs-up. If some of the "Western" tracks are little more than an undifferentiated blur (no pun intended), the Malian ones are a delight. But it's what lies between that's interesting: what Albarn and his colleagues Afel Bocoum , Toumani Diabate, and Ko Kan Ko Sata Doumbia have achieved is best described as "the music of place." In "Kela Village" you can almost see the celebrations going on amid the chirruping of birds and the croaking of frogs; "Bamako City" comes with bags of local atmosphere. This CD was constructed in layers--after Albarn had edited down his 40 hours of raw material, he created collages with new melodies and beats and then sent his tapes back to Mali, where extra vocals and instrumental work were added. We thus get music that actually feels layered: a typical track will start with a simple groove on kora or ngoni, then it will acquire a voice, then some electronic effects, and will finally be enveloped in a seductive miasma of local atmosphere. Apart from some nifty Malian balafon and string work, there's nothing here of instrumental note (Albarn's instrument is a battered melodica), but that doesn't matter, because in this game the final effect is the thing. Disregard Albarn's pretentious guff about this representing the "Africanization of Western music" (where does the boy imagine jazz came from?) but do regard this CD as a healthy omen. --Michael Church

With Mali Music it's possible at last to see how Damon Albarn's foray into Africa has worked out: most members of what Albarn's friend Michael Nyman has dubbed the "world-music police" would probably be happy to give it a qualified thumbs-up. If some of the "Western" tracks are little more than an undifferentiated blur (no pun intended), the Malian ones are a delight. But it's what lies between that's interesting: what Albarn and his colleagues Afel Bocoum , Toumani Diabate, and Ko Kan Ko Sata Doumbia have achieved is best described as "the music of place." In "Kela Village" you can almost see the celebrations going on amid the chirruping of birds and the croaking of frogs; "Bamako City" comes with bags of local atmosphere. This CD was constructed in layers--after Albarn had edited down his 40 hours of raw material, he created collages with new melodies and beats and then sent his tapes back to Mali, where extra vocals and instrumental work were added. We thus get music that actually feels layered: a typical track will start with a simple groove on kora or ngoni, then it will acquire a voice, then some electronic effects, and will finally be enveloped in a seductive miasma of local atmosphere. Apart from some nifty Malian balafon and string work, there's nothing here of instrumental note (Albarn's instrument is a battered melodica), but that doesn't matter, because in this game the final effect is the thing. Disregard Albarn's pretentious guff about this representing the "Africanization of Western music" (where does the boy imagine jazz came from?) but do regard this CD as a healthy omen. --Michael Church

Mali's Salif Keita might possess one of Africa's great voices, but in the past there have been times when his material hasn't done him real justice. That's not the case here--Papa is as close to brilliance as he's likely to get, with enough of a real roots feel to bring out his emotive qualities. For once, the Western studio overlays (done in New York and Paris) don't overwhelm everything else. In fact, the only time they really intrude is when coproducer Vernon Reid (ex-Living Colour) takes a wild guitar solo at the end of the record, and that's an ideal fit. The title track is Keita at his very best, as his voice cracks and soars. This time he's hit it perfectly. --Chris Nickson

Part of the Six Degrees Records Travel Series, this collection mixes traditional African melodies and instruments with modern electronic music. Six Degrees Records states that they're "particularly interested in genre-bending hybrids that include a variety of musical styles, as well as a mix of the ancient and the modern." DJ Spider's remix of Ibrahim Hamma Dicko--a singer-composer from northern Mali--and Natty Bass Sound System's remix of Djigui--a rare player of the bolon, the most rural of Malian instruments--certainly indicate a commitment to genre bending. Going perhaps a step further, Chari Chari, from Tokyo, provides a dance-floor dimension to the Malian electric guitar playing of Lobi Traore, remixing it to an infectious house beat. There's an unmistakable African flavor throughout this collection, but the various remixing strategies give it an extra dimension that removes it from the strictly traditional. --Wally Shoup