Product Description

The tracks on 'Mali Music' were culled from the forty hoursof recordings that Blur frontman Damon Albarn made on his trip to Mali in 2000. Albarn collaborated both with unknown musicians and Malian stars alike. Afel Bocoum overdubbed his 'desert blues' vocals to some of the tracks at a later date.

Track Listing

1. Spoons
2. Bamako City
3. Le Relax
4. Nabintou Diakité (live recording)
5. Makelekele
6. The Djembe
7. Tennessee Hotel
8. Niger
9. 4AM At Toumani's
10. Institut National Des Arts
11. Kela Village
12. Griot Village
13. Le Hogon
14. Sunset Coming On
15. Ko Kan Ko Sata Doumbia On River
16. Les Ecrocs

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6071 in Music
• Released on: 2002-04-15
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
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 echt-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 it 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 "Africanisation of Western music"--where does the boy imagine jazz came from?--but do regard this CD as a healthy omen. --Michael Church

fRoots, May 2002
Mali Music is based on the recordings made by Damon Albarn on an Oxfam-organised trip to Mali a couple of years ago. Rather than take the usual rushed celebrity approach, the Blur and Gorillaz man stayed for a few weeks and with his melodica in hand, played wherever he could (clubs gigs, village jams, on riverboats and in musicians' compounds) with anyone who would let him join in: Toumani Diabate, Lobi Traore and Kasse Mady to name but a few. The tapes were taken back to his West London studio, things were mixed and added and then it was back to Mali for further additions from the excellent Afel Bocoum. Perhaps surprisingly, this doesn't result in a self-indulgent mess. Albarn is clearly motivated by a love of Malian music but he's not afraid to mess with it when he feels the need. So that while some tracks (the self explanatory 4am At Toumani's for example) are pretty much unmucked around with, others feature twangy guitars, muted synth lines or the deep dubby bass of Junior Dan. Apparently the aim was to create a musical travelogue of Mali, but it's one filtered through a particular laid-back West London sensibility. Albarn mainly contents himself with orchestrating the whole thing and playing simple melodica melodies, with just the occasional understated vocal thrown in. The decision to involve Bocoum is a definite plus and all in all, Mali Music is pulled off with just the right mix of respect and inventiveness. --Jamie Renton

© fRoots Magazine all rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Creative
Being a post punk indie kid this album is very different to anything else I own.

However if you like laid back Damon Albarn & proper tunes this album is very good. Personally I think better than any of the Gorillaz material.

8/10. '4AM At Toumani's'
Albarn's Mali Music project is an overlooked album of beautiful mood and texture that barely belongs to the hideous 'category' of world music. This is very much a subjectivised, western account of African moods and musicianship, taken largely from muddled field recordings and mixed down in London. Mostly the range of instrumentation drifts in and out of the mix unhurried in a manner that has more in common with sample-based music and electronica than world music. Indeed it starts disappointingly with the track Spoons that seems to bare no superficial resemblance to African music at all, more like the slick trip hop of Faithless's quieter moments. But listen carefully and you will hear all manner of found sound bubbling under the surface; the nocturnal vibes pervade, evidently recorded over night-long Mali jam sessions and banter. Track titles like '4AM At Toumani's', 'Kela Village' and 'Bamako City' give testament to the approach, which seems aimed at capturing the mood of a place rather than provide a platform for specific artists. Perhaps this is not for the purists of whom Michael Nyman referred to as the 'World Music Police'.

There are moments of unbearable lovliness throughout, that evoke a sense of Albarn's heartbreaking nostalgia for his experience, especially on songs fronted by him (Sunset Coming On). Absolutely a subjectivised and romanticised account, it drifts and swells in a heady brew that uses African music and atmosphere as texture. 'Makelekele' splices together its range of instrumentation into a kind of demented African techno, while 'Le Relax' and 'The Djembe' are spectral, humid dub. Most tracks have irresistable hooks and grooves given added insistence by a variety of singers, as well as Albarn's melodica, which underpins some of the, er, melodies. The fragmented loops on 'Tennessee Hotel' recall mellower moments on Eno and Byrne's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, the voices, guitar refrains and found sound slipping hypnotically in and out of the mix. 'Niger', arguably one of the album's more untampered tracks, revolves around some simple guitar loops so beautiful that it makes you wonder what other African music you may be missing in your ignorance. Its not all light and groovy though, the slightly funereal closer 'Les Ecrocs' seems to have the darkness of the African night pulsing in its very blood, while the ghostly 'Institut National Des Arts' sends shivers up your spine.

On the whole though, its not an album of individual songs but of atmosphere and place. A journey, not a set of specific peformances or statements. Albarn, for all his political activity, doesn't resort to any po-faced hectoring about African poverty in the music or sleeve notes. Unnecessary really since some of the proceeds of this record go to Oxfam projects in the region. If I have one (minor) complaint, its that the cut of 'Sunset Coming On' here is inferior to the track's live performance available to view on YouTube, which is extended by a mind-blowing three minute jam (check it out). If you like this you will also enjoy the crossover fusion of Crammed label's 20 Ways to Float Through Walls.

when world crossover works
There are many attempts at world crossover music that fail but luckily this is one of those rare records that works on all counts. The mix is perfect & complements each with respect & real love of what good music is all about. It is the soul of africa presented in a beautiful way. Tracks like "spoons" and "the Djembe" are just songs that move you deep in your heart. Whilst "les escrocs" will just transport you to all that is missing in your life. World music at it's very very best. If you like "world" music this should be in your top 10, though I find it hard to fit it into the catagory of "world music"...what is that?