Damon Albarn + Various - 'Mali Music' (Honest Jon's)
4/5
By: Maryse Laloux
Fancy a change of scenery - or are you merely in the mood for something new, something exotic? Well then, how does a trip to Mali sound..?
To those willing voyagers amongst us, let yourselves be carried away by 'Mali Music', an album conceived and produced by Damon Albarn, leader of Blur and Gorillaz, and the musicians he befriended during his stay in Mali in July 2000. Their most exciting musical adventures are virtually chronicled in full, thanks to this rich and diverse set of recordings - pinning down the very places where Damon recorded over eighty hours of traditional sounds from various musicians - accompanied at times by his own melodica and tribal-esque humming.
This project, initiated by the Oxfam charity organisation, represents the merging of two different musical landscapes. Damon edited and worked on the results in his London studio, enriching them with dubbing and electronic effects. The result is a rather eclectic work: indeed, a total of sixteen pieces, marrying Malian and Western conventions, rewarding the listener on an often amazing and abstract journey. Key destination-points? There's a ride on the Niger River, a visit of Bamako's Institut National des Arts, plus stops at the Kela and Griot Villages - all on the itinerary.
One of the most appealing aspects of this elaborate and brave album is how delightfully such obscure instruments - to most of us, at least - mesh with the typical piano, keyboards, guitars and electronic music that the West has become accustomed to. After all, where else do you get contemporary six-string styles merging with contraptions such as the Toumani Diabaté's kora (a twenty-one chord harp), the njurka (a traditional violin), the balafon, the ngoni and the overall singing of the Griots? It hardly makes up the basis of a Hear'Say record, that's for sure...
So - still wish to become acquainted to Malian music without getting bogged down by it? Opt for 'Mali Music' then - also, incidentally, the first release of Honest Jon's Records - a label founded by Albarn and his friends from the Portobello Road record shop of the same name. Need more incentives? Well, with El Damo having given up his rights from this album, some of the proceeds from the sale of the CD will be used to support Oxfam's programme in Mali. It's definitely a worthwhile and strong journey to aboard if you ask us.
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