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Album Review
by SaschaS
14-4-2002
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| Damon Albarn's 'Mali Music' |
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Damon Albarn & friends: 'Mali Music'
(Honest Jon’s)
Damon Albarn trip to Africa has produced a distinctly respectful album
Many have tried and few have excelled during the shortish history of rock’s fusion with World Music. It all started in the mid-1980s when Paul Simon decided to ignore the sanctions against South Africa but it wasn’t really a crossover, rather usage of indigenous music to construct a poppy ‘Graceland’ album that secured him a number of hits. Brian Eno and David Byrne’s ‘My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts’, several years earlier (1981, for the sticklers), was more sympathetic to the ethnic sounds that inspired it and is thus considered as one of the most influential of this kind. (Byrne later followed it with establishing Luaka Bop label to release World Music material.) 1 Giant Leap‘s self-titled effort was another World-pop-cum-travelogue recently.
Now, Damon Albarn has done a honourable job in editing 40 hours of tapes from his Oxfam-instigated visit to Mali, to fashion something that is respectful to the native culture but still residing in the 21st century. The opening track, ‘Spooks’, a mood-setting piece, doesn’t point in that direction but ‘Bamako City’ is already funkying with the native colours. ‘Makelekele’, ‘Kela Village’, ‘Tennesee Hotel’, ’Institut National Des Arts’, are named after the places where the field recordings occurred, all performed in the original language.
Not understanding most of the lyrics doesn’t really impair the listening pleasure because vocals become just another ‘instrument’ but one can guess that the themes are the ones that have interested troubadours and songwriters over centuries, such as overcoming adversity of any (and every) kind. All the way through there is a ‘clash’ that resolves its differences with complimenting results. Damon, a professed fan of Kraut-experimentalists, Can, shows certain different influences that stretch from Eno to Riyuchi Sakamoto to Bob Marley… Mixing sonic minimalism with some really rhythmic tracks and with a list of guests that are (local) stars – Afel Bocoum, Tolimani Diabaté, Lobi Traoré – it reaches the parts where not even Heineken can dream of.
Whether he’d be so faithful to the World Music to this extent, if he had not worked on Gorillaz, is unclear but it is certain that Albarn and Blur are near the bottom of media interest, for personal reasons mainly which is a dereliction of press duty. But, don’t think that ever bothered the Blur frontman who’ll do whatever takes his fancy. We take our (proverbial) hat to the man.
Much more than just a document of cultural tourism, ‘Mali Music’ – when you open your mind – will flow into your cranium like a flooded river.
8/10
SaschaS
14-4-2002
Damon Albarn & Friends’ ‘Mali Music’ is released 15 April 2002 on Honest Jon’s
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