Welcome to Mali

by

Amadou & Mariam

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I really enjoyed the opening tune "Sabali" when I first heard it in Paris and immediately was won.

Damon Albarn pops up as guest producer on this remarkable set by the blind couple Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, who have brought the music of their homeland not only to the world, but into the 21st century mainstream.

Beautiful melodies abound on an album where the couple's guitar and vocals are underscored by everything from Europop synth to string quartet and gentle electronica and from French hip-hop to Somali-Canadian rappers.

One of the highlights is the standout "Sabali", in which Albarn adds an electronic backdrop.

Amadou's guttural singing in French and raw-toned guitar animate the surging, Hammond organ-powered "Compagnon de la Vie" while Mariam's disarmingly simple delivery takes on an incantatory quality on the more traditional "Djuru", with tingling kora from Toumani Diabaté, and showcasing Amadou's guitar chimes.

Even "I Follow You", Amadou's potentially corny declaration of love in English, brings an approving smile to the lips.

If the quasi-traditional melodies become slightly monotonous, Amadou & Mariam are by no means the folky ingénues you might imagine. Their use of Western pop influences, such as Eric Clapton and Pink Floyd, to enhance the inherent bluesiness of their traditional Bamana music is entirely conscious.

Of course, there are moments when the record dont quite measure up to its aims.

The collaboration with Somali-Canadian rapper K'Naan on Africa falls rather flat and the whole album is perhaps a little too long.

But when it works, when the album catches light like on the aforementioned tracks and on "Masiteladi" and "Djama", there's an underlying earthy integrity to their music wich will not fail to capture new aficionados.

We are not talking here about 'world music', but about the product of an authentically global pop phenomenon.

It is well worth a listen, before they become too commercial and popular.

Then, after the big party in Washington, DC, with the rich and famous, it will not be a well kept secret anymore.

Rush and buy it.

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I like this album, although I prefer their last one, which benefited a lot from the production of Manu Chao. Considerable attention has been given to the first cut of this new one, produced by Damon Albarn, and while it's the most pop-oriented track on the disc, and stands out as result, I think it's also the weakest. Whereas Chao burnished what Amadou and Mariam do best, Albarn overwhelms their essential folkiness. If you like what Mitchell Froom did to Richard Thompson in the 1980s, you might like this treatment, but it's not for me. -- the librarian