Amadou & Mariam

Welcome to Mali

2009-05-11

Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali is a really cool mixture of traditional African music and contemporary music trends. The album was produced by Damon Albarn, of The Gorillaz and Blur, and he also plays many of the instruments. As one would expect, that adds a lot of depth to the record, turning otherwise basic worldbeat songs into a hybrid of modern western pop mixed with African music. When many of the songs start it sounds like anything on top 40 radio, until Mariam Doumbia's distinct voice breaks in her native language. There's nothing ordinary about these tunes, like opener "Sabali" and "Djuru, which mixes hand drumming with drum machine tracks for a nice effect.

More reviews tagged #World

  • reviewed 10/2004

    Gotan Project
    Inspiracion-Espiracion Remix

  • reviewed 05/2007

    Stephen Marley
    Mind Control

  • reviewed 05/2007

    JOE REILLY
    Planting Gardens

  • reviewed 05/2009

    Balkan Beat Box
    Nu Made

  • reviewed 04/2005

    Dierdre
    One

  • reviewed 10/2004

    Pierre Bensusan / Andrew York / Guinga / Brian Gore
    An Evening with International Guitar Night

Compiled by the WYCE Journalism Club

The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.