Amadou and Mariam - 'Welcome To Mali' (Because Music) Released 17/11/08

Amadou & Mariam, the blind griot couple from Mali have gone and ditched the production ingredient of Manu Chao that gave the award-winning ‘Dimanche À Bamako’ such breadth of appeal. They needn’t worry, ’Welcome To Mali’ shows off their music without sampledelica and artifice, A&M clearly favouring a polyrhythmic Afro-blues groove that is an unabashed love of Western pop yet African rooted, taking in funk, soul-jazz and reggae grooves, with staccato hooks only a tackle box away. Having given the easily derided world music a hip appeal with the aid of Tinariwen, Issa Babayoko and the in-demand Toumani Diabate, ‘Welcome To Mali’ is where West meets North Africa, meets the dance floor.
            
Guess who crops up. The indomitable polymath, Damon Albarn, offering guest production on the single ‘Sabali’, an ethereal Grandaddy-esque digi-pop tune with falsetto vocals and an African exoticism, while the rousing ‘Batoman’ sees Mariam deliver a decidedly Nina Simone-like delivery that packs a hedonistic punch with join in “…choo choo choo…“ verse, and the cool title track ‘Welcome To Mali’ finds vintage keyboards and A&M cutting a Stevie Wonder-esque (circa ‘Songs In The Key Of Life’) groove that’d have most jazz heads nodding in appreciation and indie-heads resting their beers for a shimmy.

‘Ce N’est Pas Bon’ drops staccato hooks with a gusto and riffs as authentic as desert dust, while ‘Magosa’ feels replete with African instruments, the marimba and a baritone clarinet adding to the wiggle ass beats, while English verse from guest vocalist Knaan adds a universal appeal to ‘Africa’, a track (dare I say) that’d work up an R’n’B dance floor - bodies getting heated to verse such as - “…I want to travel every inch of your curves…I want to touch you down the river below…”, open to geographical/corporeal interpretations.