recommendation: Amadou & Miriam - Dimanche a Bamako

[cthulufhtagn]

i'm posting this a few days early; JK plz sticky on sunday or feel free to remove it. repost it if you do though, if you don't mind, as i won't be able to.

Amadou & Miriam - Dimanche A Bamako
Tracklist:
1. M'Bife
2. M'Bife Balafon
3. Coulibaly
4. La Realite
5. Senegal Fast Food
6. Artistiya
7. La Fete au Village
8. Camions Sauvages
9. Beaux Dimanches
10. La Paix
11. Djanfa
12. Taxi Bamako
13. Politic Amagni
14. Gnidjougouya
15. M'Bife Blues

A blind couple from Mali with an album full of catchy-as-all-hell West African pop/rock. Eclectic instrumentation and great production from Manu Chao...optimal summer listening; just about every song is a winner. Nice, laid-back album for a sunny day when you feel like something lighter. I figure at least one other person here will find it interesting.

Amazon.com
Having issued a handful of excellent Afro-rock albums on small independent labels in the last few years, which have attracted attention within the world music community, Amadou and Miriam are poised to break out with Dimanche A Bamako, arguably the best album of a career that goes back 30 years. Produced by mischievous French/Spanish pop star Manu Chao (who even co-wrote and sings on a few tunes), the album fuses the couple's dynamic grooves with the producer's signature everything-and-the-kitchen sink backgrounds. This is truly a collaboration of like-minded individuals: Chao's own rabid multi-culti mix of styles enhances the blind couple's guitar-driven mix of blues-rock and African percussion, as well as Latin, dance and reggae grooves. Highlights include the impossibly catchy "Senegal Fast Food" and the percolating "Coulibaly," while the couple's political bent comes out on "Politic Amagni." Truly an album with a global perspective, there is something for everyone here, and rather than diluting the stew, it makes it all the more tasty. * --Tad Hendrickson

Product Description
Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, a blind married couple whose life story is as remarkable as its music, have long been stars in West Africa. They draw the musical traditions of their natice Mali and the neighboring Ivory Coast, while also embracing the Latin American salsa, Cuban son, reggae, American R&B, and English blues-rock that they discovered via long-distance broadcasts. Dimanche a Bamako, cut in both Paris and Bamako should instantly appeal to fans of Chao's easygoing, dance-oriented, multiethnic mix, as to admirers of Mailan stars Rokia Traore and Ali Farka Toure.

 

[Krilons Resa]

That cover makes me giggle like a lil girl. I saw you talking about this album before in the forum. Will check out post opinions. Thanks.

 

[Thanatopsis123]

i'm Nice, laid-back album for a sunny day when you feel like something lighter.

Yeah, that sounds about right. Pretty cool stuff though I don't think I'll be going out of my way to get any more than these 3 songs anytime soon.

 

[Ellestin]

"La Fête au Village"

heard this on the radio once while driving under a sky of full brightness, and it was like the exact matching mood for the moment. But I don't think I'll ever want to spin this kind of stuff at home.

 

[Reign in Acai]

If I was from Togo I may enjoy this more. It really isn't bad at all, just not my cup of tea. This is music I'd enjoy if somebody else put it on in the car and I had no choice but to listen to it.

P.S Major respect to the blind musicians behind it.

 

[Climb Thar Hill]

If I was from Togo I may enjoy this more. It really isn't bad at all, just not my cup of tea. This is music I'd enjoy if somebody else put it on in the car and I had no choice but to listen to it.

Geist?

 

[Thanatopsis123]

Okay, so this was a pretty kickass reco. I still listen to it. It's a great pick-me-up when I'm feeling down. It's just so damned sunny.

 

[Dev]

Talk about unexpected recos tee-hee...

 

[cthulufhtagn]

yea this album is still good