Mali, the Final Frontier

The indie hipsters have colonized West Africa. First came the Sublime Frequencies compilation Bush Taxi Mali, which offered a needed DIY antidote to the footnote-heavy pieties of ethnomusicological releases. Now comes this, some deep raspy gourd-lute buzzing and thumping from Mali, distributed by Drag City. You can feel the mud cloth and the gris-gris action. It’s swinging, gnarly and raw. I love the way the whole groove pivots on the muted strings.


from Bougouni Yaalali