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Afel Bocoum, Damon Albarn &
Friends - Mali Music
Reviewed
by
NME, April 2002
 Damon
Albarn has a face for every occasion. Be it
grinning cheeky Britpop monkey boy, tearful lover or
two-dimensional cartoon character, his great virtue is to
be able to change his musical persona as often as he
changes his clothes. Now here's a face you've maybe not
seen before - it's the face of earnest Damon,
a bit less Chelsea Football Club, a lot
more Buena Vista Social Club.
Born of an Oxfam-sponsored
visit to the African country of Mali a couple of years
ago 'Mali Music' is a pretty strange
album. Partly comprised of field recordings, it's the
story of a journey where Damon, accompanied only by a
melodica, would witness Malian musicians like kora player
Toumani Diabate at work, then have a bit
of a jam with them. Which Duke Of Edinburgh-like faux-pas
landmine skilfully avoided, the tapes journeyed between
his studio and Mali for two years, being tweaked all the
while.
As such, the album feels ever-so-slightly
like a compromise. Obviously determined not to have the
whole thing come across as a tawdry bit of cultural
tourism, Albarn is painstakingly
faithful to much of the material he recorded. Which is
fine, of course, but his largely hands-off approach
deprives us of what might have been a more engaging
fusion of the parties involved. The tracks which work
best here do, after all, feature Albarn
jumping right in there with his contribution: 'Sunset
Coming On' uses the kora as a backing track, but
ultimately sounds like something from Blur's
'13', while on closer 'Les
Escrocs' he adds some mournful "Sha-la-las",
which make the mood his own. 'Le Relax',
on the other hand, sounds a bit like The Sabres
Of Paradise.
Elsewhere, as on the likes of 'Kela
Village', this is by and large a polished
rendering of some musicians from another country going
about their work, and as enjoyable a document as that is
(the kora's a pretty hypnotic thing and there's some
lovely singing), these other tracks offer a glimpse of
what might have been. No-one ever said Damon
Albarn was afraid of being a bit patronising,
but it seems on this occasion, Damon Albarn
was maybe afraid of being a bit patronising.
It's surely for the best. Some musicians get
some proper recognition. Albarn breaks
another market, while in the world of 'world
music' - you don't have to be WOMAD
to work there. But it can sometimes help.
6/10 John
Robinson
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