Amadou & Mariam's tour with Coldplay comes to Carson, California, tomorrow night. MTV has named their album Welcome to Mali among the Top 10 albums of the year so far. On the album, "the duo make breathtakingly beautiful, undeniably inspired music," says MTV. "[I]t's music for all seasons and all people." LA Weekly calls it "a wonderfully engaging blur of unexpected influences." The San Diego Union Tribune says that "few who listen will be able to resist." The Dallas Observer sees them likely to transcend the "world music" label, their music "capable of transforming unsuspecting English-speaking audiences into dancing throngs of joy."
Amadou & Mariam are currently touring the US opening for British rockers Coldplay. And in the midst of all that, MTV has named Welcome to Mali, their recent Because/Nonesuch release, among the Top 10 albums of the year so far.
On the album, "the duo make breathtakingly beautiful, undeniably inspired music," writes MTV's James Montgomery. "Sometimes little more than Mariam's achingly pretty voice, others a whirling, rousing boogie powered by Amadou's ax, it's music for all seasons and all people ... I'm thankful to have gotten the chance to hear it. You should too." See the complete list, which also includes label mates Wilco's Wilco (the album), at mtv.com.
---
The tour with Coldplay heads to the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, Saturday night. LA Weekly previews the event by describing Welcome to Mali as "a wonderfully engaging blur of unexpected influences, with newfound orchestral grandeur juxtaposed against funky horn retorts, sinuously mesmerizing guitars and the pair's eerily evocative vocals."
---
Leading to last night's tour stop at the Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, California, the San Diego Union Tribune's George Varga explained that the duo's "rhythmically charged songs and gripping ballads transcend easy categorization." He calls their music "a distinctive global pop amalgam that is earthy and exotic ... [F]ew who listen will be able to resist Amadou's cascading guitar lines and robust singing, Mariam's alternately sweet and tart vocals, or the propulsive beats that drive many of their songs." Read more at signonsandiego.com.
---
After this Saturday's gig, the group will play in Dallas on Tuesday. The Dallas Observer previews the show with a feature article on Mali's most famous musical couple.
The Observer's Elliott Johnston, not a fan of the term "world music," says Amadou & Mariam may be among the few artists, like Bob Marley before them, who have been able to escape the confines of that limited construct. Their music, he writes, is
capable of transforming unsuspecting English-speaking audiences into dancing throngs of joy. A&M integrate glossy-sweet, ear-tickling electric blues guitar, African folk rhythms played on instruments both ancient and modern, Western pop, Cuban rumbas and exuberant harmonies (sung primarily in French and their native Bambara).
He goes on describe Welcome to Mali as "culturally kaleidoscopic," with its guest contributions from the likes of Damon Albarn, K'naan, and Toumani Diabaté, and suggests, "If enough of us perk inquisitive ears, the joyful, Technicolor sounds of A&M might just help put West Africa—and slowly, other places around Africa and the world—more permanently on our musical map."
Read the article at dallasobserver.com.
- Log in to post comments
