The press material tells us flatly that Mali is West Africa's most musical country, a claim with which denizens of Senegal, Nigeria, Gambia, and Guinea would likely disagree. Not that many Malians would want to claim this bastard of a CD anyway. Somehow, Albarn has managed to take a few of the most exciting modern Western styles and weld them with one of Africa's most amazing folk traditions and come up with an almost unrelentingly tedious album. Most of it is pleasant enough background music for, say, a Whole Earth outlet, but Albarn's ideas simply don't go anywhere beyond A to B and back to A, and the Sahelian snippets he recorded are far from the best music available in that country.
Sure, every tune here is interesting for the first minute or so. Unfortunately, there are usually three more minutes to go, wherein Albarn simply restates the same thoughts over and over again. It's not until the 13th cut, the winsome "Le Hobon," that a tune sustains from pip to post. Throughout, Albarn's melodica noodling sounds tacked on and utterly nonessential.
If you're looking for a great cross-cultural Euro-Sahel CD, check out Dembo Konte and Kausu Kuyateh's recently expanded and rereleased 1989 album, Jali Roll. Brits 3 Mustaphas 3 was the backing group behind the two master West African musicians. Even in its lesser moments, that disc outshines the best on offer here, but in Jali Roll's finer moments, such as on the utterly magical cut "Madiba Jabi," there is simply no comparison.
But maybe Albarn's dismal offering will at least steer somebody in the Jali Roll direction. Maybe he's just crazy like a Gorilla, er, fox.
