According to the liner notes of "Electro Bamako," a collaboration between Mamai Keita, a former singer in Salif Keita's band (no relation), and French producer Marc Minelli, this album presents "Malian songs mixed with electro jazz on pop structures but with a rock sound." Translation: slick, hip music with genuine inspiration from Mali.
A cynic might dismiss this as the product of yet another foreigner exploiting Mali's music. True enough, this impoverished West African country has been a very popular destination for those in need of a muse. Several years ago Ry Cooder and Ali Farka Toure recorded the intense "Talking Timbuktu," and recently Bonnie Rait, Robert Plant, Damon Albarn and Roswell Rudd have all explored Mali's bluesy sounds -- and who could blame them. Meanwhile, going in the other direction, Issa Bagayogo's recent "Timbuktu" showed that a Malian was perfectly capable of presenting his music in a way that could move bodies on dance floors abroad.
Minelli, however, never set foot in Mali until after this record was made. According to an interview on the album's Web page, he just worked with guitar and voice tapes, cut, looped and mixed on his computer, focusing on sound and color rather than context.
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