Ali and Toumani, the second and last album pairing kora master Toumani Diabaté with the late guitar virtuoso Ali Farka Touré, has made the Metacritic list of the best-reviewed, highest-scoring albums of 2010, coming in at No. 5. "On Metacritic, we consider 'great' albums—those we label as having 'universal acclaim' from critics—to be those with a Metascore of 81 or greater," says the site. Ali and Toumani received an 89.
Now that the dust has settled on all of the year-end best-of lists for 2010, with many Nonesuch releases having made a number of them, comes Metacritic's list of the albums to have received the highest scores of the year, namely the best-reviewed albums of 2010. Coming in at No. 5 on the list is the World Circuit / Nonesuch release Ali and Toumani, the second and last album pairing kora master Toumani Diabaté with the late guitar virtuoso Ali Farka Touré. The album was the highest-scoring world music album on the list.
"On Metacritic, we consider 'great' albums—those we label as having 'universal acclaim' from critics—to be those with a Metascore of 81 or greater," writes Metacritic Features Editor Jason Dietz. Ali and Toumani received an 89.
Recorded in 2005, with contributions from Cachaíto López on bass, Ali and Toumani, which is up for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album, is the successor to the Grammy-winning In the Heart of the Moon and is the last recorded by both Touré and López. The Guardian, in the album's highest-rated review on Metacritic with a perfect 100, called it "a magnificent and poignant farewell."
Ali Farka Touré's final solo album, Savane, topped the Metacritic list of the highest-scoring, best-reviewed albums in 2006.
For more information and to see the complete list, visit metacritic.com.
To download a free track from Ali and Toumani and pick up a copy of the album, click here.
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