Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali was released in the States yesterday, and the complete album is streaming today on spinner.com. On the new record, says Vanity Fair , "traditional African beats and melodies underly everything from electronic synth-pop to hip-hop tracks featuring Somali rapper K’Naan." The Root calls the couple "global pop’s band to watch—M.I.A. be damned—as heirs to the storied West African musical throne and as embodiments of the worldly, cosmopolitan flair that defines 21st century hipness ... Before it’s done, the album moves through hip-hop, R&B, rock, traditional Malian and more—often simultaneously." It's all mixed "with an accessible poppy feel," says The Root, "and the result is just plain cool."
Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali was released in the States yesterday, and the complete album is streaming today in Spinner's Full CD Listening Party at spinner.com.
Vanity Fair's Alexandra Marvar talks to the couple about their three decades of making music together, culminating in the new record, on which, Marvar writes, "traditional African beats and melodies underly everything from electronic synth-pop to hip-hop tracks featuring Somali rapper K’Naan. The record has had nothing but critical acclaim since it was dropped in Europe last fall ..." Read the interview at vanityfair.com.
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"America's the only place where Amadou & Mariam are not stars," says The Root's Kai Wright. "That's about to change." Wright also spoke with the pair, whom he describes as "global pop’s band to watch—M.I.A. be damned—as heirs to the storied West African musical throne and as embodiments of the worldly, cosmopolitan flair that defines 21st century hipness."
After their last record, 2005's Manu Chao–produced Dimanche à Bamako, "took Europe by storm," writes Wright, and its "bold mishmash of genres and sounds from around the world garnered barrels of approving ink," the new album's release in Europe last fall, to much praise, "cemented Amadou & Mariam as one of those bands for which you earn cool points for knowing and loving."
Wright says of the album: "Before it’s done, the album moves through hip-hop, R&B, rock, traditional Malian and more—often simultaneously. Euro producers once again mix and spice it all up with an accessible poppy feel, and the result is just plain cool."
Read the article at theroot.com.
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Mother Jones's The Riff blogger revisits the album after having reviewed it upon its November release in the UK. "I gave the album an enthusiastic review," he writes, "and I only like it more now; its mishmash of styles and traditions feels both guilelessly celebratory and deeply respectful, even moving."
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