Talking Timbuktu

This fucks! First album so far that has some syncopation to it and I'm here for it. I don't speak Afrikaans but damn he spittin.

I have NEVER heard music like this and I really enjoyed it. He is an amazing guitar player, and I've had Bonde stuck in my head for the last day or so. It's the first album in this challenge that actually made me feel something when listening, and I have also learned a bit about Malian culture through this album, so it's a win for culture.

Based

Absolutely no clue what they're singing about, but loved this.

very enjoyable

This is nice

rye cooter

Ali Farka Toure was a West African guitarist that was often described as the African John Lee Hooker. He found some - but limited - success with his solo albums in the 80s. Talking Timbuktu was a 90s collaboration with Ry Cooder, which helped Toure gather international recognition, including the Grammy for Best World Music Album. Toure's music is an example of Malian folk, and is often grouped in an indistinct net of "world music." On some tracks, Toure's guitar playing sounds like that of Delta Blues, supporting the repeated comparisons to John Lee Hooker. On most songs, Toure plays in faster rhythms - at the pace of bluegrass - in uplifting, danceable songs.

Nice and soulful, can't believe this is from 94... this is my 1089 album revealed. I'm still pending 3 albums to rate but I left those for the end. I'm really closing in now.

African beats, African jams and African rhythm to sooth the soul.

I liked it more than the previous album. It was something I had never listened to before or that much of. It was a nice change. I liked how the music focused more on the instruments than the singing. 4/5

This was an enjoyable listen. I'll likely come back and give it another listen.

7/10

Tribal

Wonderful music. Great instrumentation

Pure perfect vibes, chilling all day with two guitar geniuses just blissed out and jamming. It goes a bit long but it’s a great background album.

off the charts peaceful vibes. love the place a lot of these songs just sit in

Leuk album, doet me denken aan de hedendaagse Sahel sound bands. Vraagje, waarom moet er altijd bij Afrikaanse muziek een witte guy bij zitten voor het in het westen wordt erkend?

Do you want to listen to some music that has some Bongo drums? Well in blonde De Ali you can! I rate this song a ⭐⭐⭐⭐. I recommend this song. Do you want to listen to some music that has a nice drum beat? Well In Ai Du you can! I rate this song a ⭐⭐⭐⭐. I recommend this song. Do you want to listen to some music that has a really good beat? Well in Sega you can! I rate this song a ⭐⭐⭐. I kind of recommend this song.

Why are they in pajamas? I thought "Bonde" was pretty good. I like the drums and the instrumentation in general. I would like the singing. It was really good. "Ai Du" was really interesting. The lyrics didn't make sense. I liked the instrumentation and the sound of the singer's voice. I liked "Sega" the beginning was really good. I liked the instruments. I liked the lack of lyrics. I would recommend this album.

First of all, this is pretty refreshing every time we get something that is not from the UK, the US or the Western world in general. Well, this is a collaboration, but it clearly is out of the global trend of this list and that's a first reason to enjoy it. Apart from that, this is actually pretty good. The guy is a really good guitar player, skillful, and he plays with his soul.

Really cool music. Great recording

Nice background ambience.

Coffee on the deck tunes - can't wait to water my tomatoes to this all summer. Pure vibes.

Super weird but I vibed with it

A very cool and relaxing listen. The instrumental work was fantastic and engaging. I wish I spoke the language of the lyrics to understand them, but I didn't think the language barrier was an issue. Honestly the only criticism I have is that the middle of the album started to feel samey, but it was still overall very good. Top tracks: Amandrai, Ai Du, Diaraby

So incredibly good. Every second of it.

Excellent

Great example of Songhai music and I'm very happy to hear an album that isn't from the UK on this list.

Calm yet passionate music, this album is certified gold all the way through, offering a warm and gentle vibe which never runs out of steam. Glad I discovered that one via the challenge!

This was really cool!!! Great to put on while working

Simple and pretty

3.5

Awwwww hell yeah we are going through the steppe with this one boys! Really chill vibes, I love the drums and the singing

Excellent

Wow - I love it when you land on something you would never think about listening, and turns out to be a nice, special album This is one such. Really enjoyed the combo as they play well off each other!

This was quite nice, actually. It's not a genre that I could/would listen to very often, but these are talented musicians and pleasant tracks top to bottom. A 3 for me is average, can listen to it top to bottom with moments of pleasureee, but it's also not THAT pleasant. I'm giving this a 4 because it surpasses those criteria. It's a nice listen.

I remember this LP coming out, and (being a bit of a Ry Cooder nut) I was looking forward to it. So, I bought it, and listened and ... well....I was underwhelmed. It's just wasn't what I expected...or wanted. Now, with the maturity of age, I gave it another try, and I'm captivated by it. Seems like two friends riffing off each other, but not in a cock-rock swaggering way. They each try and complement one-another. Good Stuff.

Personal enjoyment: 4/5 Relevance to this list: 3/5

tribal af

a little slow but great pair

Very pleasant music, especially for background. It actually compelled me to sit back on the terrace and enjoy some late afternoon winter sunshine. I like the more bluesy numbers the most thought. It's definitely a four-star effort from two talented guitarists.

As great as a meeting between two legendary musicians can get.

4.5 stars. Very Very Good stuff. Pour a bourbon and sit back.

Malian blues! A collaboration between Ali Farka Touré and Ry Cooder. Although I am more familiar with the call-and-response style of Wassoulou associated with the incomparable Malian vocalist, Oumou Sangaré, and tend to associate African blues with Taureg ensembles, like Etran Finatawa, it was wonderful to listen to a true cross-cultural collaboration. Bringing the blues back from the Mississippi Delta to the country of its origins. Some songs have an obvious "Highlife" influence with the chiming arpeggiated guitars.

Cool vibe!

I could easily listen to this again, easy to put on and get some work done

A little twangy but good background music.

Mesmerizing African sounds, with a blues twist. Very enjoyable.

Bluesy/jazzy, but based in African rhythms and feel. Cool combo

Timbuktu is actually a city in Mali, but "for some people, when you say 'Timbuktu', it is like the end of the world, but that is not true. I am from Timbuktu, and I can tell you we are at right at the heart of the world." -- Ali Farka Touré, Los Angeles, 1993 The first track lured me, the second track hooked me. I was not prepared for the beautiful onslaught of the night. The night in the music, I mean, a time when love goes right, when one can contemplate the sighs of the world. What surprises me most about this album is how no two tracks sound the same. Perhaps that's due, in part, to the fact that Touré sings in at least four different languages here. The Songhai people are not some monolithic culture, and thus their music is going to be understandably diverse. They once ruled an empire that covered most of the interior of West Africa. For this album, one track will be lush and electric, another swaggering, another strained, rusty strings, and yet another bare bones held together by sparse percussion.

4 sterne

I was really excited to see that this album included Ry Cooder. I liked the blend of "African Blues" with Ry's type of blues. It really was well done, well mixed and produced. This was a great find.

Loved it

soothing music that really touches on ethnic instrumentality and structure while still maintaining a sense of familiarity that makes it easily consumable.

These two musicians complement each other well and give each other space to excel

legends

Very interesting. It kind of gets repetitive and lengthy. 3-4 stars. I've been rounding these up, so it gets a 4.

This was some great guitar driven music. What is preventing it from being a 5 star from me is that the songs are a little too long. If they were cut down by 1-2 minutes each they've be even better.

Really enjoyed this one, most songs settle into a groove and noodle around but the layers that the two guitarists bring in really make it quite nice. Offers something for those looking to play some music for chill background vibes while simultaneously offers pretty complex depth for those that want to put on headphones and really give it full attention.

Although not my style, this was great. The musicianship is top notch. My only gripe is that it tends to be a little repetitive.

Was alright

Nostalgic soundtrack from exotic holidays

I love this challenge for discovering albums like this. Never would've listened to it and would be missing out. I've heard of Ry Cooder but Ali Farka Toure is completely new to me. The man can play the blues though; there's a general grooviness and great vibes throughout. And unlike a lot of blues albums, it feels full of joy and colour. In its best moments, it reminded me of Graceland, which is an absolutely massive compliment.

Talk to me Ali!

This was like world music/blues and I thought it was actually very good. Rating: 4

Albumi #43, 09.09.2024 Ali Farka Touré oli malilainen laulaja ja multi-instrumentalisti. Talking Timbuktu on yhteistyö kitaristi/tuottaja Ry Cooderin kanssa.

Very nice beats and riffs

Never heard any Malian music before. Rather enjoyed it, particularly the bluesy number. The blues is the blues no matter the language.

pleasant listen

love this album - i first heard it in the 1990's - got the cd from library!

This makes me want to sit outside in the warm sun and just be. It's so smooth and relaxing and makes me want to just sleep on a beach. Soukora and Gomni are great, but I think I give the edge to Gomni for the the great jam on its backhalf. Love the communal drums and guitar throughout by Ry Cooder. Good listen.

Nice. Never would have heard this without this list. I find foreign language music very hit and miss, with a heavy skew towards miss. This was some great music where the vocals acted as another instrument almost, coming in and out of the foreground, which made it extremely enjoyable. Would listen to again.

This was a fun listen. Anytime Ry Cooder is involved with a World Music project is a blast. Ali Farka Toure is one talented musician.

Enchanting repetitive melodies, a pleasure to listen to.

Enjoyed this, reminded me a lot of Tinariwen / Imarhan. African blues / rock. A bit folky at times towards the end too / in fact Ai Du reminded me a lot of a Warsaw Village Band song, shows music can be truly global. Like Tinariwen and Imarhan, I imagine Ali Farka Toure has something else live - this reminds me of their records which are very good, but live theyre just something else. Either way, enjoyed it and will be back

Very chill, enjoyed this one a lot

This was really enjoyable today - the energy level was working with what I was doing, and it was really excellent for putting on and kind of half-listening to. A fun discovery

I loved this, the guitar was sensational.

I found this very soothing and a great relief from previous albums. I absolutely love that style of guitar. The music is so well balanced.

An awesome fusion of blues riffs with afriken music, a lot of fun, would listen again!

Very nice. The merge of blues, African music. Very dense atmosphere, hard-going bass.

One if the more accessible international albums

This album is such a vibe

A little more speculative and looser than later work (esp Savane), but still very likable. Several songs unfold beautifully, though they feel a little like (again) an exploration, and thus maybe a touch dryer and colder in the later works. The first few cuts are notably stronger and more engaging than the later. One can't speak to the deep questions about the possilbly Malian origins of the blues or validate the relative authenticity (wouldn't even know the standards to apply) but one knows the songs are mostly excellent and feel legit in the listening. One's eternally grateful to Ry Cooder to bringing this (and a good bit else) to our attention. Also, don't sleep on In the Heart of the Moon, one's personal fave by AFT.

Wow, an album not in English, French, German or Spanish! And with a couple of songs not in 4/4! This is the kind of thing I hoped to find in this list- not just the same tired folk/rock/blues formulas over & over. Even the more "standard(ish) blues" numbers are refreshing for their use of congas, bongos & calabash (gourd) -- and for not being in English. Unfortunately most sites aren't even interested in listing which languages are used here, many only noting that he "sings in 11 languages, none of which are English" which is a funny claim for a 10-song album. Way to go, eurocentrism. Eventually found the list on discogs, so for those curious, the languages used are Bambara, Peul, Songhai, and Tamasheck. Look 'em up. And while you're at it, look up where Timbuktu is on a map. Learn more about the world. Expand your horizons.

I enjoyed almost all of this. It has a nice relaxing feel to it.

Incredible vibes, will keep listening to these as I already have been.

Just some really enjoyable stuff. Great vibe with a cool drink in the sun.

hypnotic

pleasant album to listen to. the guitar has such rich layers

It reminds me of the Saharan Jazz playlists you sent to me, enjoyable.

Really liking this. I get why they called him the African John Lee Hooker. Smoother, but just as hypnotic.

A nice listen to bluesy West African music, maybe not very different from our other Touré album, Savane.

Not unpleasant but not much really leapt out at me either. It's fine.

I love listening to music from other cultures across the world. This one was very close to a 5 for me.

I really enjoyed this album. It had suck an interesting mix of blues, folk and then more upbeat moments. I don't speak the language so I don't know what any of the songs were about, but the melodies and instrumentals said so much.

A unique take on Blues/Rock.

Suuuuuuper chill jam music. 7.5/10

I listened to most of this album on the train with the sun shining on my face. It was the perfect album for it, beautiful music.

Id like to vibe to this with some ganja

Very smooth and easy to listen to. Gets a little repetitive to my ear but I don't think that takes away from how solid it is. Rating this one off of pure gut feel so anything I say here is meaningless.

Can hear Mark Knopfler influence from literally the first note

Turned out to be really interesting.

So great.

Listening while driving to work on a sunny morning was very nice.

African folk meets Jazz. Incredible Album!

This album was really cool, though I enjoyed the other Ali Farka Toure album on this list more. This has more of a cool jam band-type sound, whereas the other album felt more straight-ahead bluesy. This is still good, just not the peak of the music that Toure made 4/5

A unique style that I really enjoyed. Mali artists ftw

Totally new genre for me, and I liked it.

The vibes on this album are immaculate. Favorite track: Lasidan

Talking Timbuktu I love it, ry cooler is fantastic on guitar and mandolin. I'm going to learn how to speak Mali if there are more Mali bands on the list ☆☆☆☆Have you ever done a deep dive into ry . He's done movie soundtracks, notably Crossroads . His slide guitar is Phenomenal. You can't categorized his music He's all over the place world music ,blues,rock, texmex. He's played on numerous albums as a sessions musician. With Van Morrison , Judy Collins, Nancy Sinatra

Really lovely album. Just some great, chilled out cowboy vibes for a solid hour. Need to listen to this in the desert sometime. Best Track: Ai Du Worst Track: Sega

Really good, really chill. All songs merge into one for me so can't pick a fave

Fantastic, the Malian folky guitar fusion was incredible. A few standout songs

Love Ry Cooder

Very solid album, probably 5 stars but gotta listen to it more for that.

As always, a continental departure outside of North America/Europe is very welcome. We've had an album from Ali I believe, that's cool to get a second. I dig this one too, a nice relaxed style but still great skill and musicianship poured in here. I got sucked in in the middle and probably missed out on some gems as it slipped into the background, but this is a great listen. Favorite tracks: Bonde, Soukora, Banga, Ai Du. Album art: Nothing remarkable going on here, just some guys vibing in the studio. The framing is a little puzzling. It looks fun and comfortable what these guys are up to, but the album looks like a bad insert in a history book or a museum exhibit. 4/5

My first exposure to African blues. Pretty cool

Oo that was gooood.

A great discovery. Not my normal music but enjoyed it

Back-to-back on the African Continent! Enjoyed this as well. There's a fun interplay between the two guitars; Cooder's rangy American influence and Touré's African style blend really nicely.

Wonderful! Love it. The tunes are truly bautiful. Real african music. the athmosphere is truly wonderful to listen to! def will get relistened in the future 4/5

Like this a lot. Lots of layers and repeating patterns to keep my stupid brain busy.

This was super interesting and like nothing I'd really listened to before. Felt almost mesmerising/trance like at times! Really enjoyed it!

It was refreshing to get another African/international album but it was even more refreshing to hear songhoy blues type music again. This one wasn’t as energetic and exciting as music in exile, maybe because I heard that one second, but it was at least still fun to listen to for most of it.

Muziek uit de Afrikaanse woestijn, en Ry Cooder ging er kennelijk bij zitten met microfoon en gitaar. Een beetje zoals hij later de Buena Vista Social Club uit Cuba in het zonnetje zou zetten. Het is weer eens wat anders, het klinkt fris, soms zelfs een beetje bluesy. Ik vind het leuk. Het enige wat ik ervan kan zeggen is dat dit soort muziek soms aan de lange kant kan zijn, ooit in een park in Bordeaux een Malinese band moeten aanhoren en dat duurde lanngggggg. Gelukkig klokt deze plaat in op een uur, precies genoeg.

Wonderful and varied, with influences from all sorts of places. Ry Cooder being involved was not something I expected, but was good.

Lovely twangy bluesy West African vibes. Music to drink a cold beer to.

De va swag nog!

Made for a nice relaxing listen. Solid mix African & Blues styles.

Really enjoyed, and I'll come back to it. Wish there was way more stuff like this on the list.

So chill

Glad to be exposed to this. Wish there was more like it, rather than eleventy Neil Young, Beatles, and Nick Cave albums.

Me encantó!

Have never heard this and it’s really good. Sublime guitar tone.

Enjoyable and interesting listening experience. Starts strong but towards the end the songs start to feel a bit repetitive. Happy to have this album on the list.

I'm glad this album made the list. It's legendary in audiophile circles but I had never taken the time to listen to it. It has some absolutely beautiful moments. The arrangements are interesting and always tasteful and at times quite dramatic. The recording is of course clean and clear and dynamic as is the music. This albums is a journey of discovery for meone I think I'll return to often. 4 stars

Wikipedia tells me this is "desert blues". It definitely sounds like the Mississippi Delta's cousin from a different country. I enjoyed it. Feels like traveling music. Favorite tracks: "Ai Du", "Diaraby"

Ali is a folk guitarist from Mali, and Ry is a guitarist from America. This is classed as Malian folk. Interested to see what this is all about. This album was fantastic! The classic African folk music coupled with some phenomenal fiddle work (notably on Sega) was awesome! Favourite songs: Bonde, Amandrai, Soukora, Gomni, Ai Du, Sega, Banga, Lasidan Least favourite songs: if forced to pick, Diaraby 4/5

interesting guitar album, pretty chill and relaxed. enjoyed it.

Love this. A real blend of quite traditional sounding (to me, who has no idea what he's on about here) West African music with some extremely all-American rock guitar work. It was fun, it was great to have on in the background while I was working, and it is exactly what the project is for.

This was pretty terrific, great guitar work! I really wish I had more to say, just enjoyed it a lot. Sometimes repetition can get boring (see most of the house music on the list), and sometimes like with this album, it builds up an interesting groove that you can just swim in.

My second Ali Farka Touré album for this project. Enjoyed it just as much as the first, was great to have on while working. Comforting yet engaging. 4/5

while i wish more music from around the world was included, typically we get some of the best music from countries i wouldn't listen to otherwise. talking timbuktu by ali farka touré and ry cooder is beautiful, blues-y, and (as i suspect/hope) representative of the republic of mali. with this album a collaboration between a malian and an american, i was concerned it wouldn't be as unique, like touré would be too confined by western music to his detriment. but cooder is a respectful musician and producer, and the result is an album that is unrestrained and reverent.

I really enjoyed this album; it's just downright pleasant! This album is incredibly smooth and easy to listen to, without being boring. The guitar work here is beautiful, and all of the accompanying music gives what I only know how to describe as a "desert-y, country-esque flamenco vibe", but African style! In that vein, this music is very clearly folk-oriented, and I feel like it does a good job of conveying that; I feel as if I've heard something regionally unique, something that I can assume is regionally well-representative of Mali. Anyway, I thought this was beautiful and well done, and it apparently hit just right on this sunny Friday morning.

4/5. Easy to listen to. Some songs had a really great blues vibe.

Excellent African blues. Repetitive at times, but there was also some nice variation between songs. Favorite tune was Soulora

I enjoy the vibe, keep on listening to it while cooking

Different and enjoyable

Seriously hypnotic, absorbing and stirring blues from two extraordinary guitarists; the production values are excellent and the music soars.

Talking Timbuktu is the second album from Ali Farka Touré that I have reviewed for this list. In general, I like Farka Touré, and it felt like a bonus that Ry Cooder is included on the album. I like the rolling notes of Farka Touré's music ("Gomni") and I thought I could hear some of Ry Cooder's contributions on "Amandrai", but my favourite track was "Soukora" which sounded like a song I would have picked to sing as a lullaby to my kids. "Soukora" has a good mix of vocals and instruments - neither are too complex, but both have something to pay attention to. When I got to the last track ("Diaraby"), I realized that this was the one track that I recognized, if only from the opening music from PRI's the World radio program. There weren't any tracks that I wanted to skip. I could come back to this album again.

I've always heard Ali Farka Touré's name mentioned in differing music conversations and his recent nomination to the R&R Hall of Fame only spread his name around more. And now I get it. Talking Timbuktu is a soft flowing journey through this little corrodor of World Music. 4/5.

Very nice African style music. Hypnotic beats, chill guitar, great basslines

Just a really chill album, with great musicianship from both parties. A few songs are more afrobeat/traditional African sounding and a few are more westernized blues style. The singing on particularly the African sounding tracks is a really good listen and could almost always put me in a great mood. 8/10

A nice collection of arab-ish tunes with lovely strums of a string instrument and guitar solos that work more similarly to western pop(ish?) music than expected. Lovely sounds.

Experimental and improvised sounding. Nice as background droning, but it doesn't really hit me.

This is great. Somewhere I read a comparison of Ali Farka Touré to John Lee Hooker, and I can definitely hear the similarities. That's a good thing for me, as I love John Lee. This is a really nice collaboration and blend of musical styles. 4 stars.

Pretty cool, not a genre I really have any frame of reference for. Blending with blues made for a pretty unique sound

good, different from much of this list. if you are a guitarist the stuff that sounds like it would be simple to play is a wonderful learning experience. you will embarrass yourself and possibly learn something nice about the instrument music: appreciated. (⌐□_□)

Independently rediscovered this one a couple of months ago. Really interested in West African blues as a genre, guess this is the jumping off point.

Love actually getting some variety from this book. This was a fun one love hearing music from other countries beside America and England

Favorites were "Gomni" and "Ai Du"

It works. The curious blend of Ali Farka's African roots music and Ry Cooder's signature guitar sound come together in an exercise that is very positively surprising. I started listening skeptically ('another world music album to justify the variety on the list'), and I end up with a very good taste in my mouth. Ideal for sunny Sunday mornings. Fantastic

Had never heard of them. Really good.

Really lovely, an excellent album. Musically, this is pretty perfect, with a rich, earthy, bluesy sound. Fave Songs: Bonde, Soukora, Lasidan, Gomni, Sega

African Blues. Pretty awesome.

Wow this is some good shit right here. I’m always down for some desert blues and Tuareg music. I encourage all of you to read a bit about the Tuareg people and the messages in their music. One of my favorite features of Desert Blues is the phenomenal interwoven guitar playing, almost like proto-math rock.

Really beautiful, should listen again

Extremely relaxing world music

I love me some African inspired jazzy jams. This album is a little too long, too paired down, and too repetitive for me to go full 5 stars, buuuuut I loved it and it was close.

Gorgeous interlocking lead lines from the guitars, kora and vocals, a relaxed mostly acoustic palette, and trance inducing drone/rhythm parts made of layers and layers repeating melodic figures and hand drums. There's a totally distinctive approach to guitar playing here that I wonder maybe has something to do with a applying a kora-informed sensibility combining rhythm and lead playing and featuring short expressive runs?

What a great African sound. Soukara means "night". My love it is night now, Wait for me my love. 3.5

I super liked this. Incredible interesting listen.

Listened Before? No Guitar and syncopated percussion forward "world music." Mixing makes it feel like you are sittin in the room of a coffee shop with them laying. Good texture and layering between elements. Enjoy the guitar tone and mirroring to the vocals on Gomni (early standout). Violin work on Sega, weavin back and forth over hand percussion, is really cool. Amandrai is basically a blues song in structure and would feel at home with Stevie Ray Vaughn providing vocals. Lasidan is another standout; solid guitar soloing and bouncy progression. Album closes with a contemplative Diaraby. Overall, I enjoyed this album a lot. It feels very cohesive start to finish and could easily imagine this translated into a intimate live set. Mostly this is peaceful background music, but there are a number of more upbeat and even blues inspired songs that command more direct attention. Glad to have listened to this even if I don't come back right away. 3.5 rounding up to 4. Added to Library? No Sons Added to Playlists: - Soukora (Sunny-vibes)

Very very enjoyable listening - and something totally new for me!

Neat stuff

This is not my usual music, but it's always excellent to note hidden influences in the music I listen to daily.

A great soothing record, although I think it misses something that the other Ali Farka Touré album had that pumped it up for me.

Yeah really good. Track 8 is a Banga. I got Savane when it came out and really enjoyed it. But otherwise haven't ventured into Ali Farka Toure's work and I probably really should. Again, an artist I spent most of the 90s reading about but didn't investigate until much later when my awareness of my tastes had widened. Extremely enjoyable listen.

Beautiful album

Really liked the sound overall, especially how the guitar sounds!

The second Ali Farka Touré album I've listened to and the second I've really enjoyed. If this is representative of Malian music, then I like Malian music. Blues with African rhythms and melodies which lend it a great energy. I could have this on in the background all day. Rating: 4/5 Playlist track: Bonde Date listened: 13/10/23

Loved it getting ready in the morning! Listened to it twice by the time I got to work 👀

7/10. Yup, good shit

Super goede muziek, maar af en toe wat saai

Really interesting album.

Thoroughly enjoyed, Ali Farka Toure's playing style is hard to beat. Could listen all day.

This guy seems like a guitarist's guitarist. I liked the jam sessions better than the attempts at doing blues. Best track: Soukora

Just really relaxing and peaceful. Melodic and entertaining. Would totally listen to this again.

This is really really cool. Subtle and intricate, the vibe just kind of sweeps you away. Though i can't understand any of the language, the nice part for me is that it doesn't overpower or get too emphasized to take away from the instrumentation. Thoroughly enjoyed.

I didn’t find every song on this album to be super engaging, but there is a lot of great stuff here. Lasidan and Keito are two standouts for me.

Toffe muziek. Heel werelds, maar toch wat Westers

Second album by this artist in close succession, by luck of the draw. I liked it even better than the first, I think. A real deep personal callback as well as I actually worked for Public Radio International a long long time back, and that guitar line in Diaraby is deeply wormed into my music brain.

So relaxing and boppy at the same time. Fave track: Lasidan

Ali, after a gentle start, definitely establishes himself as an elder statesman. The man and music are part of tradition, of course, and here fully developed. The Cooder lines don't ever weave; That honor's saved for late strings, with plucked instruments perfectly blending. Before the style's explosion, a volume of songs in late, abstract, comfy, and mature mode.

Really good

Nostalgique. ca passe très bien

Blues. Africana. Interesante.

Where the hell did this come from? This was fan-fuckin-tastic!

African rhythms, African lyrics, a taste of music that is simultaneously alien and fundamentally familiar. And then we get "Amandrai" or "Ai Du", slow Delta blues numbers (albeit ones with lyrics in Tamasheq or Songhai) that seem like they should be completely out of place, but is still of a piece with the rest of the album. The songs can get repetitive, but in a more trance-like way than a boring way in most cases.

Didn't really stand out, but a beautiful voice.

Good but not always

Different but good.

This is nice though it does feel repetitive half way through. I don't see myself revisiting this purposely in the future but I wouldn't be mad if it showed up on a shuffle algorithm. Solid 3 stars.

I like the music but It's not a language I understand.

Heerlijk rustgevend, lekker als achtergrond muziek. Toen ik er later nog eens naar luisterde deed het mij niet mega veel. Wel tof om muziek te horen vanuit niet westerse invloeden en dat in een overwegend witte mannen muziek lijst

Wel toevallig dat er twee Ry Cooder producties achter elkaar zijn. Mijn vorige review kan je gedeeltelijk overnemen voor deze plaat. Toch vind ik de vorige plaat van Ali Farka Toure die we moesten luisteren wel beter. Je hoort dat de productie van Ry Cooder een stuk gepolijster is. Het is een samenwerking die je vooral terug hoort in het gitaarspel, een muzikaal dialoog tussen de twee. Toch mis ik het karakter van Ali Farka Toure een beetje. Het album is het best repetitief en verliest wat diepte waardoor het een beetje achtergrondmuziek word.

3*

I always feel the same way whenever I've listened to Ali Farka Toure in that it's often a bit one note. Like, I always enjoy the first couple of tracks I listen to, but it starts to blend into one over time, like air fried beige food at a buffet.

yayy weer een (mij) volledig onbekend album !! prachtig gitaarwerk

Nice Sunday morning vibe. Talented musicians

Started great, but diminishing returns over time, and somewhat hard to distinguish one song from the next.

Did not get much out of this album. Not great, not terrible, 3-stars seems appropriate

I love this sound but have no context if this is truly special or not. Yea it’s repetitive but it’s complex too.

Pretty cool

75

Fav- bonde 3/5

It’s fine for what it was. A couple bluesy tracks stood out

Nice vibes, easy to listen to. Would need to revisit to really sink my teeth into it, but as a one-time listen on a sunny afternoon, it was enjoyable! 3.5 stars.

Pleasant enough, but it was just so so boring. Too long too. I feel like many albums on this list have been like this too. Generous 3.

Finally, something actually interesting this week. This album has a very warm vibe from its strong guitar playing. I can't understand the lyrics, but the singer is clearly good at what he does. This album sounds very similar to Baaba Maal's two records on this list despite coming from a different country. There's probably some nuance here that I'm not getting with my American Anglophone brain being unable to comprehend the lyrics. The percussion adds a nice touch to the record, enhancing what would otherwise be mostly placid guitar songs. This record is still very placid in general, but not in a bad way. Certainly, it's better than the last 3 records I've had.

This was a joyful summery listen. Some standout moments. Love me some Ry!

This was a pretty chill guitar driven world album.

An interessting experience, felt more like finding a group of people in the street playing some nice music where you just stand there and nod along, then move on with your life.

2.5

Perfectly pleasant

I don't necessarily love it, but I don't hate it, and I can acknowledge how pleasant it is. Reading about Mali and Timbuktu while listening to Ali's music feels like a history lesson in a way, and I really like that. This is the kind of thing I'm excited to find on the list. Since I'm not in the community of internationally well-renowned guitarists, I am 100% positive I never would have heard this on my own. If I didn't fall in love with it, I appreciate it.

This album demonstrates the brilliance of Malian folk music through rhythms and musical patterns that feel almost hypnotic. It’s an easy listen, yet there’s plenty of substance beneath the surface. It’s true that many of the songs sound somewhat similar, especially in the vocal delivery and guitar work, but that repetition ultimately works in favor of the album by reinforcing its atmosphere and mood. The standout tracks for me are the opening "Bonde" and "Ai Du".

I don’t have much to say other then this was an interesting listen. Its not my genre or language but It’s kind of a vibe. Would make decent background music at work. The tracks kind of blend together so its hard to say my top songs. I don’t know if I’ll come back to it but I enjoyed it. 3/5 stars

pretty awesome chill vibe reminds me of little big planet

Nice and gentle, good chill background music

Cool combination of blues and “world” music. Not my favorite thing ever, but enjoyable.

Malian folk, guitar with pleasant rhythms Amandrai

Meh 3/5

A great album to put you in a relaxing and good vibes mood 3/5

good album

It’s okay - I really like the African vibe, but could have lived without all the blues mixed into the songs

6/10

"I ping a boy, he a bad boy" "My chicken he make a messy" When someone sings in a foreign language, my idiot brain tries to find English phrases in it. Those are two I extracted. The obvious frame of reference when looking at an African Western collaboration is Paul Simon's Graceland. This is a more lofi experiece, you can clearly hear the sound of the room where they recorded, and it's not an acoustically treated room. It helps to transport you, and you can almost smell the savannah. Musically, it's mostly western in tone, with electric guitar on top of African instruments. There are some African folk style songs and some blues noodling. Quite pleasant, but not hugely memorable.

Det var meget fedt, har haft lidt travlt på job til at anmelde ordentligt, men en lille 3'er

Good album, just not my thing.

omg the guitarist was in captain beefheart *gulp*. idk if thats a good or bad thing it was good thing. love the guitar on here ry cooder is great. love the hints of blues sprinkled into these malian tunes. pretty good but id being lying if I said it was very memorable. the album pretty one note, a very pleasant note, but still one note.

Franchement, album plutôt sympa. Même si je ne suis pas particulièrement proche de ce type de sonorités, j'ai bien aimé l'album et son ambiance. Que ce soit le Blues, que je trouve particulièrement bien géré sur certains morceaux comme "Amandrai" avec un jeu de guitare extrêmement propre et très original pour un album de musique traditionnelle. De plus, je trouve que cette dernière est elle aussi vraiment soignée avec des rythmes très efficaces et des boucles sonores comme hypnotisantes sur lesquelles viennent se greffer les voix et chœurs. L'album a donc une identité qui lui est propre mais qui fonctionne bien, avec une bonne diversité de sonorités, très apaisantes et agréables à l'écoute.

Desert blues, I don't know what ry cooder did on the album

I love a bit of 'world music', and it made a change from some of the shite that we have been subjected to during the last couple of weeks.

The feels like the mood at an outdoor restaurant on the beach towards the end of the afternoon. Calm and content with a whisper of what’s to come that evening in paradise.

One of those albums that just sounds amazing. It perfectly sits in the background - maybe a little too much. Two masters of their craft finding common ground. Not the best offering from either artist but still a treat. I get why it's here.

I really love the sound of this album with each song having a similar textrue and yet you can hear different influnces from around the world in some. The blues sounding stuff on Amandrai, the more country sounding Ai Du and the usage of (I think) the sitar on Keito. Its nice, its peaceful, and it makes me smile. Fav tracks: Gomni, Sega, Keito, and Ai Du

Lød som en ægte Ali Farka Touré plade, lækkert!

Really nice vibes.

interessant

Not bad, but I'm surprised it made this list. ★★★

Bizarrement relaxant.

Back to back Ry Cooder albums. It was interesting listening to this immediately after Buena Vista Social Club. The music is good, but really specific. Can't say I'd revisit, but its a solid listen.

good!

Two Ali Farka Touré albums in a row, what are the odds!? Granted, I would've appreciate this much more if there was some more time between the records. This is very similar to Savane to my ears. If I would've let the two albums play back-to-back, I would've have realized without first knowing they were two different albums. Still, it's not too bad. Definitely Some nice guitar playing. I do find some of the songs to drag on for way too long, reaching up to 7-9 minutes of without much variation. Weak 3.

We had the other Ali Farka Toure album the day before so I've already listned to quite a lot. The last album I gave a 4 but this didn't really bring anything new to the table. Giving it a strong 3.

Nice album, opens really strong. This did get a bit samey and blend together for me.

I liked it, maybe not quite as much variety as I would have liked. Different than what I am used to and well crafted. 3.8

I know there’s better African music out there. We don’t need to involve Ry Cooder in this

Tämähän oli yllättävän hyvä. En oikein tiennyt mitä odottaa, mutta tämä malilaisen Ali Farka Tourén ja amerikkalaisen Ry Cooderin (tuttu Walter Hillin elokuvien ääniraidoilta) yhteistyö voitti minut puolelleen. En tiedä tuleeko tämän pariin palattua, mutta ainakin ensimmäinen kuuntelu oli ihan miellyttävä.

Khruangbinみたいな退屈な音楽だと思った。ボーカルがある分それよりはマシだけど。

It was fine, interesting at points.

That worked really well somehow. Very enjoyable and made me happy!

this was pretty cool, it’s so nice to have something different 3.5

Probably a couple of tracks too long but I enjoyed it.

3.4/5

a little too droney/repetitive for me but great overall

I prefer the team up with Toumani Diabate but this is still good.

3.3

Neat

Rating: 5.5/10

Chill for sure!

Not really my thing but verty listenable in small doses.

Pleasant music from a Malian guitarist in collaboration with an American. Blues with a Malian twist. While I enjoyed it, it wasn’t as impactful as some other foreign language stuff I’ve listened to in this project. 3/5

Funciona como música de fondo para la vida cotidiana. Disfruté la exploración de sonidos, algunos no tanto de mi gusto. Igualmente entretenido.

Heard some Toure before, solid interesting stuff. But over this album begins to ware. 3 Heard before? No Owned: No 50/218 (22%) Will I get: No

Nice listen

Ngl, I like the instrumental, but I just don’t connect to the music in a way that justifies this being a “must” listen to album.

good african album, i loved the guitar on this

3.5

Good album, I used to love it but it’s just alright these days

very relaxing

One of those albums I respect more on paper than in practice. Definitely glad I heard it, at least. Also, “Ry Cooder” sounds like the name of a lost Looney Tunes character.

It's not bad, good vibes. But it did start to drag a bit.

Ali is a great musician who puts together some nice jamming tracks. I liked his higher tempo stuff more than his more blues-sounding slower songs, such as "Bonde", "Soukora", and "Sega"

Thanks to Ry Cooder for introducing us to Ali Farka Touré. The music was good.

Nothing special.

Different

Sometimes bluesy, mostly tribal, occasionally gratingly repetitive. Reminds me of the type of music they would play at The Nature Company back in the day. It’s decent, something different. (3)

Chill African beats

Almost 4

Lovely

po é bom, mas é meio repetitivo?

nao eh ruim mas eh bem chatim, repetitivo sei não. acho que nao gostei, mas reconheço que eh bacana

This was cool, but not really my thing. Musically very good, and I grooved to it the whole time, but probably would never listen again. Three stars.

3.5

I enjoyed this album listen from Ali Farka Toure! This isn’t music I typically listen to but I thought that it was pleasant to listen to and had a great catchy beat through most of the songs. I liked this album even though it didn’t blow me away per se but I would give it another listen!

African beats