Savane

I enjoyed it, but... after hearing the first 15-20 seconds of each song, you have pretty much heard the next four minutes. I get that most popular songs don't have seven different riffs, but the songs on the album seem worse than typical. I like the tunes, but the repetitiveness on most of the tracks is a negative.

For listening actively it's too repetitive. I used to play this as background music at work. Perfect for that. Favorite song: Savane

Went in with an open mind. Never found a real groove. I do appreciate the blend of eastern drone with southern blues but was left wanting something more.

Not really something I find myself ultra drawn to, but fine.

pretty interesting, might need to take more time to listen though before I totally grok it.

Pleasant background music

Not familiar with this genre, but honestly I liked listening to it. It's a whole new feel than most of the stuff I usually listen to.

This was pleasant. I think if it was in English so I could understand the meaning better I might like it better.

This was chill as hell

i often listen to these when i'm on my morning commute, and today this was the soundtrack to the first fall day where you have to put your defrosters on and the world full of fog all this to say: vibey, enjoyable, can't imagine i'll ever revisit it but it was a nice listen

Great blues but missing some of the melody I really connect with. This is a banger though by an artist I didn't know until now.

Easily the most unique album to date and I respect it for that. This isn’t something that I would normally turn and listen to but for a long drive or something to throw on while cooking etc. could be perfect

While I'm on the fence about whether I'd make this a usual spin in my weekly rotation, I will say that if you sit and meditate with this album, it will naturally resonate with you in a pretty unexpected way.

Enthralling West African blues elevated by Touré's trance-inducing guitar work.

very chill but I can't pretend this was anything more than background music to me

Senz'altro particolare, una ventata di originalità in questo oceano di album rock. È un suono che si sente poco, almeno per me, ma le vibe sono molto belle, un perfetto album da sottofondo. Forse un po' lungo?

Music for guys who love music. Unfortunately I’m too dumb for this

Good album probably not one I’d return to often but good overall

Pretty decent all the way around but nothing stood out as a great song!

3 out of 5. As important as blues is and how cool it was to hear it sung with a different language and with African influence it's not a genre for me but it'd be one I still recommend to others.

I almost like Beto, Savane, Soya, Penda Yoro, Gambari Didi

Enjoyed it.

A bit too much world music for me.

I really love Mande and Songhai music, or desert blues. And while Touré was an innovator and played a big part in bringing that style to an international audience, he just isn’t my favorite performer in the genre. This album was the first of many Touré albums I listened to, and it’s definitely grown on me since then. It’s not my favorite of his (that probably goes to his 1990 album The River), but Savane presents some of the final songs he worked on before dying of bone cancer at 62. These songs have a sadness to them but also an acceptance of death to come, akin to David Bowie’s Blackstar. Savane does also have some great talent on it other than Touré himself, like Bassekou Kouyate on ngoni (a string instrument).

Spellbinding album. The fusion of genres mixes very well to me. I can't really pick out specific songs well and it blends together a bit for me though. Nonetheless I did not get tired of listening to the album. I'd happily put this on in the background sometime while doing some other things.

Gear: Aür Audio Aurora Artwork: 😎 Mix: 😎 Musik: 😎 Wertung: 🏜️🏜️🏜️/5

Cool Blues album though nothing hugely grabbed. Good background music

Definitely makes for an interesting listen, and the additional context from Wikipedia (the artists final album, the final mix approved a few months before his death), is helpful to understand the importance of being included on this list. As with most foreign language albums, I struggle to connect with this beyond the overall vibe and feeling. But regardless, it was a good listen.

not bad tbh good tunes, prob a 3

Good

A little bit slow and drawn out, but some of the guitar parts were really cool and it had a nice desert-level feel to it

Nice studying music but not sure I would listen to this for fun

I didn't hate this, I didn't like this and I didn't really understand this. My knowledge of west African blues was zero before and I found this floated by reasonably but it's not going to get any regular rotation

I loved reading about him, Touré seemed like a really good human. Reading about how music in Mali has since been outlawed was also sad to hear, but I'm glad I know about it now. Great guitar playing, really high musicianship. I respect this a lot. The 3 is because I read l rate based on whether I'd listen again.

Not my thing, but pretty neat!

I can certainly respect it but not my thing. Very bluesy/West African. 6/10.

He's always interesting but not quite enough to make it into my rotation.

Nothing bad here. Just hard for me to get to not it due to the language barrier.

ganz ok.

Interesting rhythms, love the guitar.

Nice summer music. Would be great to have on in the background and just relax. Wouldn’t be on my constant rotation.

I really enjoyed the mash up of world music and the blues! I had never heard of Ali Farka Toure so this is another reason I love this challenge (on most days!)

I enjoyed this - not something I’d put on regular rotation but nice background music

3/5 perchè non credo che tornerei mai ad ascoltarlo, ma lui ha una voce spaziale e non avrei mai ascoltato african blues senza questo sito, ma sono contenta di averlo fatto.

Senz’altro particolare, una ventata di originalità in questo oceano di album rock. È un suono che si sente poco, almeno per me, ma le vibe sono molto belle, un perfetto album da sottofondo. Forse un po’ lungo?

This is a genuinely interesting, unique sounding album which I'm glad to have heard. However, I think this is best suited to listening while travelling across a scorching hot desert as opposed to rainy London.

I am very glad that this extremely talented artist has an album on the list. However, it does not thrill me that he has at least two and probably three albums on this list. I first heard Ali Farka Toure on his collaboration album with Ry Cooder. That was a revelation and an opportunity for deeper exploration of west African music. But even in my appreciation, there’s not that much variety to significantly differentiate Savane from his debut or Talking Timbuktu. One is plenty - it opens the door. Two is just pushing someone else off the list.

This album is awesome in a Twilight Zone way. So much BLUES- but different. Reminds of when Tower Records had headphones and you could listen to music from around the world. I would have listened and liked it

Not well versed in world music, but I liked it.

Yeah, not really my kind of music. Not bad I guess but nothing jumped out at me, nothing I'd listen to twice

This was surprised me with the guitar work. Made for good background and foreground music

I liked it mostly as background music but it was nice.

This was okay. It had elements of what sounded like delta blues, which was very cool, but overall it didn't keep my attention.

Very relaxing blues, but not good enough for me to look past the fact that I have no clue what he's singing about.

Serviceable blues. Wish I spoke the language to know what he is singing about.

Blues with an African flavor is certainly interesting, I just don't care for the blues.

Pretty decent.

Nice enough. not mind blowing.

Very interesting. 3 stars

Survivor music.

i like the style and instruments but not the singing 3.5

Kovin on monipuolinen, niin soittimiltaan kuin tunnelmaltaan ja ääniltään ja kieliltäänkin. Hyvin mukavaa kävelymusiikkia.

African blues? It certainly feels real, and I enjoyed this for a background listen.

If the blues we know in the western world is an adaptation of and growth from traditional African blues, then this, at times, is influenced by the western blues. It’s like if you translate a phrase from English to a foreign phrase with Google translate, then take that translated phrase and run it back through into English. It might have some of the same words, but the meaning could be totally changed. So that said, it’s tough to review this when much of the cultural context is lost. It was really pleasant to listen to. The melodies, both instrumental and vocal, were lovely. The guitar playing is repetitive to the point of being comforting and hypnotic at times. The rhythms were almost always complex without being overwhelming. I enjoyed this but I don’t know what else to say. Three stars. Standout tracks: Erdi, Beto, Savane, Hanana, Gambari Didi, Banga, N’jarou

Interesting.

Enjoyed it! Very cool take on the blues and interesting guitar work. It isn’t something I’ll come back to often but I’m glad I’ve heard it.

No - I still don't really get what's good in African music.

West African. 3/5

Props to this list for even surfacing this album to me. Definitely a departure from the usual, and I did dig the rhythms and style for a bit. Over time, I got a little burned out over a whole album's worth, particularly when I didn't really know the context or meaning of the songs. I'm also probably not well-versed enough in this genre to really hear the subtleties of the different tunes and appreciate them. That said, good exposure to something new and maybe I'll try to learn a little more about it.

Great vibe and sound, but I just don’t think I’m a smart enough listener to be able to love something like this for a whole album. 3.5/5

There have been a few albums like this on the list and I really enjoy them, because I don't know how I would ever encounter them otherwise. I found this really pleasant and relaxing to listen to...so much so that I actually had to shut it off as it was 6am and it was making me drowsy as I drove. Probably wouldn't listen again but I enjoyed it all the same. Maybe more of a 3.5?

Yep, another decent entry that I enjoyed but probably will never listen to again.

As a blues fan, there were parts that I did like but this album was not necessarily my favorite, but cool

I think it's good but not what I like to listen to. The instrumentals are nice. I did enjoy it somewhat as background music.

I wish I could say Banga was a banger, but it’s just ok! Savane and N’Jarou were the tracks I enjoyed the most. Nothing was bad, but nothing was fantastic either.

Really glad this exists, it’s interesting and fun and a cool combination of genres I never would have thought of. That being said I didn’t massively love it but I did enjoy it

It was ok

Every time we get an African artist on here I enjoy it but at the same time I don't have the context to judge it compared to other African music. I'm just not that familiar with these genres. It's good, but is it something special or just generic Malian music? No idea. 3 stars.

I don’t feel like I know how to categorize this one in my head.

A very unique album that combine’s traditional sounds with blues/psychedelia. Not sure I’ll listen again because the songs kinda meld together and I didn’t find any in particular super catchy. I can appreciate the sheer uniqueness of this one though

I liked this. Not something I would put on all the time, but would for sure listen again.

I enjoyed this. Reminded me of Mdou Moctar, but I know I have that backwards. I don't tend to enjoy the blues anymore, as it feels super played out, but I do enjoy this. 3.49/5

3.7

It makes for interesting background music. The chords are very melodic, but also very repetitive. The guitar playing is excellent, and the songs have a pleasant cadence to them. All in all, it’s pretty good

3.

I listened to this album twice and had two different experiences. Using headphones made me appreciate how intricate the music is. I was really missing lower octave notes, though.

C'est un tantinet unidimensinel, mais c'est le genre de musique qui fait vraiment voyager. Très bien produit, intemporel, je comprends pourquoi Ali Farka Touré a cette réputation. Ce n'est pas un coup de coeur instantanné, mais c'est définitivement à réessayer. 7/10

Nothing spectacular but good. 3/5

Good and groovin'.

Quite good, but I do prefer 'the source'.

Dude can play a guitar for sure. I like his sound but I wish I spoke all the languages he does.

Sounds like an African John Lee Hooker.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Essentially blues, but it slips and slinks around unexpectedly in fun ways.

You can feel this is a posthumous release solely from the surreal spiritualism spoken and meditative rhythms. He’s speaking to us from the afterlife. Solid offering for centering yourself.

A nice change of pace after Mariah Carey. I like a bit of Afro Beat, but Ali is not a name I'm familiar with. Nothing blew me away, but it was nice to have music with a bit of soul.

just ok, a little boring after awhile

This was more listenable than the Timbuktu record.

Great rhythms and lots of different instruments.

It was overall nice and clean, good instrumentation but It was a bit slow and repetetive for my liking, the album seemed to have no progression and it felt like one long song with no clear changes.

Another language, but in the best possible way. The Mali guitar has always given the definitive soul in a new way. The blues of the desert air. Sounds of the bazaar that I cannot reproduce because I don't know what dusty instrument that is. The guitar music of Mali has always been meditative in nature. It sounds like a mantra that I can rest on to lose all focus while searching for true focus. The staccato licks pull back to allow the unexpected refocus. No way in the Western tradition to follow the lines that are carved in the desert sand only to be recovered by the next warm wind.

Change of pace from typical music. Neat guitar grooves, enjoyable and relaxing to listen to.

Like the last one, I enjoyed the sound but this kind of felt the same after 10 tracks or so.

Always exciting to see something that I know is going to be very new to me here. I really like his guitar playing. It's very intricate but simultaneously pleasant. It's neat to hear the mix of blues with African music.

Smooth and bluesy with some bounce, but a little repetitive within each song. Easily fades into the background. But it makes a good background.

Cool but I won’t listen often

Album 211 of 1001 Ali Farka Toure - Savane Rating : 3 / 5 Great for some background music, but nothing I'm going to get too deep into. Good mood music. ______________________________ Savane is the final solo album by Malian musician Ali Farka Touré. It is the third and final part of the Hôtel Mandé Sessions, featuring Touré and Toumani Diabaté, recorded by World Circuit head Nick Gold. The album was released posthumously by World Circuit on 17 July 2006, more than four months after Touré's death.

Excellent guitar playing but I can't connect with it if I can't understand the lyrics

Music is good

Interesting is the word I would use. For a westerner trying to grasp this isn’t difficult with its blues roots, but it also isn’t easy with its complex mixing of African cultural music. This is certainly great for a casual shindig, but I don’t see myself reaching out to play any of these songs on a regular basis. The blend is beautiful and the instrumentation follows suit! I love the rhythmic chanting-type of singing, as well.

N'jarou rules

I'm at track 7. Really like the vibe so far. I would have to be in a certain mood to want to listen to this, but it's nice. I will say, though, I just thought to myself, "geez, this is an extremely long song", only to look up and see it was at track 6 and track 1 wasn't like 25 minutes long... Certainly a noticeable change between tracks 5 and 6, though. Personally, I particularly like that dude turned the top floor of a hotel into a recording studio for this. There's certainly some live-ness to the sounds that you wouldn't get in most treated recording studios. It wouldn't work for everything, but it does on this, for sure.

Ali plays the blues well. A solid 3.5.

I’d like to give it 3.5 stars but tags not an option

Very nice Jazz/blues album and always cool to hear music from other parts of the world. Definitely enjoyed the mix up.

Interesting different sounds. Enjoyed it, maybe wouldnt listen to it again, but I did enjoy. 3

I found this to be a little boring. It's not something I'd normally listen to, but it was fine for what it was. Not terrible but overall not my favorite.

Un peu longuet

comprends pas bague

An interesting listen. Still undecided.

Interesting

a very pleasant listen, but not above the level of background music. sorry.

Très très loin de ma zone de confort ce blues malien, mais pas intéressant. Ce mélange de cultures, ces rythmes lancinants, c'est au final assez intéressant. Ça n'en fait pas pour autant un nouveau filon a creuser pour moi. Mais un moment souvent agréable.

SHACK listens to this while he's wet and naked with TRENT.

Yaya, Yaya-Yaya, Yaya-Yaya, Yaya, Yaya Toure Kolo, Kolo-Kolo, Kolo-Kolo, Kolo, Kolo Toure! Yaya, Yaya-Yaya, Yaya-Yaya, Yaya, Yaya Toure Kolo, Kolo-Kolo, Kolo-Kolo, Kolo, Kolo Toure! Yaya, Yaya-Yaya, Yaya-Yaya, Yaya, Yaya Toure Kolo, Kolo-Kolo, Kolo-Kolo, Kolo, Kolo Toure! Yaya, Yaya-Yaya, Yaya-Yaya, Yaya, Yaya Toure Kolo, Kolo-Kolo, Kolo-Kolo, Kolo, Kolo Toure!

3/5. I usually dislike worldwide music, as the lyrics obviously don’t connect with me. But on Savane, the instrumentation was wonderful, and the vocals were not at all overpowering.

fine

Interesting and personal take on the blues, weaving in other influences from other cultures and places. Very nicely done.

Interesting album i'll save it to my World Music list but i'm not compelled to listen to it again right now, but one day I will.

5/10. I kinda expected to like this more, but it was just meh

Interesting to hear sounds that are foreign to me but it wasn’t a super engaging album. 6/10

I’ve listened to other albums by this artist before and always enjoy it to some degree, I like the instrumentation on this one and the hypnotic tone of West African music in general. I don’t love the vocals, maybe if I understand them I’d feel different. 3.5

Blues africano. Un tanto rollo. Le pongo un 3 por agradecer que metan cosas distintas en la lista...

3/13, 23%

Best Song: Machengoidi. I'm just a sucker for gang vocals. I like the rolling rhythm of this one too. Worst Song: Savane. Just too long to drag on that soulful guitar solo... Overall: A breath of fresh air in this often stale playlist. That being said, I don't know how often I'll come back to it. Very relaxed, lay outside type of music.

Hmm not for me

This was very easy to listen to. I quite enjoyed the melodies and the spoken word, even though I didn’t understand what was being said (it was in a different language).

Interesting album

Interesting listen, wasn’t able to appreciate the lyrics not knowing the language, but the comps were enjoyable. Not sure I would listen again.

Hade jag gillat blues så hade jag gillat det här på riktigt.

Distinctively bluesy but lush and rich in its unique and diverse choice of instruments. Atmospheric, capable of hiding in the background and letting the overarching instrumentation carry the flow. It's repetitive in the same way reggae is, which can be pleasant but sometimes tiresome. Sometimes has cool moments, especially when the harmonica comes in. It's a long album with too many tracks that don't leave an impression. Favorites: Erdi, Beto, Savane, Soya, Soko Yhinka, N'jarou

it was decent the ensemble of instruments reminded made me think of medieval europe for some reason 3.5

Not bad. Just not for me.

It was just okay

Blues africano.

I wasn’t familiar with this artist so I did a quick Wikipedia and he’s known for combining Malian music and American blues. I can hear that right away — African rhythms and melodies with bluesy chords. I can get a little restless with straight blues because (unless the performance is stunning) it can start to all sound the same. But this sort of fusion is where it’s at! I’m digging it. I love his finger-plucking guitar playing. It sounds a little chaotic in a cool, jazzy way. The title track “Savane” has some awesome soloing.

This was a pretty sweet record and weirdly felt both modern and old to me. Sometimes I get caught up in a sound like this because it is foreign and naturally this makes me intrigued. "Oooo a familiar genre (delta blues) being played by someone from a place in the world that doesn't normally play this music". Sort of like a grunge band from Tibet or an Irish Surf Rock band. I think it can color my opinion a little bit and makes for a slightly different listening experience as I sit and wonder about the sound itself and get distanced from the actual compositions. It's easy to want to spend conscious thought on how and why a performer landed on this genre all the meanwhile some nice music is being ingested in my unconscious and not having enough attention placed on it. This innate interest due to the logistics of the performer and genre they are playing isn't a bad thing though! I think it's probably in the same space (but opposite end of the spectrum) as listening to an album here that is very nostalgic. Overall for me it's a 3/5. I liked it a lot but felt it was a little repetitive at times (pretty on bar for blues though). Nice album to put on while doing something.

Fascinating listen. I don't speak the language but the arrangements were great.

Ali Farka Touré's "Savane" is a beautiful album that showcases the intricate guitar work and soulful singing that is characteristic of West African music. Touré's guitar playing is impressive, and the rhythms and melodies of the songs are enchanting. The album takes the listener on a journey through the savannahs of Mali, with songs that evoke the vastness of the landscape and the spirit of the people who live there. The title track, "Savane," is a standout, with its haunting melody and Touré's emotive singing. The album also features collaborations with other musicians, including Toumani Diabaté, who adds his virtuoso kora playing to the mix. The result is a rich and layered sound that is both soothing and invigorating. One of the things that stands out about "Savane" is its authenticity. Touré was deeply connected to his Malian roots, and his music reflects that connection. The album feels like a genuine expression of his identity and culture, rather than a watered-down version of African music tailored to Western audiences. Overall, "Savane" is a wonderful album that is both musically and culturally rich. It's a great introduction to West African music for those who are new to the genre and a must-listen for anyone who appreciates the beauty and power of African music.

Very interesting, the mix of traditional blues with some local styles and instruments is good. Don't know that it would be a repeat listen for me, but I like it

For the most part this album just consists of some standard typical African music, although there are moments when some brilliance comes shining through, especially in the guitar parts. There are 2 beautiful songs, Savane which the album is named after, and then there's Banga which sounds really hypnotic. The rest of the album is okay but not great.

Bel mood, ma poco altro.

This was alright listening for what I was doing. 3*

Yep liked this. I'm not sure it is the best AFT but it was not one I'd heard before and I like it. I'm going to give it a 3 but I may listen to it more and revise that....

3.8 - West African blues twang tinged with Arabic melodies and motifs. A deep groove that sustains the almost full hour.

Solid but nothing caught my ear. I kept wanting this to turn into Buena Vista Social Club.

Some lovely chilled bluesy Malian vibes

Cool discovery.

A difficult album to rate. African Blue’s is certainly a new listen for me. It’s not great but it’s not terrible either. All of it blends together quite well. Would make more than excellent music to have on in the background though!

Cool

Interesting listen with a creole jazz sound with North African influences. Enjoyed the harmonica and bayou sound of the opening Erdi.

Unique sound, not like anything I have listened to before.

Smooth.

Je suis vraiment heureuse de sortir de la musique occidentale et de découvrir cet artiste. L'harmonica, les accents blues, sa voix m'ont touchée. Il y a quelque chose de lancinant dans les motifs répétés, qui crée un effet analogue au tarab de la musique arabe.

My immediate thought was to compare this with the Songhoy Blues album (then I learned they were both from Mali so that's fair enough, right...?). They cover similar musical territory, but this one has less of the neat rock song structures I like about SB and more looser, jam-like tunes. It is big on sizzling deserty vibes though, which I can usually get on board with.

Great Vibes

Enjoyable... Should listen to more

Some great guitar work here, even if nothing breaks all the way through to the surface. There’s a bit of paucity in the melodic department to justify its runtime, but I could see this going on a top-tier focus playlist so I can enjoy the music while keeping my mind locked in.

So hard to rank these when they are so different from my usual listening. I enjoyed the sounds and feel

I didn't mind it; sort of an eclectic or unique brand of blues. I don't know how much more I can say than that. It was good background music, it had some cool bluesy guitar sometimes, some cool subtle percussions other times, and overall felt more like blues meets traditional Brazilian, Spanish, Middle Eastern, South Asian, or African sounds. I know it was probably supposed to be more of the last one, but it felt more worldly.

nice blues album...enjoyed it.

I enjoyed it as peaceful background music

I like blues and its always interesting to hear music from different cultures, overall it was a good sounding album

Really cool instrumentation. You can almost see a connection to delta blues. I can't understand a word of it, but that's not the point!

Estuvo ok. Igual es interesante conocer un estilo que amalgama géneros tan dispares, pero en realidad son prejuicios musicales porque escuchando el disco hace todo el sentido del mundo un blues africano.

Eh

Nice blues music, nothing special.

I think I would have scored this higher had it been in English. Ties are quality but didn’t have an ‘in’ through the lyrics

This was an intriguing listen! I am really not a blues fan, but the African spin put on this type of music makes it a lot more interesting! Hearing how Ali Farka Touré interprets the genre and gives it a different flair was intriguing! He still finds a way to penetrate with his vocals, reminding the listener that this is still blues music. I felt like where the album really shined was on the guitar and other string instruments. The rapid, yet precise picking often gave things an almost Arabian-sounding quality from a musical perspective. Where I would normally find blues music boring and drawling, the vocal and string qualities made this very enjoyable as well as easy to listen to. I have never heard anything quite like this, and I definitely enjoyed the experience.

I'm really happy to finally have West Africa in this project. It was definitely worth being included as noteworthy and interesting. I really appreciated hearing the connection to West African music and African-American blues. That said, this one felt a bit more like homework than listening for pleasure, so I’m not putting it in my rotation, but I'm still glad to have experienced this.

was fine

Cool album, would like to dig more into this artist's catalog - grew on me with the lush and layered instrumentation - 3.5 stars

Stuk beter dan die Afrikaanse muziek van een paar dagen geleden, al had ik het na een paar nummers wel gehoord.

Pretty organic album. But unfortunately only one track is really good. (5/10) FT: Savane, Soko Yhinka

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Soya

Interesting stuff.

Not varied enough to hold my long term interest I am afraid

I tried to connect with this. A whole lot of sounds and harmonies that don't work for my western ears, which is of course my failing and not theirs. Still doesn't stand out for me. Best track: Savane

partaj!

I thought this was fine.

Ok this is pretty cool, it's got a dirty blues sound to it but also an African/Arabic flavour. Wouldn't listen again but I also feel like the project did what it was meant to do with this album. 3/5.

3, africa

За оригинальность однозначно плюс. Интересный сплав блюза и африканских мотивов. Однако сам материал не зацепил. Не было песни, которая бы заставила поставить себе лайк и прослушать ещё раз. 5 из 10.

On one hand, this is blues that often sounds and feels like John Lee Hooker and at other times sound exotic in that "wow, who could have imagined they make music in non Western and non English speaking countries [hint-hint-nudge-nudge to the curators of this list, who seem to think such music is some sort of an exotic exception]". On the other hand, over the course of an hour, I got the point and frankly got bored, too.

There is a nice delta blues feel to this album. I like the addition of sax and flute and of course background singers.

Smooth, I like it.

This was an interesting listen. I liked it.

Skemmtilega öðruvísi plata.

Thoroughly entertaining, infectious grooves from the master.

Respectable African guitar music from Ali, you wouldn't tell that this was his final effort. The minimal arrangements in the songs makes it stand out at times. Favorites: Erdi, Beto, Soya, Soko Yhinka.

World Music? Is that condescending? Proto blues, some cool call and response vocals. Guitar noodling all around, it was sometimes captivating.

Decent blues with African twist

Enjoyable mix of African and blues music, no idea what the lyrics mean.

Afrikanisch/arabischer Blues ohne große nennenswerte Höhepunkte aber auch nicht schlecht.

Took me a little while to warm up to this but it really grew on me once I was a few songs in!

Weirdly I thought the album got stronger as it went on - loved the last few songs.

This was pretty great! One that I had not heard of at all so had no expectations coming in, and it was a really interesting listen. I will definitely be checking out some more of his work

An interesting fusion of the exotic sounds of North West Africa, blues and folk. Not speaking the local dialect means I obviously don't have any clue what the songs are about, which means I focused on the sounds, the grooves and the feel of the music. There are some non western scales, which gives the songs an exotic edge. Overall not bad, but I wasn't blown away in the same way the first time I heard music by John Berberian or my beloved album by The Gurus.

Some really nice sounds but probably wouldn't listen again.

Blues africano. Un tanto rollo. Le pongo un 3 por agradecer que metan cosas distintas en la lista...

Not my favorite Toure album, but I haven't heard a bad album from the man.

Took me a few songs to get into it

Really good. Unlike anything I've heard.

Medio gede por momentos, pero linda música.

Neat tunes. Not entirely my style but I respect the musicianship immensely.

23rd September 2021 Listened to the majority on the bus home from bowling with Cox, Dan and Ailis. I really enjoyed this, not what I was expecting. I like the bluseyness, it's epherial and primal.

Its was ok, I couldn't really get into it and I fully blame my more "western" tastes.

Maybe I'm too close-minded on 'world music', but I found this nice-but-meh

Mit schlechtem Gewissen sage ich’s: weltmusik für mich schwer…

Weniger ausgefallen als befürchtet

5/10

2.5 bumped to a 3 because I did enjoy quite a bit of the instrumentation.

the progression of songs was quite slow, but i enjoyed most tracks

I’ll throw a couple of tracks into a blues or afternoon mix. Interesting song construction and melodies.

this kind of slaps very chill

An interesting fusion of genres, but whilst enjoyable, not sure I would go out of my way to listen.

Aside from not understanding the language, it's pretty good blues.

Might be a decent album for background noise, otherwise I don't see myself listening to it much more.

Not my cup of tea, but I wont discredit it from the genre. I didnt dislike it so a solid middle ground seems fair.

I love the guitar on this album! A lot of the songs weren't my favorite, but I appreciate the musicianship on display here!

great vibes chill relax cool

It's good. It's slow. It sounds like the background music in a organic café.

Worth a go. A bit different.

I like the genre/style of the album, but an hour of it drags on and gets a bit repetitive

This sort of presented itself to me as sort of a psychedelic, middle eastern flavored blues record. I guess not exactly Amercican blues but it was close and definitely had a similar sound until the phrase would resolve in sort of a microtonal/different way to the American ear. I enjoyed this though

Otro comentario de mi estilo. Que está muy bien, pero me cansé a la mitad.

No idea what this about but its a bloody Jam!

Interesting indeed... just not my cup of tea...

A generous three stars. It's fine. I like the odd AFT track in isolation, but this album was a little numbing. The guitars twang, the rhythms lollop along pleasantly, but nothing really stuck. A nice diversion into Malian music, which I genuinely have some fondness for, but there's better stuff out there. There's better AFT music, for starters

Es como india o africana ... cansina. No me ha gustado.

I don’t remember it

Blues originates from African traditions, became what it is in the American South, and returned to Africa and further evolved, and today I heard for the first time this evolution. It sounds really interesting, I loved the guitar work. Was enjoyable to explore.

Esta como entre Radiohead y the Nationals, pero mas blusero.

neat

Blues sencillo y Cha-bo-chon.

Didn't give this as much time as it probably deserved

It was neat

Interesting to venture out into a world that I normally do not go to. Great guitar work, overall a decent album

Not bad, some cool sounds

Interesting

Love hearing different kinds of music. Guy is a hell of a guitar player

A very interesting record. I have not listened to much Malian before.

Having a hard time understanding how this album merits inclusion on this list. I guess if I had to liken it to anything, I would liken it to “jam-band” style blues, but overall very repetitive, not for me

Banga

I always look forward to the world music entries, and was looking forward to another one from AFT. Savane did not pan out, too sitar forward, and it sounded harsh like it was strung too tight. Didn’t enjoy it. (1.95*s) No where near as good as Timbuktu.

Savane is better than the previous Toure/Cooder album. Got some bluesy guitar and instrumental songs that are more polished. I still was kinda bored though. This one may make the list for being a final, send off album much like the ones from Cohen and Bowie. I'm moving on...1.62 stars.

Pretty good African blues album. I can't understand any of the language but still feel like a I got a sense of the artist's emotions. The alternate style/approach of a blues album from another continent was surprisingly engaging as I found this album went down pretty smoothly. The guitar work is pretty effective and some of the finger-picking on the forefront of a couple tracks work as a solid hook/basis. Backing instruments and harmonies when featured were enough to keep me interested. It's a bit too long but even for an hour long world music album I was rarely bored or disinterested. It's always iffy when some of these world music albums pop up but quite a few of them have been decent listens. Keep them coming. 2.19 stars

I thought this would rip from the album cover and the first track but I found it boring... 2.5/5

Never herad of him, didn't really enjoy it and can't remember anything after a day. Then I've learned that there is another album by Touré on this list and I have roughly a hundred albums left...

Just like the last time this artist appeared….didnt enjoy.

I saw blues musician and had set expectations with myself thinking it was going to be an american style blues. A little more discordant than that, and ultimately couldn't get into it

OK, I can't. I just can't. the music is Okayish? it's not blow me away, and the singing is not that good and it's in Songhai... nope. 1.75 out of 5 stars because even this is better than Krautrock.

While the instrumentation was stellar, everything else made it unappealing to me. 2/5

In serious catch up mode. Cool album, but this genre of music isn’t really for me. A bit too slow and repetitive. Nice vibe though. 2.5

Naja.

Okej gung, men det blir samtidigt väldigt monotont. Ungefär som förra albumet med AFT. Gick att lyssna på men jag spelar nog inte det igen. Svag tvåa.

Ökenblues är vad det är. Det blir snabbt enformigt och småtråkigt. Men i grunden ett gott hantverk.

Don’t care

Interesting

I think the obly reason why this album is in the 1001 is because it was released postmortem, cause musically...

Meh.

No molesto, pero malo, al menos era corto.

Pretty laid back and chill, but to the point where it becomes a little bit tedious and the long album length turns into a negative. Didn't hold my interest long enough and it was all very samey by the halfway mark. Two stars.

This wasn't bad but it did just keep going on and on. It was well done, but it was more just background noise for me. Not bad necessarily, but not really special either. Liked Songs: "Yer Bounda Fara" , "Savane" , "Penda Yoro" , "Hanana" , "Banga" , "N'jarou"

2/5

Meh... interesting and even a few I'd listen to again, but overall just not that great to listen to. 2.

I can see how this album may have had an influence on lots of artists after it came out, and it has a unique sound that I haven't heard before. That said, there didn't seem to be a lot of differentiation between the tracks, which I would like to have seen.

1. erdi - 2 2. fara - 2 3. beto - 1 4. zavane - 2 5. zoya - 1 6. yoro - 1 7. machen - 1 8. ledi - 2 9. hanana - 1 10. zoko- 2 11. Didi - 1 12. Banga - 1 13. Jarou - 2

This is #day635 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… how about some afro-blues on a Tuesday morning? I don't quite mind it. Some of the guitar work is genuinely enjoyable, even if I can't quite say the same about the vocals. I did like the sax on "Beto." Give me that sax any day. On the flipside, though, the album's length is where it starts to drag. This is a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day636.

It’s not my cup of tes

eh

Ali Farka Touré heard blues as a child, figured it sounded very similar to the music of his people, and decided to make that kind of music. He did it for fun, because in Mali, music is made by the lower castes, and he was from the upper castes, the farmers. So, during the first four songs of the album, I thought Ali simply couldn't play, because the guitar sounded like a Chinese toy — the kind some of you might have had as a child. It got a little better later on; these African motifs really do resemble blues, and it even works as background music, but it's all so repetitive. There are music lovers and music journalists who sometimes say things like, "Yeah, Led Zeppelin are great, of course, but they borrowed all their ideas from Jimmy Ankubo, a black musician who in 1875 attached a string to a stick and thus invented the blues." It's people like these who boosted this album's average rating to 94 out of 100. God be their judge.

Haven't heard of him but it's cool that I got another album not in English! Sadly I only found maybe just the first 3 songs interesting and then the rest of the album became background music to me 2/5

ok it was not so bad, after i procrastinated this for so long. But im not into French so much :( The eponymous track is actually really good

Niet voor mij

Pas ma came les trucs un peu ethniques psychédéliques comme ça

J'ai pas trop aimé

Didn't care for this

Album No. 0208 on my list. Ah nice, another album I would never have listened to hadn’t it been for this website. I had known Ali Farka Touré by name, but I’m pretty sure I had never listened to his music. “Savane” is an interesting acoustic blues/traditional/folk album with a lot of African influences sprinkled into its music. Generally, this makes an interesting listen and I definitely get why this album made its way onto the 1001 album list. It functions greatly as background music, but for my personal taste, there is too little dynamic, too little distinction between and within each of the songs on this. It will mot become a personal favorite of mine, even though this is really just a matter of taste. I do appreciate it generally. Will add “Erdi”, and “Soya” to my playlist. 2/5 stars.

West African blues music... Surprisingly fucking cool.

I think I’m too overstimulated be the target audience. It’s not bad music, but it is a little boring. I’m not sure if the super acoustic African blues is for me. I prefer stuff that’s got a little more production and this falls into the same category as anything too folly or old school for me.

I don't like the way he plays guitar. This was definitely not the album for me.

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh it was interesting to listen to for a while but then it got kinda… boring.

This is the second album of his I’ve gotten. Similar to the first (tribal sounding blues), but more annoyingly repetitive and most of the songs sounded the same. (2)

World, Blues, 2006 -> 2

Not my genre at all.

I was instantly turned off by "Erdi" - it was a cacophony of instruments all going at the same time in what seemed like complete disarray and two stereos playing different songs at the same time. Wow, not my thing! Decent listening counts for an album no one has ever heard of. The title track has 9M listens while all the others hover between 400K and 800K. I can't explain the 9M listens, the song was too long and seemingly went nowhere. I hear US blues influences in "Yer Bounda Fara", what came first the egg or the chicken? "Soya" was likely the easiest song to sit through. Being unable to understand any of the lyrics and the music being sorta sloppy and not all that compelling made this a tough ride! "King of the desert Blues singers", that must be a small group. 2 stars maybe. I definitely could have died without hearing this one!!

I suppose it is good for it's genre

very cultural , very nice to hear

Listen, am I ever going to be obsessed with Malian blues singing? Probably not. Was this a good, enjoyable album of Malian blue singing? Yes, I’d say so. I have no point of comparison but I found it interesting and stimulating. Now to look up its significance…

Not for me. Dull.